ETAN
The one thing he hadn't anticipated was the Lady Sarya Playne.
Etan had been at dinner, his very skin burning as if Ayleth, at the other end of the hall, were the sun and he stood too close. He'd had to keep his chin down and eyes averted, or he would have drunk in the sight of her right in front of his parents. And his mother was already suspicious, he knew. She'd shown no excitement for the negotiations of his betrothal at all, which was entirely unlike her.
When a great shriek of laughter had erupted from the royal table and Ayleth's ladies, he'd almost leapt out of his own boots getting to his feet. "I need some air," he said when his parents both looked at him as if he'd passed gas. "I'll be back momentarily."
His mother's eyes sharpened on him, but his father waved him away and turned back to speak with one of the Merchant Nobles he was trying to convince to come to Summitras.
