Free A Veil of Secrets by Hailey Edwards Page A

personal.”
    Relief stole my voice, both that he thought to ask and that he shared that information with me.
    He studied me from the corner of his eye. “Can I ask you something?”
    “That sounds serious,” I teased. “Is that what the fidgeting is about?”
    Asher took my hand, and I froze at the shock of him caressing my ring finger. “Do your people not exchange jewelry or other tokens to indicate when a female is taken? I see no tattoos or other—”
    My throat tightened. “Edan and I used our rings to finance our journey north.”
    “Strange that with the generosity Henri extended to you, you felt no need to renew that bond by purchasing new bands.” He rubbed my knuckles. “I can’t imagine a female turning down a chance to shop in the famed Hall of Artisans in the Araneidae nest. Their work is of the very highest quality.”
    “My tastes are simple.” That much was the truth. Until we landed in Erania, the only chance we had to own anything—even the clothes on our backs—was by acquiring admirers with deep pockets.
    The deeper the pockets, the darker the association was in my experience. I had tried to avoid any undo interest from our master’s peers, a near impossible task, and had done things I wasn’t proud of.
    Neither could I be ashamed. I had survived. Survival was all that mattered.
    Or so I had once believed.
    Asher made a noncommittal sound.
    Tugging on my hand got me nowhere with him. “Why are you asking me this now?”
    His brow creased. “I have to know.”
    The hard edge to his voice made me flinch.
    Beside us, a throat cleared. Old Father directed us to the water’s edge. Our turn had come.
    Asher used his grip to entwine our fingers then guided me to kneel beside him while Old Father chanted softly. Asher scooped a handful of sand into our bowls, and we scoured them clean. His hand found mine as we scrubbed. With deft fingers, he worked the bowl from my grasp and then rinsed it.
    “It’s the male’s duty to bring these back to the hall,” he explained while helping me stand.
    I glanced around. “What do I do now?”
    “Explore your new home.” He started walking. “I’ll check on our lodgings then I’ll find you.”
    Something in his voice raised gooseflesh on my arms. “Wait— our lodgings?”
    Asher kept walking.
    I turned and bumped into the male portion of the final pair in line.
    The girl beside him was half his age with thin cheeks and a sharp nose. I watched his attempts at being polite to his partner, who snubbed his offer of sand to scoop her own. They washed and rinsed without a word, then they stood after finishing. The crass girl darted for a waiting group of her peers.
    She carried her own bowl.
    Without meaning to, I wandered the city until I found myself standing across the street from the house where Pascale lived. Boredom must have drawn me to her since I knew no one else in the city.
    “Marne?” Pascale shoved aside the rug in her doorway. “I thought I heard someone. Come in.”
    Her hair was soaked and left a wet trail across the floor as I followed her to a large washbasin.
    “I wanted to make certain you were all right.”
    She pulled a rag from the water and lathered it with a sliver of soap. “I’m well enough. I almost regret my actions this morning.” She set to scrubbing her stained cheeks. “Then I catch a glimpse of my face and lose all shame over what I did.” She grinned. “The maven is quite displeased with me.”
    “You say that as if it’s a good thing.” I would not want to stand before a maven’s fury.
    But I was not a maven’s sister to know I could get away with such behavior.
    After rinsing her face, Pascale touched her cheeks. “Is it any better?”
    “It’s paler than before,” I offered.
    She growled under her breath.
    I ducked when she flung her rag across the room. “Do I want to know what happened?”
    “I’ll tell you what happened.” She whirled. “Lleu caught me on my way back to the river. I told