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This was it. This was how I would get caught.
“Are you an Unseelie sympathizer?” Hogan asked loudly, his nostrils flaring as his grip on my shirt tightened. When I did not respond as quickly as he wanted, Hogan shook me.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to push him away. “You are crazy.”
No one would believe him. I would lie and tell the queen he hated me.
But then, just to make sure, the queen would order her mind magicker to examine my thoughts. They would find something. Eventually...
“No, I am not,” Hogan said, not letting me go. “I knew there was something wrong with you. You are...”
“What is happening here?”
Hogan stopped speaking, but he did not release me. We both turned to the woman standing beside us.
It was Lady Cara. I pulled away from Hogan and he had no choice but to let me. For a second, I was relieved that Lady Cara’s arrival had put a stop to our confrontation, but then, I remembered who she was.
“He is...” Hogan paused. Perhaps he realized that he did not have any proof that supported his wild accusation. It was rare for him to act with thought, but I hoped right now, he would.
“Nothing,” I said, interrupting Hogan. “Just two old friends messing about...”
I smiled. Hogan’s expression grew sour at my attempt to hide the reason for our squabble. It probably made him even more suspicious, I realized a little too late. But there was nothing I could do about that now.
“Such behavior has no place inside the palace walls,” Lady Cara said, her voice elegant and soft although her expression was stern.
“Yes, my lady,” Hogan bowed after a short pause.
I knew he expected Lady Cara to leave us alone so he could resume his attack on me, but Lady Cara stayed. Surprising me quite a bit, she took a seat across from me and gestured at me to sit down as well.
I had no choice. Although I hated her, considerably more than him, I could not let them know that, especially not after the mistake I’d just made with Hogan. I sat down.
Hogan had no choice either. He bowed to Lady Cara, gave me a dirty look, and then took off.
“If he does that again,” Lady Cara said once he was gone. “You should tell someone.”
“I did,” I replied, unable to contain myself. “I told Master Leo. But he told me to ignore him.”
I stared into her eyes as I said his name, but Lady Cara’s expression did not change. I was not surprised, really.
A cold-blooded killer like her would not reveal her secrets so openly.
Still, when she spoke again, her tone was stiff.
“Sometimes, ignoring a bully makes them stronger,” she said.
“And sometimes,” I replied. “You become one of them.”
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I replied. “I was just thinking out loud.”
I could not get angry at her. I could not confront her.
Thinking about Aislinn didn’t help. This woman had killed Master Leo. My thoughts about that were as loud as they could be.
I had to leave.
“I should get going,” I said, knowing full well that I should’ve thanked her and excused myself rather than talking to her like we were equals.
