[Mekatra]

Another round of giggling, though now much more muffled since he was awake, fluttered through the group of women. Leandrea was trying very hard not to laugh at him, but her eyes were sparkling with mirth.

Elizaveta waved her hand. "I'm envious, I must say. It must be glorious to sleep out here with the sun on your face and a breeze in your hair. How lovely." She cleared her throat. "Perhaps, since you find yourself without direction today, you would indulge your cousin in a game of chess?"