“Another month?!” My mouth opened and closed. It took a moment for my shock and fury to translate into words. “You— You shit-shoveling son of an ogre. You never said that was part of the deal. I can’t be away from home for that long!”
“That’s how long it will take to do this properly. You’ll have a roof over your head and three full meals a day—which seems far better than what you had on Earth. I don’t see the problem.”
“Of course you don’t, asshole.”
“Do you want to return to Earth empty-handed?”
“No,” I snarled.
“Then you’ll stay for another month.”
I wanted to argue, but what good would it do? I had no leverage. He held all the power here. And I wasn’t even sure he meant what he’d said. Once I stole the Selenian Jewel for him, all bets were off. He might keep me around for another month before imprisoning me. He might kill me right away to keep me from telling anyone of his guilt. I might be able to predict what he’d do if I knewwhyhe wanted the jewel, but he hadn’t let the slightest hint slip over the past three days.
We ate in silence, and I couldn’t stop myself from glowering at him as I chewed. It wasn’t proper dining behavior, but I didn’t care.
I expected him to ignore me, but he looked back, the corners of his mouth tugging into a frown.
“Your mother—” he began.
Oh, hell no. I seized the butter knife like a sword. “Don’t you dare threaten her.”
“I’m not. But you’re worried about her, aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer. He shouldn’t have been so perceptive, shouldn’t have paid enough attention to guess the reason I was upset. But I guess paying attention to things like that helped him manipulate people better.
“If you want to help her,” he said, “you’re better off staying here long enough to earn your gold.”
That was true—if he would really pay me.
“I know that, but Maman probably thinks you’ve stabbed me in the back by now. She’s suffering. Leaving her like that for one night is too long, never mind two months.
His jaw tightened. What was going through that infuriating head of his? Did he… have a mother? Someone must have given birth to him, but did he care about her enough to understand how I was feeling?
It didn’t matter. Even if he understood, what would it matter to him that I felt upset? Fey men didn’t care about the human women they used.
“If you write her a letter, I’ll see that she receives it,” he said after several moments. “Assure her you’re safe. Obviously say nothing about the theft.”
Forget everything I said about him being perceptive. Pampered by wealth in his faraway court, the man was clueless.
“I can’t read or write,” I said frostily. “Neither can she.”
His eyes widened ever so slightly. “Ah.”
After an incredibly awkward silence, his gaze dropped to his plate, and we kept eating in silence like nothing had happened.
***
An afternoon of more etiquette practice dragged by, then dinner, and then I was leaving the chateau for the first time since I’d arrived.
A cool breeze tugged at my gauzy turquoise dress, and I gazed up at the sky, Earth hanging overhead amid the stars. It had disturbed me the first time I’d seen it, but I was getting used to being on the moon now. The city looked its best at night, allglittering and mysterious. I could almost enjoy the stroll if Valen didn’t walk beside me.
“So where are we going?” I asked.
“Just follow the music,” he replied. “This close to the feast day, we’re bound to find a dance soon enough.”
We walked down the winding stone street, lights from tower windows shining like stars. Carriages pulled by winged horses passed us, one of them flying overhead. We hadn’t been walking for five minutes when, sure enough, we heard music.
Valen led me off the street and up a narrow staircase that climbed a hillside between buildings. Halfway up, a small shadow darted down the steps toward us.
