Alois said nothing, a flicker of emotion passing over his face as I crossed his office.
“For what it’s worth, Ellowyn, I never wanted to hurt you. That was not my intention. There are just certain things that need to happen and only a few ways to make those events come to fruition.” He at least had the wherewithal to fake remorse.
“I understand, Alois. But it doesn’t change the fact that youdidhurt me. Many times. In multiple ways. That’s not something that I can just forgive and forget.”
“Seems I’ve fallen into the same complicated category as your parents, hmm?” he mused.
“Something like that,” I said softly as I left the room in search of Faylinn.
Chapter 28
Faylinn
“Where the fuck did that book go?” I muttered to myself as Cotton meowed in response from the corner of the sitting room.
“Is that so?” I asked him, reaching my hand beneath the couch, fumbling around blind. “I know you like the fish, Cotton, but there’s none left from breakfast today. You ate it all, you fat cat.”
“Meow,” Cotton hissed with a roll of his deep yellow eyes before he sprang from his perch, tail fluffed and pointed in the air.
“Yeah, yeah. Go take a nap on my bed, why don’t you?” My hand connected with a book, and I yanked it from its hiding spot.
Theories on Plant Growth in Northern Elyria.
Interesting, but not what I was searching for. I tossed it in the general direction of the stack of books that all focused on plant life. It smacked into a teetering tower, which sent the books falling asunder. I sat back on my heels and blew a wayward curl from in front of my eyes. As always, it simply fell back against my forehead.
Ugh.
I cracked my neck and stretched the ache in my back before bending down again to reach beneath the sofa. I pressed my cheek against the soft rug, trying in vain to see the tiny of sliver of space beneath.
A knock sounded on the door, and I shouted a muffled “come in!” as my hand continued to flap uselessly.
Dust bunny, hair ball, potential dead mouse, ahh!
“Aha!” I exclaimed and wiggled my ass in the air in a victory dance.
A little giggle sounded behind me and I whipped around, my curls bouncing around my face. “Should I come back later?”
Ellowyn d’Refan stood just in the doorway, one arm crossed softly over her waist while the elbow of the other rested atop, her long-fingered hand covering her mouth. Her grey eyes sparkled with amusement even as I felt my cheeks pink in embarrassment.
“No, uh, I, uh, found what I was looking for!” I shook the book in question, dust motes and a stray hair or two falling off from the motion. I winced, but Ellowyn didn’t seem to mind.
I was a clean person, except for under the couch, apparently.
Really, who cleaned beneath their couch every day?
And, yes, I had stacks of papers and books littering every surface of my sitting room—and part of my bedroom—but they were all organized. I knew where everything was and didn’t dare try and reorganize. I’d simply lose all of the information and have to begin again.
A complete waste of time, in my opinion.
“And what book is that?” Ellowyn asked as she gracefully stepped around the short stacks of books nearest the door, picking her way through the labyrinth of my sitting room until she found a semi-cleared spot on the floor and sank down so she was sitting across from me. The woman moved with an effortless grace, something I had never even tried to master—the semi-fullskirt of her plain black dress swished elegantly against the floor and seemed to obey her every command. Her movements were sharp and sure, and she carried herself with a poise that fit her willowy frame.
Ellowyn was grace and class personified, and I was . . . not.
I glanced at her feet poking just beneath the hem of her dress as she sat sideways on the floor, her spine erect. Even her feet were beautiful—thin and covered in black silk slippers. I was barefoot as always, the calluses, blisters, and tattooed runes on full display.
Even her face showcased an interest in what I was researching, and it appeared genuine.
She fits this role perfectly.
