Karis almost asks whether she’s one of the girls in the portrait, or whether they’re related in some way. But Ronan’s voice echoes in the back of his mind.I’ll give you some free advice, kid. Just because you’ve figured something out, doesn’t mean you need to let everyone know about it.
“Nice place,” he says instead. “What did Ronan say you were doing here again?”
She snorts. “Apparently babysitting. Are you hungry or not?”
“Definitely hungry.” He follows that up with what he’s pretty certain is a winning grin.
Downstairs, the other blond woman—Melanne—pulls him away from Coira. Her hair’s cut short around her ears, and she’s about Karis’s height. She frowns as she inspects him. “Ronan said your name is Karis Cooper, and you’re a squire with tracking magic.”
“What else did he say about me?” Karis looks around behind her. “Where is he, anyway?”
“He’s—” Coira starts, but her sister snaps her fingers. Coira rolls her eyes and continues. “All I was saying was he’s around.”
“I’m just making sure,” Melanne says serenely. “Your mouth’s always been too quick for your own good.”
A third female voice rings out from the next room, light and measured. “You’ll have to forgive the odd hospitality.” This new stranger is a fair few inches shorter than Karis, with dark skin and a pretty face. Her ears are studded with gold and pearl. Karis has never had much of a sense for auras, for all his other talents, but the soothing balm of her aura is impossible to ignore. She follows Kan Halla. A healer, and a damn strong one. “We’ve never kidnapped anyone before, and we don’t have any procedures in place for it.”
“What a coincidence,” Karis says. “I’ve never been kidnapped before either.”
***
He’s never been kidnapped before, but he’s pretty sure this is an unorthodox sort of imprisonment. Over the next few days, his four captors—he learns the healer’s name is Dansa—let him roam pretty much anywhere on the first two floors of the manor. He mentally maps out every door and window, and finds every route of escape protected by arrays he can barely see, much less read. When queried, Vara says he can’t break them either.
In Karis’s opinion, Vara isn’t trying very hard.
Karis also finds a knife unattended in the workroom one morning, but Melanne takes it from him before he can retreat with it to Ronan’s bedroom.
He’s still been sleeping there. It’s more comfortable than he expected—but also less. The barebones room doesn’t feel likeRonan’sspace at all, and Karis can’t tell whether he wants it to or not. He’s barely seen Ronan since the day he arrived—until the night he decides to wander.
Fingertips feather-light against the railing, Karis pauses at the foot of the stairs. Across the darkened parlor, warm light glows from the kitchen door.What time is it?
An hour past midnight,Vara answers.Don’t think you can use me as a clock in just any situation.
I wouldn’t dare,Karis thinks, though he knows the god can see the lie in his heart. He considers returning upstairs—he just wanted to explore the manor again, see if he could find any escape routes he hadn’t found in previous days. He hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone.
But curiosity drives him forward.
He’s barefoot, so he walks quietly, but he has no hope of sneaking up on Ronan Vizia. The man doesn’t look up as Karis enters, but Karis knows he’s been noticed.
“What are you doing?” Karis asks. “Oh, making tea. Can I have some?”
Ronan doesn’t answer. He’s leaning against the table, watching the kettle on the brick hearth. The fireplace isn’t lit, but Karis knows there’s a heating rune inscribed in the hearth.
Karis leans back against the counter, half the kitchen between him and Ronan. He discards his planned excuse of being hungry. “I was looking for a way to escape. There probably isn’t a secret door in the kitchen, but wouldn’t it be silly if there was, and I never looked?”
Ronan’s trimmed his beard since returning to the base. The neat, short beard accentuates the strong lines of his jaw, the rise of his cheekbones. Karis doesn’t know that he’s ever really noticed a man’s cheekbones before, but right now he’s so fascinated that he doesn’t even care that Ronan isn’t replying to him.
“What are you guys doing here, anyway? With your whole secret society.” Karis touches his earlobe, fingers the empty hole. “You’re not letting me go until it’s over anyway, so you might as well tell me. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.”
Ronan moves, but only to approach the hearth.
Karis laughs, and offers up the most potent bribe in his arsenal. “You know, if you answer, I’ll stop annoying you.”
Ronan actually looks up at that. Is that a smile on his face? Hard to tell, it’s gone so fast. All he says is, deadpan, “I doubt that.”
“Would a Varan lie?” Karis grins sunnily, leaning against the counter. “I feel bad for taking your bed, you know. Where are you sleeping?”
“Upstairs.”