It seed like Katie was gone for ages. Blaise sat there unsure what to say until Alamar asked him a rather pointed question.
"Do tell why did you co all the way across the ocean for a woman you hardly knew?"
His heart raced. Had he been so transparent? He had hardly spoken two words to Abby directly since eting the man. Since the woman herself and none of the rchants in the caravan had caught on, Alamar must be unusually perceptive.
Blaise swallowed hard. "Why do you wish to know?"
Alamar casually tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "I'm a bit confused by your intentions. You co all this way without paynt and offer up a plan that would benefit us slightly more than it would benefit your holand. More specifically, it would benefit her.
"I'm not as selfless as my people think I am. I know better than most how love can drive a man to do desperate, uncharacteristic things. You want to help us because doing so will keep Abby, who has decided to stay here, safe in the long run."
He scowled. So what if that was his primary motivation? He had still been an objectively concerned bystander regarding the Kanta clan's military arrangents before his feelings for Abby were past the point of no return.
Did his motivations truly matter? He was here, he had an idea, and it was possible to implent. Results were more important than the intentions behind them.
"I do not know what you are implying," Blaise said stiffly.
Alamar shrugged. "I'm rely doing my duty as a brother-in-law to discover the intentions of any potential suitors. I may have barely t her but I know how much Abby ans to my wife and I will not stand to see her hurt. You are planning to return to Shibatsu and leave her behind, aren't you?"
He froze at the ntion of being a potential suitor because he had thought about it. More than once.
There were two main reasons he hadn't acted on those thoughts. First, they were from completely different worlds and wanted different things. And perhaps more importantly, Abby didn't think of him that way.
"I see no reason not to," Blaise argued, unable to et this discerning man's eyes. "We have made no promises to each other. She does not see as a man."
A half-smile appeared on Alamar's face. "Ah, the friend card. I am quite familiar with it. My wife only saw as a friend and tried to push onto another woman to keep the plot of the novel consistent. Eventually she changed her mind because of that very friendship. She cared too much about to let get hurt. The rest is history."
He was shocked by how much personal information this virtual stranger had tossed at him in the form of trying to give advice. Were all people in Annalaias this unguarded? No, Abby was like this too.
This must be sothing common in her country. Katie had clearly influenced her husband.
Blaise had a hard ti believing the ultimate power couple who seed not only perfectly in sync but perfectly in love had such a history. Yet he couldn't prevent a small bubble of hope from filling his chest.
If they had started as friendswas it possible that Abby might change her mind about him by the ti he ca back? No. He shouldn't be thinking this way. He didn't want to be tied down to one place, even if it was one as intriguing as this.
He would like to spend more ti here learning about all of the advancents Katie had implented but if this military plan was going to work he would have to leave right away. Ships only ca and went from Annalaias a handful of tis a year because of the dangers associated with a wintry ocean.
"The situation is not the sa," Blaise said dully. "I do not have the ti you speak of to change friendship into sothing more. Even if I didI could not bear to separate Abby from her sister since that was her primary purpose in coming to this world.
"I beca a Warrior to see the world and never had any intention of getting married. She crept into my heart unexpectedly. I doubt she will ever leave it but I am unfit to be her husband. She deserves soone who can give her the lifestyle she wants. She would be better off marrying a clansman."
Alamar snorted. "She won't have much luck with that considering the only unmarried n around here are either much younger than her or widowers old enough to be her father."
His traitorous heart leaped in his chest. Did that an she truly would remain unattached by the ti he ca back? It wouldn't be too late to try and convince her to co see the world with him for a few years?
Blaise didn't manage to co up with a response to that before Katie ca back.
"Alright! I'm ready to rejoin the discussion. Abby took Adam to the playground for ," she announced as she clapped her hands together and sat back down at her husband's side.
Alamar gave no indication that they had been talking about her sister or anything other than the proposed agreent. For that Blaise was eternally grateful. The last person he wanted to know about his conflicted feelings other than the woman herself was her historically overprotective sister.
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