Shugo stepped past the curtains and settled himself comfortably on the floor before I could fetch a silk cushion for him. He waved off my flustered look as I belatedly offered the brocaded pad. “I’m tired of formality,” he remarked, stretching until his shoulders popped audibly.

“As you wish, my lord,” I murmured, setting the cushion aside and bowing low.

“I remember when you bowed to no one,” he said, and I risked a glimpse up to find his gaze fixed on the rising moon outside. I debated sitting up straighter, acknowledging his reference to our childhood, and instead chose to stare out at the night sky as well. Cobwebs decorated the corner of the latticed window frame, and I inwardly scolded myself for neglecting my housekeeping.

“I remember when you put caterpillars in my hair,” I countered, glancing sidelong at Shugo; he grinned.

“Only because you won all our foot races,” he retorted. In the dim silver light, I could almost see the young boy with whom I’d used to run wild among the fields long ago.