Camellia looked at Claude in disbelief. When she first had that dream, it had plagued her for days. She had been pretending to be a man then, and Claude hadn't had any particular reason to doubt or dispute that pretense. Of course, there were moments when they'd gone into the river together or when he'd carried her, but…
Camellia slapped Claude on the shoulder as hard as she could. "I don't believe you. You're lying."
"I'm not," Claude said, shaking his head. "My cufflinks had fallen and just happened to roll to a stop at your feet. I dropped down to pick them up and came face to face with the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. You can't possibly imagine the confusion I felt then. I was a wreck the whole way to Eteare—no, even after we arrived."