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“You do?”
“It makes sense now.” And it had made sense then. She was there because she wanted to live.
“What are you going to do about me being on the Rise?” she asked, her fingers twisting in her lap.
Did she think I would tell on her? I went over to where she sat and gestured at the empty seat. “May I?”
She nodded.
I sat across from her, elbows resting on my knees as I watched the shadows from the fire dance over her features. “It was Vikter who trained you, wasn’t it?”
There was no answer, but her pulse jumped.
“It had to be him,” I surmised. “You two are close, and he’s been with you since you arrived in Masadonia.”
“You’ve been asking questions.”
“I’d be stupid not to learn everything I could about the person I’m duty-bound to die to protect.” Or steal away.
“I’m not going to answer your question.”
“Because you’re afraid I’ll go to the Duke, even though I didn’t before?” I figured.
“You said out on the Rise that you should,” she reminded me. “That it would make your job easier. I’m not going to bring anyone else down with me.”
I tilted my head. “I said I should, not that I would.”
“There’s a difference?”
“You should know there is.” My gaze flickered over the elegant slopes of her cheekbones. The scars did nothing to detract from her appearance. Was her beauty why they kept her veiled? It made keeping her…virtue safe easier. I shoved those thoughts aside. “What would His Grace do if I had gone to him?”
Her fingers curled inward. “It doesn’t matter.”
Bullshit. “Then why did you say I had no idea what he’d do? You sounded as if you were going to say more but stopped yourself.”
Inhaling deeply, she looked at the fire. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
I didn’t believe that for a second. I thought back to when she had gone to see the Duke. Her absence. “Both you and Tawny reacted strangely to his summons.”
“We weren’t expecting to hear from him,” she explained.
“Why were you in your room for almost two days after being summoned by him?” I watched her closely, not missing how her fingers pressed hard into her palms, and thought of the nightmare she’d had last night. What I’d smelled on her. Pine and sage. Arnica. The plant was used for many things, including healing wounds and bruises.
Sitting back, I folded my hands around the arms of the chair as an icy anger built inside me. “What did he do to you?”
“Why do you even care?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked. She knew nothing of my plans, and they didn’t include her being harmed—well, harmed more than she had been already.
Slowly, she tilted her face back to me. “You don’t know me—”
“I bet I know you better than most.”
Her cheeks were pink again. “That doesn’t mean you know me, Hawke. Not enough to care.”
“I know you’re not like the other members of the Court,” I reasoned.
“I’m not a member of the Court,” she stated.
My brows flew up. “You’re the Maiden. You’re viewed as a child of the gods by the commoners. They see you as higher than an Ascended, but I know you’re compassionate. That night at the Red Pearl, when we talked about death, you genuinely felt sympathy for any losses I’d experienced. It wasn’t a forced nicety.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m a good judge of people’s words,” I said. “You wouldn’t speak out of fear of being discovered until I referred to Tawny as your maid. You defended her at the risk of exposing yourself.” I paused, thinking of what I’d seen during the City Council. “And I saw you.”
“Saw what?”
I tipped forward again, lowering my voice. “I saw you during the City Council. You didn’t agree with the Duke and Duchess. I couldn’t see your face, but I could tell you were uncomfortable. You felt bad for that family.”
She’d gone still. “So did Tawny.”
I almost laughed. “No offense to your friend, but she looked half-asleep throughout most of that. I doubt she even knew what was going on.”
Her fingers stilled a bit in her lap.
“And you know how to fight—and fight well,” I continued. “Not only that, you’re obviously brave. There are many men—trained men—who wouldn’t go out on the Rise during a Craven attack if they didn’t have to.” I watched her closely as I said, “The Ascended could’ve gone out there, and they’d have a higher chance of surviving, yet they didn’t. You did.”
She shook her head. “Those things are just traits. They don’t mean you know me well enough to care about what does and doesn’t happen to me.”
It didn’t pass me by that she had no response to what I said about the Ascended, which was intriguing. “Would you care what happens to me?”
“Well, yes.” Her brows knitted in a frown. “I would—”
