---
Miryam stood there, arms folded, expression flat.
"You are late," she said.
"It is dawn," Kai said.
"You are late for dawn," she replied. "Also, I wanted to see if she ate you."
Kai rubbed a hand over his face.
"That is not how marriage works."
"Sometimes it is," Miryam said, looking past him into the room. Her golden eyes immediately found Luna on the bed, then softened a fraction. "She smells calmer."
"She laid," Kai said quietly. "They are stable."
"I know," Miryam said. "I went to the chamber before the first watch changed. Two eggs. Strong shells. Good hum."
Of course she had.
Kai stepped out and pulled the door more mostly shut behind him.
"What happened while I was pretending to sleep," he asked.
Miryam brightened slightly, which on her looked like a predator deciding not to pounce yet.
