“Come now, I barely need to do anything. I look at you slightly wrong, and you are prepared to rip my eyes out. Please do not. I like them very much; they are a gift from my mother.” A thin smile spread across his lips. “You do not need to treat me like an enemy.”
Semras gave him a withering glare. “What you reap is what you’ve sown, Inquisitor.”
He laughed. “Most of my people do not dare talk to me like that.”
“I amnotone of them.”
“Which you never fail to remind me of. Fear not, I know very well you are nothing but a tool for my investigation. We will see,” he said, voice dropping into a honeyed whisper, “whether you are one who will break or bend in the end. Let’s hope you will be worth the effort to keep safe.”
Semras breathed deeply. If she had ever felt tired, her growing struggle to contain her rage had long since made her forget it. “I amno one’s tool. What I do, I do for my Coven. You’d do well to rememberwhoexactly sought the other. But if you’d prefer, I’ll gladly hex a permanent reminder into your skin.”
“Incredible.” Velten clapped his hands slowly. “You really have an extraordinary talent for proving me right. Here’s the spark; we can wait for the mob together.”
“Speaking of mobs, I’d like you to explain how staying in the same room asyouprotects me.” Semras looked him over with an unimpressed gaze. “I sure hope it’ll be convincing, because your winning personality isn’t.”
In his eyes, a bright light sparkled. “You are so fond of doing the exact opposite of my requests. I am tempted to simply conclude this matter by ordering you out of my room.” Hechuckled. “I bet if I commanded you to hate me, you would love me out of spite.”
Hilarious.
“If you don’t need your tongue, Inquisitor, just say it directly and I’ll rip it out.”
“If you want my tongue, witch, just say it directly and I will oblige—” The inquisitor froze, then looked aside as a deep crimson washed over his ears and neck. Passing a hand through his hair, he cleared his throat. “… My deepest apologies. That was … inappropriate.”
Bemused, Semras blinked, her anger doused by his sudden mood change.
Velten had flirted with her. She hadn’t misunderstood, and this wasn’t some common platitude or compliment; he really had. And then, he … apologized for it? She blinked again, unsure of how to respond. Was it a trick? But for what?
Somewhere in the inn, snores filled the silence of the night.
When he broke it at last, his tone had turned wistful. “Do not trust anyone.”
“… What?” she breathed.
“I myself cannot afford to trust but a select few,” he continued, blush abating. “The sword-bearers are not part of my usual retinue, and certainly not part of the few trusted. I promised to protect you, and I will. As minor as the incident earlier was, it should not have happened at all. I take full responsibility for it.”
Semras was speechless. Who was that man standing in front of her, wearing the face of Inquisitor Velten? Where was his arrogance, his shamelessness, his scorn and contempt?
She couldn’t find them in the gentle but distant tone the inquisitor now spoke with.
“I know very well how much fear and hatred witches face outside of their Covens,” he said. “I have seen mobs rising outof fearful hysteria, and I failed to stop one, once. This is not something I will ever let happen again.”
The ghosts of memories lingered in his gaze. It surprised her, haunted her. Who had she been, that woman he had failed?
“Which,” Velten continued, “is why I suggest you sleep under my watch. I have never, and will never, take advantage of a witch in such a vulnerable position.” A light blush crept up his neck to his ears. “My earlier words were only an ill-timed jest. I beg your forgiveness again for them.”
Semras studied him, searching for traces of deceit. “… And your presence would be enough to deter any attack on me?” She couldn’t accept his apology; it would mean also accepting that he hadflirtedwithher.
“I have yet to meet the man daring enough to enter an inquisitor’s room at night. Especially,” he said, smirking, “if a pretty woman is with him. No one would risk my ire. They fear me and the power I represent too much.”
“So they won’t enter the room. Because they’ll think I have your favour. That we—that you have—” Her cheeks burned; she couldn’t bring herself to speak the word.
He had no such qualms. “That I have bedded you? Most probably. That is how these rumours about me came to exist, I suppose. Can you live with that?”
Old Crone take her; did he have to be so nonchalant about it? Semras cared little for the opinion of people she’d never meet again, but it still embarrassed her. People liked to gossip, and when she’d come out of his room in the morning, the implication of what might—or might not—have happened would …
The bed frame ground against the back of her legs.
Velten sighed. “Radiant Lord above, I can hear you thinking. If you have an objection about this arrangement, speak now. If not, please just … just go to sleep already, would you?” he asked, passing his hand over his drawn face. “I will stay close to thefireplace, and I will not approach you. I will not look at you. This I swear on my honour as an inquisitor. Be grateful there is nothing I am not willing to sacrifice to protect my people.”
