The Bond No One Asked For
The signet ring sat cold against Nicolette's palm, the way it always did in the hour before she made herself put it away. She turned it once, twice, watching lamplight catch the engraved wolf's head worn smooth at the edges from Adrian's habit of rubbing his thumb across it whenever he was thinking. Eight months since she'd slid it off his finger in the quiet dark of their bedroom, and still she couldn't decide whether keeping it in her jewelry box counted as mourning or as cowardice.
"They'll expect the sapphire pendant," Damian said from the doorway, his reflection joining hers in the vanity mirror. "The one Adrian gave you for the Solstice Accord. Elder Thomasin always comments on it."
"Elder Thomasin comments on everything." Nicolette set the ring down and closed the box with a soft click, a small, private funeral she performed most evenings. "She'll comment on my hair, my dress, the fact that I dared to breathe during her opening remarks."
"She respects you." Damian stepped further into the room, his broad shoulders filling the doorway before he crossed toward the wardrobe where her cloak hung, deep green wool lined with the same silver thread that marked every ceremonial…