My body stilled, my gaze suddenly roaming over walls. I waited for further sound.
“Hello?” called a male voice I thought I recognized. Neither young nor old. I could almost place it in my memory, but not quite. “Selena?”
I tensed, listening as feet tiptoed from the interior of Thaan's quarters to the office door. Someone tapped on the jamb, prodding the wood with a single finger.
“Selena,” the man whispered, his voice close. Low and urgent.
Afraid.
My mouth parted, my breath frozen as I listened hard, unable to quiet my sudden pulse.
“Selena,please be there.”
Whoever he was, he knew I was here. Perhaps he could hear my heartbeat, as I could hear his. Lifting my feet over the wall of the glass box, a puddle of dripping water gathered under me. I usually called it back. My eyes focused on the door.
Silence held me captive, the hairs at the back of my neck raising one at a time.
“You should be in bed,” came Thaan’s unmistakable voice, a drawl of false patience and subtle mockery.
“Release me,” said the other man, wild with terror.
Suddenly, the door rattled on its hinges. I grabbed my dress, shoving it over my head and darting to Thaan’s door, my hands shaking as I fumbled for the lock.
A loud crash came from the other side. It vibrated the wood so hard the chain lock sprung loose, whipping out towards me, even as the door remained closed. I jerked my hands away, and something heavy fell to the floor on the other side.
Stepping forward, I gulped down my fear, gritted my teeth, and yanked the door open.
Thaan stood in the doorway, his eyes wide with anger, staring directly at me.
“It is rude to intrude on another’s personal rooms,” he said, taking a step into the office toward me. I backtracked, but looked around his legs, seeing nothing but the floor.
“What was that noise?” I asked, straightening my back and planting my feet firmly over the flag stone floor.
Thaan halted his advance, tilting his head and turning his ear toward the ceiling, as if listening only to amuse me. “The sea, perhaps.”
“There is a man in your apartment.”
He linked his fingers slowly, gazing at me with bored indignation. “You are hearing things. It is only me and Cain, and the wind outside.”
I released a huff, shoving him aside. I expected him to stop me, to reach for my arm and hold me back. He barely moved when I pushed him, the muscles in his arms stronger than I’d have thought, but he allowed me to breach his open threshold.
I hadn’t been in his private quarters before. The air was still, as if he’d somehow insulated the walls against the seaward wind. The layout an exact replica of Selena’s rooms, any similarity ended there. Selena’s rooms were bright, the shades pulled back, light flooding the surfaces of her living areas, bringing texture and color into sharp focus.
Thaan’s windows were shut tight, heavy curtains pulled across, barring all light from the room. The furniture was dark and heavy, wiped clean of dust, though nothing looked as if it’d ever been used. I stalked inside, ignoring the feeling of Thaan’s presence tracing my steps as I flung open all the doors, but only found Cain in one of the bedrooms, watching me with strained curiosity through his spectacles when I barged inside.
“My dear,” Thaan drawled behind me, and I raised a hand at him.
“Don’t lie to me,” I warned him through my teeth. “I’ve had enough of your lies.”
I forced every ounce of poison into the word I could.
He watched me, eyelids blinking in calm disinterest. “Time to leave.”
I closed my eyes, listening for the presence of heartbeats. For quiet breathing, the evidence of a body stuffed into a chest or closet somewhere. But I only heard Thaan and Cain, watching me with mounting impatience. Teeth grating, I glared at them both for a long moment before turning on my heel and storming out.
Thaan’s hand caught my elbow before I fully exited his home. “Maren,” he said, as though a thought had suddenly occurred to him. “You have notcordaed.”
How he knew, I wasn’t sure. My gaze slithered up at him, disgust curling inside me. I wrenched my arm away. “No,” I said, lifting my chin. “You’ve bound me to the kingdom by a piece of paper signed by an Aalton priest—but that part of my blood remains free.”
