I eyed her hands. They were clasped in front of her, but I bet she was twisting them as she had in the Great Hall. She was aware of what her presence invoked.
But was she aware that they didn’t see her? They only saw what she represented.
I didn’t know.
We finally reached her floor. Why she was housed in the vacant wing of the castle, one of the oldest parts of the structure, was beyond me. The halls up here were narrower, and I bet the chambers were drafty in the winter. The only sound was our footsteps. Even I couldn’t hear the near-constant flutter of activity that pervaded every other floor and wing.
I didn’t have a chance to say much when we reached the door to her chambers before she opened it and practically flew inside. I only caught a brief glimpse of bare stone floors and a chair before Tawny gave us a parting nod. Then, I was left staring at the closed door to the chamber I needed to get inside. The Maiden had been able to get out of that room and make her way to the Red Pearl. I doubted she’d walked out this door to do it.
My head cocked to the side at the sound of a soft thud against said door. “Should we be worried about that?” I asked as I turned to the man I knew wasn’t my fan.
“They’re fine.” He glowered at me from behind a lock of sandy hair. “I need to speak with the Commander, which means you will be guarding the Maiden.”
I nodded.
“From the hall,” he added as if that were necessary. “And don’t leave your station. Not for anyone or anything.”
“Understood.”
“Not even for the gods,” he insisted.
“I know what’s expected of me.” I met his glare. “Both of them are safe while I’m here.”
Vikter looked like he wanted to say something more, but he must’ve decided it wasn’t worth it. He turned stiffly, stalking down the length of the hall. I figured he wanted to see Jansen to bitch about my appointment.
Wouldn’t do him any good.
I started to move so I faced the door when I heard Tawny’s faint, muffled voice.
“Hawke Flynn is your guard, Poppy.”
My brows flew up. Poppy? That was what Tawny called her? Not Penellaphe. But…Poppy. The poppy fields of Spessa’s End flashed in my mind.
“I know,” came the softer, even fainter voice.
That was her. Poppy. The prickle at my nape came once more. I hadn’t heard her voice since the night of the Red Pearl.
“Poppy!” Tawny’s voice was loud enough that I blinked. “That is your guard!”
The corners of my lips curved up as I shifted so I stood even closer to the door.
“Keep your voice down,” the Maiden said as I drew my lower lip between my teeth. They’d have to whisper for me not to hear them, and as I heard their footsteps retreating, I really hoped her companion continued to practically shout. “He’s probably standing outside—”
“As your personal guard,” Tawny interrupted.
“I know,” came the exasperated response.
“And I know that this is going to sound terrible,” I heard Tawny say as I angled my head closer, never having been more thankful for my heightened hearing than now. “But I have to say it. I can’t contain it. It’s a vast improvement.”
A silent laugh left me.
“Tawny.”
“I know. I recognize that it was terrible, but I had to say it,” she replied. “He’s quite…exciting to look at.”
I grinned.
“And he’s clearly interested in moving up in the ranks,” the Maiden countered.
The curve of my lips flattened. Did she not agree with her companion? She had to. I knew I was quite exciting to look at.
“Why would you say that?”
There was a beat of silence. “Have you ever heard of a Royal Guard that young?”
Well, I couldn’t fault her for saying that. It was a valid question.
“No. You haven’t. That’s what befriending the Commander of the Royal Guard will do for you,” the Maiden said. And, man, she didn’t know how right she was. “I cannot believe that there was no other Royal Guard just as qualified.”
Tawny didn’t respond for a few moments. “You’re having a very strange, unexpected reaction.”
Crossing my arms, I had a feeling her response had more to do with what had happened at the Red Pearl than it did with anything else.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the Maiden said.
Sure, I thought, smirking.
“You don’t?” Tawny, who was quickly becoming one of my favorite people in the kingdom, challenged. “You’ve watched him train in the yard—”
“I have not!” The Maiden’s voice rose.
Such a little liar. She totally had been.
Tawny had my back, even if she didn’t know it. “I’ve been with you on more than one occasion as you watched the guards train from the balcony, and you weren’t watching just any guard. You were watching him.”
I really liked this Tawny.
“You seem almost angry about him being named your guard,” Tawny continued. “And unless there’s something you haven’t told me, then I have no idea why.”
There was silence.
“What haven’t you told me?” Tawny demanded as it became clear the Maiden hadn’t shared details about her trip to the Red Pearl with her companion. “Has he said something to you before?”
My lips pursed. What a rather uncalled-for leap of logic.
“When would I have had a chance for him to speak to me?” the Maiden said.
“As much as you creep around this castle, I’m sure there is a lot you overhear that doesn’t actually require you speaking to someone,” Tawny said, sharing another interesting tidbit while proving one of my suspicions correct. One that said the Maiden had a habit of sneaking around. “Did you overhear him say something bad?”
My eyes narrowed. Tawny was quickly losing that coveted spot in my favorites.
“Poppy…”
There was a long stretch of silence where I briefly considered moving farther from the door so I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I quickly dismissed that idea.
Then the Maiden announced, “I kissed him.”
My jaw unlocked as my head cut to the door. I couldn’t believe she’d actually admitted it.
“What?” Tawny said.
“Or he kissed me,” the Maiden added as a bit of concern started to blossom in my chest. Was this wise of her? Could she trust this Lady in Wait with such information? I sure as fuck hoped so. Not only did it jeopardize what I’d been working toward, I doubted the Teermans would take kindly to learning such information. However, the way Tawny spoke to the Maiden said there was a level of closeness there. “Well, we kissed each other. There was mutual kiss—”
“I get it!” Tawny shrieked, causing me to blink as I glanced down the empty hall. “When did this happen? How did this happen? And why am I just now hearing about this?”
The sound of footsteps came again, and then the Maiden shared, “It was…it was the night I went to the Red Pearl.”
“I knew it.” There was another thud, this time sounding like someone, who I guessed was Tawny, stomping their foot. “I knew something else had happened. You were acting too weird—too worried about being in trouble. Oh! I want to throw something at you. I can’t believe you haven’t said anything. I would be screaming this from the top of the castle.”