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He paused at my interruption of our progress, this time cocking an annoyed eyebrow my way. “We’re nearly there, Ms. Fray.”
I choked back my retort that would have clued him in to this place being what I was afraid of. What was it with the people in this place refusing to listen for just a minute?
Ahead, a few wooden doors lined the right and left side of the hallway, seven in total. Captain Coltrain walked with me toward one in the center and knocked three times before opening it.
He kept me behind him, making the entrance first.
“Captain, you know I like to address a visitor before they barge into my office.” A sharp female voice lashed out at the captain, but instead of being visibly admonished in any way, he stalked forward with just as much purpose as he’d had getting me here from outside.
“Come on, Georgette. I like to keep you on your toes.” I peered through the door to see Captain Coltrain leaning against the woman’s desk.
She picked up a ruler and swatted at him, forcing him to stand as she tsked. “Don’t pull that tone with me, young man.”
I moved inside the room from the doorway and saw a sly grin spread over the captain’s face. It transformed him into someone who looked almost trustworthy. I lowered my gaze; I’d make a note to see what I thought of him if I continued to be around him. If I could make a friend, maybe then I’d get my story heard. But experience had taught me trust must be earned, not freely given.
Georgette didn’t acknowledge me directly at all. Her large eyes took me in and she pursed her hot-pink lips together, brushing her white hair back into the bun it was already tightly wound in. She waved a hand toward me and at the movement, the captain began telling her how the guards had dropped off a new feeder.
That word again. My shoulders tensed as he spoke, wondering what it meant, what I was doing here.
Georgette set her pen down and rubbed her temples. “We didn’t call for a feeder.”
Captain Coltrain leaned over toward Georgette and chuckled. “Exactly what I said. But she’s here now. Surely we can use her somewhere.”
Georgette squinted at the captain, and after a slow eyebrow raise, he lifted his hands and backed away from her desk.
Georgette turned her head and finally looked at me more carefully. Her heavy gaze put me under a scrutiny I hadn’t known before. No one paid that much attention to me…ever. I shuffled back and forth between my feet a few times, uncomfortable.
She licked her forefinger, still staring, and flipped through pages of the notebook in front of her. She sighed and looked down, running her fingers over the pages.
Her finger paused and she tilted her head to the side. “Prince Noah’s feeder graduated to housekeeping this week.” She tapped her finger a few times on the pages and glanced back up to Captain Coltrain. “Perhaps someone placed the order ahead of schedule to prevent a lapse.”
Though Captain Coltrain met Georgette’s gaze, his blinking was rapid and he rubbed the back of his neck. “You want to give her to the prince?”
There was an uncertainty to his voice that made my body stiffen. And what was this about a prince?
Georgette picked up her pen, scrawling something in her book before slamming it shut. “She’s his type,” she replied.
The captain glanced over at me, running his eyes from my feet to my head. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
