He did, but she still remained frozen in silence. Was he friend or foe?
Smiling bashfully, Themas gave her a conspiratorial wink. “It looks like we are both in a place we shouldn’t be. I won’t tell on you if you won’t tell on me.”
“… What are you doing here?” she breathed.
He winced. “I was searching for … well, hoping to find at least an explanation for Inquisitor Velten’s behaviour. He has been erratic for the past few days, staying alone in his room or his study for hours on end. I am sure it has to do with why he locked you up.” The knight looked at her with apologetic eyes, then slowly dropped his gaze when she didn’t reply. “Semras … if there is something you know, please tell—”
He stopped talking, and she followed his gaze to her witch-shackles. Even to her, the crusted blood staining their joints looked dreadful.
“That’s …” She couldn’t finish her sentence before a shudder ripped through her.
Gently taking her hands in his, Themas examined the cruel contraption. His brow creased with growing horror. “… Who did this to you?”
Semras turned her head, fleeing his eyes.
“Inquisitor Velten has gone too far,” the knight muttered. “Nothing can possibly justify this barbaric treatment. I … I am sorry, Semras. I truly am. I didn’t know—”
“If you are, prove it. Unlock these. Free me, Themas.”
A deep sorrow stretched over his face. “I cannot. I do not have the key. Only the inquisitor—”
“There must be a spare somewhere. Here in the study, or elsewhere, there must be—!”
The young knight gently squeezed her hands to calm her; she felt nothing through the cold iron of her shackles. “I just searched the study through and through,” he said. “If there were any keys lying around, I would have found them by now.”
“Perhaps in a … a secret compartment you haven’t yet found …?”
“No.” He held her gaze with pity. “I was ready to leave when I heard someone coming in and hid to see who it was. There is nothing else to find here.”
Shoulders drooping, Semras looked around. Had all this been in vain?
The soft touch of a hand cupping her cheek brought her attention back to Themas. “There may be nothing here to find, but there’s one place I haven’t searched yet. The inquisitor keeps a tight watch over the west wing. If he has any secrets, that must be where they are. No one is allowed inside except for himself, Sir Ulrech, and a few select maids under the careful watch of Master Sin’Sagar. There must be something there.”
“Then, when will you—”
“Wait,” he said, raising a finger to his lips.
Semras strained her ears but heard nothing.
Themas glanced at the door. “Curious … I’d have sworn I heard … Never mind, we don’t have much time. I can’t go into the west annex; I’m not trusted. But you … you can, Semras. They won’t expect you there.”
“And they will be right not to, because I will be stuck in that cage they call a room,” she whispered back, frowning. “Imanaged to escape tonight, Themas, but there won’t be another opportunity.”
“I’ll make one for you. Listen, there’s someone important coming here soon. When he does, Inquisitor Velten will be out of the way for a while. Master Sin’Sagar and Sir Ulrech too.” Themas’ voice dropped into a drawl. “I’ll make sure to be the one watching your door. When the time comes, be ready. You’ll need to slip into the wing, find out what’s hidden there, then come back to the room before the visit is over. Wewon’thave another chance.”
Semras didn’t like the plan. “What if there is no key there? What if I’m caught? I need to escape, and I need—”
Themas leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Surprised, Semras let his hands grab the back of her head and angle her face upward, deepening their kiss. Urgency made his affection rough, demanding. His tongue on hers sent shivers down her spine—but not the right kind.
There was nothing left of love in her to feel anything, not for anyone. Estevan had taken it all, and the monster had left nothing but a burned husk behind.
Yet she still kissed him back. She kissed him as if her life depended on it—because it did. Semras needed to secure Themas’ help at any cost. It would have shamed her, once, to use him—to use herself—like this.
But no longer.
When he finally released her, Themas leaned his forehead to hers. “Then I’ll find another way. I’ll bring you back home, Semras. I swear I will.”
She did not believe him. She still smiled for him.
