"You should sleep," Sael said.
She leaned on the low courtyard wall, her mane loose now, the formal structure of the day undone. Her tail moved in a slow, absent arc. "You have a long journey ahead."
"So do you."
"I sleep well in the field." Her amber eyes held his. "Less well in this diplomatic compounds. Too many walls that are not my walls."
"The same complaint, different shape."
A faint curve touched her mouth. "You understand."
She studied him in that thorough, unhurried way of hers, an attention without disguise.
"My daughter thinks highly of you," she said. "Leah does not grant that lightly."
"I've noticed."
Her stared at Owen for and moment and laughed. Her laughter was unrestrained, warm enough to shift the air around them. It lingered.
She refilled his cup again herself, closing the small distance between them. Neither stepped back.
"May I ask you something," he said,
"You may ask anything, young Dragon"
