"I would think about it" Valerie replies smiling. "I just don't want her to start feeling uncomfortable around me because I talk about you with her"
"You don't have to say it like you plan it, just chip it in."
"You're right"
"You've grown close," he said, half-curious, half-surprised.
Valerie smirked softly, reaching for the teacup she had set down earlier. "Recently," she answered. "She has a calmness about her—a quiet strength."
Darius nodded, a trace of longing seeping into his features. He stepped toward the window, his hands behind his back. The sunlight painted his profile in gold.
"Perhaps I could give her something. Something grand."
Valerie set the cup down, folding her hands in her lap. "Darius," she said sternly, but kindly, "life isn't about buying people or things. That might work with courtiers or foreign dignitaries, but not with someone like Odi."
