“Oh.” She drew her plump lower lip between her teeth as she looked at the windows. “I…I thought about it.” A forlorn sigh left her, tugging at my chest. “I do miss those walks.”
An emotion I didn’t want to recognize festered. Guilt. My gaze followed hers to the blue-black sky beyond. Just for a moment, I allowed myself to wish I had chosen a different location in which to move my plan forward—somewhere she hadn’t found peace. Then I wouldn’t have stolen that from her.
“Maybe another night this week, after the Rite,” she said.
I turned to her, finding that she had been watching me. “Of course,” I lied. Clearing my mind of what I’d already cost her wasn’t easy, but I thought of my brother. The peace that had been stolen from him. That did the job. “As I said, I live to serve you.”
Her sigh was impressive. “Then you must live a rather boring life.”
“I did.” I dipped my chin as I slowly made my way to where she stood, just beyond the little sitting areas she had created by the fire. “Until I became your…” I swore I felt her eyes narrowing. “Protector.”
“Guard,” she clarified.
“Now, I’m a bit confused.” I crossed the distance, stopping when there was only about half a foot between us. I watched her closely, trying to gauge her reaction to my proximity. Her pulse kicked up, but she didn’t back away. “Aren’t guard and protector the same thing?”
“I don’t believe so. One is simply guarding, the other is protecting.”
My brows knitted as I looked over at her. “Again, are they not the same?”
“No.”
“Explain.” I saw that two of the chains on the top of the veil were twisted together.
“Guarding…is more passive. Protecting is proactive,” she said, a small grin appearing, one I could only describe as her being pleased with herself.
“Both require passiveness and preparedness,” I countered.
One shoulder lifted again. “Well, it’s just my opinion.”
“Clearly,” I murmured.
Penellaphe’s head tilted to the side. “I don’t believe your services are needed any longer this evening.”
“So, I am at your service?”
“Apparently not, if you’re still standing here,” she quipped.
Another laugh left me, tugging at the corners of my mouth. “I will be out of your…veil soon enough.”
“Out of my veil?” she repeated. “Shouldn’t that be out of my hair?”
“Yes, but since I can’t see your hair, I thought veil made more sense.”
“You are…”
“What?”
Silence.
“Don’t be shy.”
The chest of her lacy robes lifted with a deep breath. “You are strange.”
“Well, I for sure thought you would say something far more insulting than that, but speaking of your veil,” I said, lifting a hand. She stiffened as I reached for her. Her pulse skittered now. “Your chains are tangled.”
“Oh,” Penellaphe whispered, clearing her throat. She lifted her hand.
“I got it.” My hand brushed hers as I slid my fingers under the chains. Her soft inhale and the sudden thickness of fresh, sweet scent brought a tight smile to my lips as I leaned in. “I did wonder something.”
“And what would that be?”
The breathiness of her words touched my throat and heated my blood. “I was thinking about when the Teermans addressed the people.” I gently began untangling the chains, discovering that they were as heavy as I had imagined. “Many in the crowd weren’t happy, and not just because of the attack.”
She said nothing as I worked the length of chain, but her hands had unclasped and fallen to her sides.
“How did you know some in the crowd may grow violent?” I asked, though I wouldn’t call Lev’s actions all that violent.
“I…I didn’t know for sure,” she answered. Her fingers twitched. “I just saw the way they were moving closer and their expressions.”
“You have very good eyesight, then.” I continued tugging the chains apart, even though a small child could’ve completed the task by now, but I was taking my time.
“I suppose.”
“I was surprised.” I kept an eye on her as I slowly worked the chains free, catching every tiny reaction. Her breathing had picked up, along with her pulse. Her fingers had stilled. “You caught sight of what many of the guards didn’t.”
“But you noticed.”
“It is my job to notice, Princess.”
“And because I am the Chosen, I suppose it is not my duty to take note of such things?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you—?” Her breath snagged as I reached the end of the chains, and the backs of my fingers brushed her shoulder. “What are you saying?”
My attention shot back to her face. Those lips parted as I turned a single chain so it faced up. I could feel that the material of her gown was thinner than expected. Her reaction surprised me, yet didn’t. I hadn’t forgotten how incredibly responsive she was to touch, but the graze of my hand wasn’t much of a caress. Then again, other than Tawny and perhaps Vikter, who touched her? With kindness? Any contact would likely feel extreme to her, sensual or not. She would be easy to seduce and coax into all manner of things forbidden to her.
“I was saying that your observational skills were a surprise,” I answered her question. “And that has nothing to do with who you are. There were a lot of people out there. A lot of faces, and a lot of bodies moving.”
“I know.” Her right hand lifted a few inches, then she jerked it back to her side. “I just happened to look at them at the right moment.”
Had she been about to touch me? I thought so. Instead of feeling a surge of satisfaction, all I felt was want. Hot, heavy want.
“What do you think will happen to that man?” she asked.
Drawing my hand from the chains before I tore the damn veil from her head and did something reckless but also very pleasurable, I looked down at Penellaphe. Her head was tipped back, and she had—
Shock rolled through me.
Penellaphe had moved closer. Maybe an inch or so separated us, but that wasn’t what surprised me. It was the fact that I hadn’t been aware of it.
A huge part of me wished I hadn’t noticed it now, either. With as close as we stood, it would be all too easy to lower my mouth to hers. I wanted to know how she would react. Would she protest? Or relent?
But it was too risky for various reasons. One of them even more so than the knowledge that anyone could walk by the chamber and peer inside, or that I may even frighten and overwhelm her. I wanted to know what her lips tasted like without whiskey on mine too badly.
“Hawke?”
I blinked. “I’m sorry. What did you ask?”
“I asked what you thought would happen to that man.”
That question should’ve cooled my blood. “He’ll probably be questioned and then sentenced.” I stepped back, my shoulders tensing at the thought of Lev. Word from Jansen was that the Descenter still lived. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “There will be no trial, but I imagine you already know that.”