Abrial, who normally would have drank in the cheers and praise the crowd threw like rice at the actors, felt unnaturally dazed. She smiled crookedly, trying with all her might to avert her eyes whenever that figure in pale robes with honey braids entered her field of vision.
When she and Finley returned to the tent, both of them went straight to bed without a word. Normally, Abrial talked at Finley a lot about what she'd done that day and how she'd climbed to the fifth branch of a tree or caught however many fish or taught a certain risky move at blade fighting lessons. Today, the tent was silent as night, the only noise being autumn crickets chirping outside and the rustling of cloth as the young women changed into their night robes.
Abrial stiffly went to sleep with her back facing Finley, forgetting to even say "Good night."
"Good night, Abrial," Finley said stiffly.
