He then made his way out, reeling from side to side.
Corina stared at his back and threw her arms to her sides in hopelessness. She picked up the wine jug and wished everyone goodnight before following him.
“Well, I guess I should get going too,” Tsiru said. He exchanged quick goodbyes with Cotiso and left.
Cotiso said to Maria, “Maria, my dear─”
“Yes.” Maria already knew what to do. She whispered to Alina to help her, picked up some dishes and left in a hurry to give Cotiso and Dardanos some privacy.
Cotiso started, now that it was only the two of them, “Thank you for embarrassing me in front of my guests like that. Was it really necessary?”
“I told you not to let her out of the wagon.”
“The girl needed to bathe! It’s what anyone would have─”
Dardanos shouted, “We had a deal! You gave me your word.”
Cotiso replied firmly, “The girl. Needed. To bathe and eat. That’s all there is to it, that’s all that has happened, it’s nothing that calls for all this anger.”
“Is it really? You just risked everybody’s lives. I want her back in that wagon this instant and I want her to stay there ‘till we get to the next town. That was the only condition I made and which you agreed to.”