Dreams Made Flesh

and plead to get anything that would have made her work easier. That was part of the reason she'd been reluctant to say anything to him. She hadn't wanted him to think she was greedy or extravagant, especially when he was so generous with her wages. But now he was offering to let her fill the kitchen, like paying off a wager. All she had to do was win and she could buy more casserole dishes so she could make extra meals and store them in the freeze box so she could just heat them up during her moondays.
    She took the skillet from him, swung, and threw it. Grim pleasure filled her when the skillet hit the hay bales before bouncing to the ground. It flew back to her, slowing and turning to present the handle to her hand.
    More baking sheets so she wouldn't have to waste time waiting for one batch to bake and cool before she could prepare the next. More pie plates so she could make a fruit pie and a steak pie to serve at the same meal.
    She threw the skillet and hit the hay bales.
    A good set of kitchen knives. Utensils that were actually designed for different functions. More wooden spoons.
    She swung and threw.
    When the skillet came back again, she reached for it, her mind full of the useful things the kitchen still needed. But Lucivar just held on to the skillet. He gave her a lazy, arrogant smile, but the unhappiness in his eyes ripped at her.
    "That's it," he said, leading her back to the kitchen. "You won. Three out of three. As soon as you feel up to shopping, make your purchases."
    Was that why he was so unhappy? Was he worried about the expense? Maybe she should ask him how much she could spend.
    He released her arm, set the skillet on the counter, and started to walk away.
    "Prince?"
    He stopped at the archway and looked at her. "You do what you have to, Marian. If you have to scrub and polish this place when every move hurts you just to prove you can do your work, then that's what you'll do. Short of fighting you to a standstill, I can't stop you. But I can't stay here and watch you do it. We'll work with the skillet again in a few days… and we'll keep working at it until you can use it as a weapon."
    He moved fast. She had to dash to the archway to reach it before he reached the front door.
    "Are you coming back for the midday meal?" she asked.
    "Yeah, I'll be back." He didn't look at her, didn't hesitate. He slammed the front door behind him.
    Marian sank down on one of the kitchen chairs and braced her head in her hands. He got mad at her for sweeping up spilled sugar but dragged her outside to throw a skillet at bales of hay. She threw a pot at him and missed, so he was going to teach her how to clobber him with a skillet. Even taking into account that he was an Eyrien male, there was only one explanation for his behavior. The man was insane.
    And she'd made him unhappy. She hadn't meant to, but she'd made him unhappy. Of course, she would have told him she'd intended to take things easy today if he hadn't roared at her as soon as he walked into the
    kitchen, so it was sort of his own fault that he was unhappy now. Which didn't make her feel any better.
    Her eyes filled with tears. Not only did she feel guilty for making him unhappy, but now that she was alone, her body was screaming at her and, Mother Night, she hurt.
    Marian looked at the roast on the cutting board. It was almost too good to cut up for stew. She looked at the potatoes, carrots, and onions sitting on the counter next to the cutting board and sighed. No, the real reason she felt reluctant to start was that she hadn't considered how long it would take to cut up a roast into stew-size pieces when she had to use a knife. Using basic Craft, she could have done it in a minute. No help for it. If she didn't start now, she'd be very late serving the midday meal.
    As she reached for the knife, someone knocked sharply on the front door.
    Her heart galloped as she stepped into the front room and stared at the door. Maybe it was that Roxie woman again. She hadn't told Lucivar about the young witch's second attempt to enter the eyrie when he wasn't home. She hadn't mentioned that Roxie had implied she was meeting him in Riada for an afternoon of sex. She hadn't believed the woman for a minute, but it had made her wonder about things she shouldn't wonder about…like how he kissed… and what it would feel like to be in bed with him.
    A second knock, sharper this time.
    She could pretend no one was home…or say she'd been in the laundry room and