Chapter 4
After a week of travel and three days in the camp, Aleledai was surprised how fast he had fallen. He had seen it in his friends and brothers, with Opati and Zerai and their glacial courtship of the last two years, and knew his emotions for what they were. The speed of it was amazing in a way that scared him. Perhaps this was too fast?
Zerai laughed at him, outright. “I knew within minutes, Aleledai. Opati’s insistence that I take plenty of time to make sure of my heart was the only reason our dance lasted so long.”
“This is not abnormal?” Aleledai’s anxious questions amused his friend; he saw it like a clear day in the incredulous laughter Zerai couldn’t seem to stop.
“No, in the same way another might take a great amount of time to feel the same.” Zerai shrugged even as he c
