This was his fault. He had gotten too comfortable. Of course Finn had noticed the gaps, the inconsistencies—a perceptive knight would see right through flimsy excuses. Cedric turned away, pretending to adjust some tools. Anything to hide his panic.
“I, uh…” He forced himself to sound casual, rolling his shoulders as if Finn’s questions were nothing more than idle curiosity. “I’ve always been a bit of a night owl.” The words came out thin. Weak. Even to his own ears. “And during the day, I…” He grabbed a chisel, flipping it absently in his palm. “…Patrol the area. To make sure we’re safe.”
Pathetic. He sounded like a child explaining the absence of a plate of cookies while crumbs covered their face.
Finn arched a brow. “Right,” he said slowly. Too slowly. “It’s just…I never see you leave or come back.”
Cedric gave a half-hearted shrug, still not meeting Finn’s gaze.
Finn tilted his head. “And when do you sleep?”
Cedric’s mind raced, scrambling for a plausible explanation. Of course, he should have considered that he’d need sleep as a part of his excuse. Amateur mistake. He could almost hear Gwenna’s voice in his head: You should’ve stuck to flirting.
Swallowing hard, he turned back around, keeping his expression carefully neutral. Think. Quickly.
“I sleep mostly during the day,” he said at last. True enough—for now. “And I’m quiet about it. Otherwise, Clarence would start screaming at me every time I moved.” He forced a small chuckle, hoping to steer the conversation somewhere lighter.
Finn didn’t laugh.
Instead, he studied Cedric with those sharp, stormy eyes, searching. The scrutiny made Cedric’s skin feel too tight. He needed to redirect this conversation now.
“Hey,” Cedric said suddenly, his voice overly bright, “it’s a clear night. I should show you something Gwenna and I have been working on.”
The knight’s eyebrows rose at the abrupt change in subject. “What?”
“Come on.” Cedric jerked his head toward the door. “We have to go to the roof of the tower, though.”
Finn hesitated, clearly weighing whether to let Cedric slip out of answering his questions. Then, with a sigh, he relented. “All right, but if this is an excuse to throw me off the roof, you’re going to have to try harder than Clarence.”
Cedric huffed a quiet laugh, relieved by the reprieve. “Tempting,” he quipped, “but no.”
He led Finn up the winding spiral staircase, the wooden steps creaking beneath their boots. The climb was steep, and Finn slowed halfway up, rolling his shoulders with a wince. Cedric immediately regretted bringing him up here so soon after his injury.
“Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t drag you to the roof when you’re still recovering,” Cedric said apologetically.
“I’ll be fine. You can drag me anywhere.” Finn grinned at him as they reached another landing. “I’m not as fragile as that blow to the head would have you believe.”
Cedric blinked, trying and failing to shove down the ridiculous warmth rising in his chest.
He turned away quickly, pretending to focus on unlatching the final door. The last thing he needed was Finn saying things like that, looking at him like that, when Cedric’s mind was still tangled from their moment in the workshop.
When they reached the rooftop, the night stretched out endlessly. The stars burned against the velvet-dark sky, the moon casting a pale glow over the stone battlements.
But Cedric’s focus was elsewhere.
Near the edge of the roof, their telescope gleamed in the moonlight, crafted from polished brass and dark wood. Gwenna’s masterpiece. He had helped where he could, carving and assembling the wooden parts, but the real genius was hers.
Finn’s brow furrowed, though his eyes lit with interest.
“This is it,” Cedric said, resting his hand on the scope. He felt a swell of pride, not just in the craftsmanship but in the countless hours they had spent working on it. “Mostly Gwenna’s work. I helped with a few things, but she’s the brains behind it.”
Finn cocked his head. “What is it?”
Cedric blinked, momentarily caught in the way the moonlight traced over the sharp angles of Finn’s face. Then he remembered—of course, Finn had no idea what he was looking at. “It’s called a telescope,” Cedric explained, giving the polished wood a light tap. “It lets you see the stars more clearly. We saw a shooting star a few weeks ago.”
The knight’s brows rose. “Really? Can I try it?”
A grin tugged at Cedric’s lips. Finn’s enthusiasm was surprisingly endearing. “Of course.”
