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I lowered my eyes and realized this was the make-or-break moment—the moment when I’d either convince him of my innocence or my guilt. “To meet someone.”
To my delight, I saw a flicker of annoyance cross Nicolo’s face. And that flicker told me exactly what I wanted to know—he was jealous at the possibility of there being another man in my life. And a jealous man is an emotional man. And an emotional man is a man I could use to my advantage.
“Whowere you going out to meet?” he demanded. “A man?”
I breathed in deeply. “More like a boy than a man.” On the word ‘man’, I looked up into his eyes with yearning and modulated my voice to express barely concealed desire. I wanted him to believe I desired him, that I was a silly fool of a girl with a crush on the most intimidating of men. That I was as harmless as a kitten.
I was rewarded with the sight of a smile twitching the corners of Nicolo’s mouth. From the expression in his eyes, I could read the fact that he was proud to be a man, and knew this so-called ‘boy’ was no competition.
“Alright.” Again, his grip loosened though he didn’t release me.
“I apologize, Master. Please don’t tell Mistress Rosana and I will swear I’ll never leave my dormitory again.” I took another deep breath and even forced tears to blossom in my eyes. “I do need this wage, sir. Very much, indeed.”
He stared at me for a long time before speaking again. “Why did you help me, Charlotte?” I was surprised he remembered my name and allowed that surprise to carry through my eyes. “There can’t be many servants in this place who would have done what you did for me.” He continued to study me narrowly and I could tell he wasn’t convinced with my song and dance. “So… answer me this… Why did you?”
Relax, Charlotte, I told myself.Breathe.This is an opportunity.
“I… I don’t know,” I murmured, not knowing which way to look then finally looking up at him.
“Try again.”
I inhaled deeply and with purpose. “I suppose I thought if you died then… then that day in the garden could never be repeated.”
It was hard to be sure, but that one seemed to land too. Of course, it also could have gone the other direction and disproved my earnestness. I wasn’t entirely sure.
Nicolo didn’t move, still holding my arm.
“I find myself temporarily between squires,” he said then and the change of subject was so jarring, I felt myself frowning in earnest. “The last one died due to unfortunate circumstances.”
“Unfortunate circumstances?” I repeated though I still fought to understand why he was telling me this.
He nodded. “He tried to kill me and I threw him off this very tower.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
He stepped closer to me. I hadn’t really appreciated how tall he was until this moment when I found I had to crane my neck in order to meet his eyes. He had a good head and a half on me. I felt tiny in his shadow.
“I think you might make an admirable replacement.”
My jaw dropped—and this time I wasn’t acting. I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “An admirable replacement? Me? Master?”
He nodded. “Your talents are… wasted as a maid.”
“But I don’t…”
He interrupted me, his voice stern and his jaw tight. “What I need in a squire is loyalty, which you seem to have—of a kind—and someone to fight beside me. Yes,” he continued as he inspected me and then nodded. “I do believe you would make an excellent squire.”
“Why?” I asked, clearly befuddled, baffled and shocked to my core.
“Because everyone will underestimate you. They’ll think I’ve chosen you for more…carnalreasons.” And the smile that accompanied the word ‘carnal’ was the epitome of wolfish. If I hadn’t feared Nicolo before, I did now.
And, what was more, I didn’t want to be his squire. I wasn’t sure why that was, owing to the fact that it would give me access to him day and night. But somehow… it seemed he had other reasons for deciding upon this course of action—other reasons he wasn’t discussing with me.
“But, Master, I don’t mean to argue with you, but…”
“Speak your mind.”
I nodded and inhaled deeply as I continued to look up at him and tried not to get taken under by those beautiful violet eyes. “There must be men who would make much better squires? Men who are entirely more capable than I am? Why not one of them?”
