Chapter 11: The Night Before

Delphine's petition lay on my nightstand, and I had read it until the paper went soft.

The Mate Mirror showed a true bond and nothing else.

If the King's claim was real, Delphine had just handed me the proof.

On Monday morning I sneezed so hard that I woke myself up.

Then I lay still on the green quilt, because the room smelled like something.

It smelled of woodsmoke from the fire and soap on the pillowcase.

Under that, faintly, was lemon balm from my own hair.

My nose was back.

I laughed out loud and pressed both hands against my face.

For thirteen days I'd lived without smelling any of it. The Hall had a whole world in it.

I dressed, and I went looking for him.

Alaric was in the kitchen, standing at the stove with the kettle.

He turned when I came in.

I stopped in the doorway and breathed him in.

He smelled of cedar and old smoke, with a trace of rain on clean cotton.

It was a good smell. It made my stomach tighten.

It was all him.

I stood there waiting for something else, and I didn't know what.

"What?" he said.

"My nose came back," I said. "I can smell again."

His hand stopped on the kettle.

"That's good," he said, after a moment.

"I can smell you."

"I'd hope so."

"Cedar," I said. "And smoke."

He smiled, and it didn't quite reach his eyes.

I went out to the greenhouse, because I needed to put my hands in dirt.

I called Agnes from the north corner, where the glass leaked and the signal was good.

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