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“Good.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and strode across the hallway. I followed him, still holding my knife even though I knew I wouldn’t need it.
“Thanks for the weapons, by the way,” I remarked, as we walked.
“I owed you for taking yours,” he said easily.
The ones he’d given me were worth a hell of a lot more than the one he’d taken from me, but neither of us mentioned that as we slipped inside his room.
Chapter11
Dinner was surprisingly easy.
We discussed our thoughts about who was responsible for what had happened to my family, weighing what Espen already knew about each of the council members with what we had observed and learned from questioning them.
The discussion itself only knocked out two of the possibilities on my list, but honestly, I enjoyed talking to Espen. He thought logically, and thoroughly, and was much more easy-going than he had seemed earlier. Without the awkwardness of earlier between us, things were… nice.
We knew we needed to gather more evidence before we could figure out who was responsible for the torture, but the problem was that Espen had a difficult time leaving the castle. During the day, he needed to be awake to hold the moon up, and that took all of his focus and energy. During the night, if he didn’t sleep, the next day would be even more hellish than usual.
So we needed other people to be in charge of watching the other men and gathering evidence.
We agreed to ask Diora, Namir, Jesh, and Lavee, so when Diora stopped by to drop off the bread and other food she’d brought back for me, we stopped her and asked.
She agreed for everyone, and with that settled, Espen and I parted a bit awkwardly with me going to my room and him watching from his doorway as I went.
I locked the door behind me, put the bread and other wrapped food items on the shelves, and then slipped into my bed.
Though I fell asleep quickly, nightmares accosted me just like they always did, and when morning came around I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept for even a moment.
Espen knocked on my door to offer me breakfast, his voice harsher than it had been the night before. The moon was to thank for that, I assumed. “Akari? Can I make you something to eat?”
“No thanks,” I called back, barely loud enough for him to hear the words.
“Will you please come to the door so I can make sure you’re alright at least?”
I figured I probably shouldn’t ignore that request.
With a heaved sigh, I rolled out of bed and padded over to the door. Tugging it open lightly, I leaned heavily against the doorframe, letting the sturdy wood hold most of my weight. “I’m fine,” I drawled at him.
He blinked at me.
And then blinked again.
And then cleared his throat, and said, “You’re naked.”
I bit back a snort. “I’ve spent much of my life naked. Doubt I can sleep in clothing at this point.”
“Right.” He dipped his head in a jerky nod.
“I’m going back to bed. Do you need me to knock if I plan on leaving?” I checked. “I don’t want the moon falling from the sky if a knock would prevent it.”
He nodded again, slightly more smoothly than he had earlier. “That would be helpful.”
“Sounds good.” I gave him a quick, tiny smile, and started to close the door.
He caught it with one gigantic, flat palm, and our eyes collided. “Next time, put on clothes?” His voice was growly. “Unless you know it’s me at the door, I don’t want you flashing your visitors those fucking perfect breasts.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll consider it.”
His forehead wrinkled as his eyes narrowed at me. “You’ll consider it?”
