"Why don't you live in the palace like the rest of your family?" she asked, though she already suspected the answer.
"They don't exactly like me there," he replied, his tone casual as though it no longer bothered him.
Seeing that he wasn't pulling away, she pressed on, her curiosity becoming a warm, insistent pulse between them.
"But why not live in the capital? That way, you wouldn't have to travel so far every time you're summoned to the palace."
Ragnar smiled faintly.
"Amris is my home," he said simply. "I would likely go mad if I had to live in the capital again."
He had a house in the capital, one he used when duty forced him to remain in the city longer than necessary, but he never stayed more than a week at a time. He always returned to Amris, as though the very air there allowed him to breathe.
Circe's brows knitted together. She could hear everything he wasn't saying.
