Semras scoffed, irritated. She wasn’t that repulsive, surely? Or perhaps he thought she’d tell Nimue, and it was her wrath that he feared.
Justly so, she’d bet.
“You are lying,” he replied at last. “I would not … I swore I would never—”
Her glare shut him up. “You were drunk, Inquisitor. I am telling you the truth. Deal with it as you wish, but I won’t have you accuse me of lies.” Semras dug into the meal before her with vengeance. If he meant to leave all this to waste, she wouldn’t.
“… Did we …?”
The witch stabbed the vegetables with her fork. “Frankly, I’d rather burn at the stake than hear you finish that sentence,” she replied icily.
Velten cleared his throat. “… I will take that as a ‘no’ then. I am sure I would have already been turned to kindle for your pyre otherwise.”
He had used the same mocking tone she had grown familiar with, but something felt different. He sounded more guarded, more distant than before. His bite was gone.
So there was a line even he didn’t want to cross. Not withher, at least. A surprising, confusing spark of jealousy stabbed her gut.
He left abruptly, mumbling some excuses, and Semras watched him hurry to Sir Ulrech’s side. After exchanging a few words, the knight stood away from his meal and walked out of the dining area with the inquisitor.
Semras stared at her meal.
Of course her words had shaken him. As much of a bastard as he was, he hadn’t truly intended to cheat on his lover. Inquisitor Velten was just a flirt, and that was it.
Bitterness still crept up her throat. Even in the privacy of her mind, it cost her a lot to admit she might have felt … something for the impulsive man. He knew just when to push and just when to pull to keep her enthralled.
Semras pursed her lips. It was only plain physical desire. Nothing more. One could be attracted to the worst bastard in existence if they had enough of a handsome face. She wouldn’t be the first woman to have questionable taste in men.
And she shouldn’t forget that Velten was aninquisitor. Not a day ago, that man had been waiting for the slightest proof of treachery to end her life. His every stare was laced with suspicion, and his every smirk, tainted with mockery, as he provoked and hounded her to cross the line.
Caging her between embers and inferno.
She needed to expedite her involvement in the investigation and return home as soon as she could—just as Sir Ulrech had said. It would do some good to her heart and mind to stay away from Estevan. His world wasn’t hers, and each day spent by his side only proved it more cruelly.
The sword he had held under her throat had been clear about it. And even if it hadn’t, the Venator sword-bearers’ fear, scorn, and prejudice were a constant reminder of her otherness. Even now, their attention clung to her every move. Their wary eyes made her feel unwanted.
They made her feel skittish.
Hunger deserted her, and Semras abandoned the remains of the meal for the quiet solitude of the rooms upstairs.
At leasthiseyes didn’t make her feel like a wild, exotic beast.
Rowsofdoorswelcomedher upstairs.
Discreetly opening them one by one, Semras searched for the one that would lead her to the inquisitor. Empty dormitories, bedrooms, and even one bathing room greeted her before she stood in front of the last room—the one Velten must have retreated into earlier.
She sighed. Another night in close quarters with him seemed more than she could handle at the moment, but she had little choice in the matter.
“Wait,” called out a voice behind her. Emerging from the staircase, Sir Ulrech strode toward her. “Where do you think you are going?”
A sudden longing for her little hut in the forest seized her. Back there, no one had bothered her or barked questions at her that she didn’t feel like answering. No one had stopped her when all she wanted was some blissful rest.
“To sleep, Sir Ulrech,” she replied. “What is this about?”
He glanced at the door in front of her. “This is Inquisitor Velten’s room.”
“Good, I had hoped as much.”
“You are not going in there,” he ordered. The knight gestured toward another door closer to the staircase, behind which she had found a small private bedroom earlier. “You shall rest in there.”
