"I'm sorry if I came on a bit strong, Brianna," he recovered. "I wasn't expecting anything, just wanting to talk. No strings attached, I promise."
The offer was so tempting. Was he serious, or was this was an attempt to lull her concerns?
He looked down at her with an earnest expression that both completely disconcerted her and made her want to agree. The loneliness she'd felt since arriving in Bymere had surprised her. While Syrid and his wife had been very kind to her, she missed having someone to talk to more than anything. She'd always had Mianna to talk to, even after Kylis had died, she hadn't been alone. Not like this.
Just because Mianna had wanted to marry someone else, didn't mean she had to be completely alone the rest of her life. He'd said he just wanted to be friends, and if he deviated from that, she could remind him. Couldn't she?
"All right." She smiled before she changed her mind. "I have a couple of hours off for lunch."
He smiled back at her, the look warming her belly. "Lunch it is."
They walked into the kitchen and Brianna checked the cauldron. "Looks like just enough water for your bath," she told him. Then, she immediately blocked out the image of him having a bath. "W-would you like me to bring it up for you?"
"No, you have it. I think I might go down to the harbour for a swim."
"You don't have to do that."
"Do what?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't play coy with me. You don't have to leave the bath water for me. I'm perfectly capable of getting more water."
He smiled and gave a small bow. It would have looked strange from anyone else, but he somehow made it look natural. "It is very kind of you to ascribe me such noble motivation, but in all truth, I prefer the harbour. Swimming is far more invigorating than a tepid bath."
Brianna was at a loss for words. Would she ever be able to predict this man's actions?
He laughed softly. "I shall meet you near the stables then?"
She found her voice. "Near the stables," she agreed. "At eleven?"
He nodded. "Eleven it is."
And as Syrid's wife, Elsian, came into the room, he nodded to her and left.
The woman glanced from Lyall's dirty clothes to Brianna's and then gave her a searching look. Brianna turned away quickly to dip a bucket of water from the cauldron. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. But she found herself blushing anyway.
*****
Come eleven o'clock, she was almost regretting her hasty decision to meet with Lyall, and not just because the way he made her feel, almost making her forget her decision to not get involved with anyone.
She'd gone through her entire wardrobe, which hadn't taken long considering she had only brought two outfits with her, and nothing came even close to matching his neat attire. She'd chosen the cleaner of the two, but the skirt and blouse was serviceable, rather than attractive, and did nothing to inspire her confidence. She thought longingly of the wardrobe of dresses she had left behind.
And when Lyall walked across the stable yard, dressed immaculately in trousers and a clean, starched shirt, she felt even worse. Glancing up, she saw Elsian peeping through the kitchen window at them. What was she doing? She was uncomfortably aware that while Lyall had said he just wanted to be friends, it certainly didn't look that way to anyone else.
"Hi, Brianna," he said as he came up to her.
"Hi," she answered, trying to sound cheerful.
He wasn't fooled. "Are you all right?"
She couldn't even begin to explain. And she didn't want the attempt to mar their excursion. She was itching to get out of the inn for at least a few hours. "Sure. Let's go." At least once they were out of the inn yards she was unlikely to be seen by anyone she knew.
"Where are we going?" Up until that point, she'd been too busy worrying about what to wear, and how their meeting would be perceived. It hadn't even occurred to her to wonder what he had in mind.
"You'll see," he said mysteriously.
His words just served to make her more curious, but the light dancing in his eyes said he was waiting for her to ask more, so Brianna muffled a sigh, causing him to laugh.
They walked down the cobblestone street, close, but not quite touching. The sea wind lifted her hair that had felt like it had been stuck to her neck the whole time she'd been in the inn. Brianna looked around the city, taking a moment to really see the stone buildings and the people hurrying along. It was all so different from Eryvale. After all her desire to get here, she'd seen very little of the city. Somehow, it had seemed depressing to do it without Kylis or Mianna.
Was it disloyal to do it with this pleasant stranger instead?
"Here we are."
Brianna glanced up at Lyall as he spoke the words, and one look into his face dispelled any doubts. But it was his look of expectation that made her turn away to see where they were.
The small shop in front of her was squeezed between two taller buildings, it's windows dirty and hazy. She could just make out something piled behind them. A wooden sign, hanging from two chains, displayed a stack of books. Her eyes widened. Was this...
Lyall smiled and pushed open the door. A bell tinkled somewhere within, and he guided Brianna inside.
Once her eyes became accustomed to the dim light after the bright sunshine outside, she gasped. Shelves lined every wall, from floor to ceiling, and every spare inch of every shelf was covered in books. They were jammed into the shelves every which way, leaving no gaps at all. They were even stacked up, covering the windows. Brianna had never seen this many books before in her life.
She glanced over at Lyall who was watching her with a smile on his face.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"A bookstore."
The idea was incomprehensible. "You mean all these books are for sale?" she asked in disbelief.
She'd owned two books in her life. A book of stories, with real colour ink illustrations, and a book depicting the different plants and animals that grew in the area. In a town where most homes had no books, she had thought herself lucky.
This display left her wordless.
A small bent man shuffled in from a room at the back of the store. He pushed his glasses further up on his nose and stared at both of them.
"Hello, Petar," Lyall said.
"Lyall." The man beamed. "It's been a long time, friend."
"It certainly has." Lyall reached forward to shake the man's hand.
"I have put aside a few books that I thought you might be interested in," the man offered.
"Not today," Lyall answered, just a little too quickly. "Today, I was wondering if I could borrow your balcony?"
"My balcony?" the man asked in surprise. He shoved his glasses up on his nose again, then stared at Brianna. His expression cleared. "Oh, my balcony. Of course."
He led them through another room, full of even more books and up narrow, twisting stairs. Obviously he lived up here, for some vestiges of comfort could be seen in an old armchair and a small table, but the furnishings seemed to fade into the background of books.
Lyall walked across the room to a pair of narrow doors and ushered Brianna through. The small balcony was only just wide enough for the tiny table and two chairs-but the view was amazing. Through a small gap between two buildings, Brianna could see all the way to the harbour and the open water of the ocean.
Barely able to pull her eyes away from the sight, Brianna sat in the seat Lyall pulled out for her. As he sat down next to her, she met his eyes, and he smiled.
"Better than sitting in the inn for the next few hours?" Lyall asked.
"Much better," Brianna agreed. "So how did you discover this place?"
Lyall shrugged. "I've done a bit of exploring around the place. Some stores are worth coming back to."
"So I gather," Brianna said. "What sort of books does he have for you?"
"Oh, I'm interested in all kinds of old books, history, geography, that sort of thing," Lyall replied. "Petar keeps a few of the rarer books aside for me."
"Rare books?" Brianna laughed. "Up until today, I thought all books were rare!"
Lyall smiled. "Not all, although I guess most are. To see a collection like Petar's is unusual."
"It certainly is. I thought I was lucky having two books growing up, and I shared those with my sister."
She hadn't meant to mention Mianna, but it was done now. And the mere thought of her was enough to bring up a torrent of loneliness. She turned away, not wanting Lyall to see the tears that sprang to her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked her softly.
"Nothing," she insisted, rubbing a hand across her eyes. "I'm fine."
"I'm guessing you're a long way from home?"
His gentle tone just made the ache worse. "Just a little," she managed to get out. Then to her embarrassment, she burst into tears.