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Noah cocked an eyebrow at me. “My castle is grungy?”
I stared at him and pursed my lips. “Obviously not. But I doubt the prince is supposed to care about escorting his feeder. I’m happy to do what I’m supposed to, just let me know where you’d like me to meet you from now on.”
He shook his head. “It’s easier this way. You’ll most likely get lost otherwise.”
I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not, but his eyes swept back over me and distracted me from a perfectly timed quip back.
“Your form today in hand-to-hand was incredible for someone who has never had formal training.” He cleared his throat. “It was impressive.”
He didn’t meet my gaze this time and focused far too hard on the hallway ahead of us. Could his compliment be because he thought of me as more than just a feeder? Or simply kind words.
He was so reserved and shy now. The camaraderie from my birthday seemed to have vanished just as quickly as that almost kiss had at the end of our night. Perhaps he was realizing the same thing I was. We both had a purpose and this ridiculously strange interaction between us should be ended before it got more uncomfortable.
We made our way in silence to the grand hall, and immediately Noah distanced himself from me as we approached the double doors. Within seconds of his entrance, two guards and a fae came up to him and whisked him away. I entered more slowly, getting used to the dynamic of this world more and more each day.
There was a fluttering among the fae as I moved across the hall toward the feeders and staff area. It was in stark contrast to the quiet that the other side of the room held.
I searched for Nicole and found her devouring her food with a vigor that was more intense, even for her.
“What’s worked up your appetite? Tomas barely did anything to you in training.”
Brigette and her quieter companion, whose name I learned was Lizette, perked up right away.
“Didn’t you hear? Poor Nicole was interrogated!” Brigette’s eyes widened as she spoke and she trembled slightly as if she’d just experienced chills.
My head jerked to the side toward Nicole, who instead of denying such a crazy thing snorted into her soup. “How do you two always know everything when you’re so dense?”
Brigette didn’t take offense to the clear insult, shockingly. I shook my head and leaned into Nicole. “What do you mean interrogated?” I asked in a harsher whisper than I meant to.
“Let me tell you, I wouldn’t mind if that happened more often.” Nicole grinned and kept shoveling in her food. She continued with a full mouth. “Right after training they snatched me up like I was some sort of criminal.”
I cringed at the memory of how I was paraded through the village when I arrived here, but Nicole wasn’t bothered in the least by her experience.
“What did they want?” My frustration was evident at her lack of spilling the beans on the fact that she was interrogated here at the palace.
“Information on the spy.” Nicole swished her fork at me like I was an idiot.
“Nicole, don’t be so cavalier about this,” Lizette said in a panic. “It’s serious.”
Nicole picked up the rest of her chicken and shoved a few large pieces into her mouth, making a moaning sound in delight. “Oh Lizette, it’s not that bad.”
“It was terrifying!” she hissed across the table and then wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
I blinked a few times at the exchange. What was I missing? Both of them were interrogated?
“They just asked question after question. I killed it. They try to trick you by asking the same questions in different ways.” Nicole finally swallowed down her food and spoke without it rolling around in her mouth like she couldn’t care less.
“Since I’m new, I guess it’s not a problem,” I said. What could I know about a spy?
She shrugged and stared at me. “They’ll interrogate you too, cupcake.” I frowned at her response.
“Why?”
“Because rumors of a spy are serious. You’d be the first on the list if I was running this thing,” Nicole said. “Are you going to finish that?” she asked Brigette as she grabbed her plate before she could answer.
Brigette was quieter than usual and just shook her head once in response.
I waited for Nicole to finish, staring at her. I knew she could feel my eyes boring into her. This drawn-out explanation was probably glorious to her, but it was tiresome for me already. I needed to know what she was talking about and what the hell was going on if everyone I knew was being interrogated. Was this why Noah was concerned that I train?
