“Tributes?” Noah queried, finding her use of the term odd. “From whom?”
She shrugged as puzzlement crossed her face. “I honestly don’t know. Friends of his, I suppose. He doesn’t like to be questioned, so I don’t ask. It’s one of the few rules he requires of me.”
Smiling, she drifted toward another bank of shelves filled with thick, ancient-looking tomes. “As strange as it sounds, these books are my refuge, though I imagine that’s hard for you to understand. Knowing their origin is not something I’m willing to pursue enough to risk losing access to them.”
She looked away before facing him again, her stance unexpectedly defensive. “Respecting and accepting my father’s decisions and actions are not too much to ask for all he gives. Not just to me, but to everyone at the fortress, and I assume, beyond.”
Their eyes locked for several seconds before she continued along the shelves, her fingers trailing over book after book as genuine pleasure lit up her face. “These gifts are far more than I could ever have asked for. I can’t express how much joy I find within them. There’s so much to discover.”
“A kind of refuge, you said?” Noah repeated, curious why she needed one.
“Yes,” she laughed. “Though I don’t know from what.” Smiling, she continued her stroll along the shelves. “In the countless hours I’ve spent here I’ve discovered many friends and look forward to finding many more.”
Despite her attempt to appear cheerful, he detected a hollow undertone in her voice. For the first time in the few days they’d spent together, Noah suspected she must be very lonely. Had she always been?
“Do you have siblings, Skye?” Perhaps there were older brothers who assisted The Keeper in amassing all the wonders he’d seen since arriving. Something, or someone, he hadn’t considered he might need to deal with in his quest to find the portals.
She shook her head and moved to a different section of books, keeping her face averted. “I’m an only child. My mother died when I was born.”
Noah recognized the same empty recitation quality he’d heard in her voice earlier.
“What about aunts? Uncles? Cousins? Close friends?”
“Just my father.”
“Are you saying you’ve been kept here your entire life? Isolated from the world outside these walls?” Impossible.
The smile she’d clearly fought to keep on her face faltered. “My father only wishes to protect me.”
“Ah, yes, of course. Fromunpredictablethings, you said. Can you be more specific? Has he ever offered more detail? Have you ever asked?”
Noah wasn’t sure if it was confusion or frustration that crossed her face. “I’m sure he refers to the dangers beyond the fortress.”
He moved closer. “Exactly what dangers would those be? Is he referring to something tangible? Predatory animals, perhaps? Or people? Like, The Others? Or is there another warring factor of some kind that threatens the fortress?” He looked for recognition in her eyes but found nothing. “Or perhaps does that danger refer to something else entirely, like the portals, perhaps?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I told you. I don’t know. And if you insist on badgering me about it, I’d be happy to have Keir escort you back to your chamber.”
He sighed, realizing he’d pushed too hard. Gone too far. “I’m sorry. Truly. I guess I was just surprised that in all your life, you’ve never been beyond the fortress walls or seen anything of the real world for yourself.”
“I didn’t say I was confined within the fortress walls. I go on short ventures,” she stated tersely. “I enjoy hunting. That’s where I’d been the day we met.”
He watched her face, wondering if he dared risk pushing her further. He didn’t want to. But the narrow window of time he had to discover all he could about the fortress was rapidly closing.
“Are you allowed to decide where to go? Or how far?”
Her eyes sparked with annoyance. “Obviously, you think I’m a child to be told what to do, what to think, that I’m incapable of making any real decisions on my own.”
“No, Skye.” He tried to keep his true thoughts about her from his voice, and in doing so, only managed a whisper. “I don’t think of you as a child at all.”
Their eyes met, and for a moment, he wondered if she thought of him as anything but a stranger causing discontent in her home. He wished with all his feeble power he had the time and ability to persuade her of his desire to be far more.
If only he’d met her before. Before illness turned his family’s world upside down. Before the need to leavethisworld for another overrode any other consideration.
It troubled him that he’d angered her, even while it saddened him that she couldn’t deny her father’s control. “It’s only that you seem to accept everything your father says, regardless of proof.”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Noah shook his head, frustration warring inside him. “Because you’re too intelligent not to.”
