章 47: Chapter 47

Tishasanti slammed him against the wall again. "I'm not in the mood for your absurdities or your lies, you pathetic little snowflake."

"Oh, now, I am not the one with a nose that shatters like glass, am I?" Penli snickered—then caught the fist coming at him, slammed his knee into Tishasanti's groin, and knocked him to the ground. "And here all I wanted to do was apologize." He smoothed down the front of his shirt, doing what he could for the wrinkles. "Dash it, Tishasanti, I was going to wear this shirt to dinner. Now I shall have to change my whole outfit."

He didn't linger to figure out the garbled, guttural words Tishasanti snarled at him as he climbed to his feet, one hand still cupped delicately over his battered groin. Instead, Penli strode off across the garden, looking at Teia just long enough to wink without giving away anything to Tishasanti or Omar.