He moved like that while wearing chainmail? I had lifted some up a few days ago when Gort was working on it. It had weighed about thirty pounds.
“Take my arm, Maggie. I don’t want you falling down the stairs.”
Grrr. Unfortunately, while I could move okay on flat ground, the stairs were still a problem. I took his arm. We started down slowly, taking the steps one at a time. Each time my foot touched the stone, a spike of pain shot up into my leg.
“I get why going up the stairs is hard, but we’re going down the stairs. Why does it hurt more?”
“It’s the force of all of your weight landing on your foot. Goes straight into the knee. The first thing the heavy-armor knights learn is to never jump off their horse or they will have no knees left by their middle age. Would you like me to carry you? You can explain more about the leather and lace to me.”
“No.” I’d had enough bridal carry for a lifetime. “You just fought. Aren’t you tired?”
“Fromthat?”
Of course, why would anyone be tired from hacking at eight people with an oversized chunk of metal? Silly me.
He stopped on the landing and didn’t move.
“Shouldn’t we be going downstairs to interrogate that man?”
“Let him sweat. The more he waits, the louder he’ll sing. Thank you for playing along. It was just the right touch.”
He never meant to kill Tillmar. He had just wanted to intimidate him into talking. He thought I was in on his plan, and I would absolutely take credit for that.
“Any time.”
We stood on the landing close enough for Solentine to have kittens if he saw us. My hand was on his arm.
“Are they Redeemers?”
He shook his head. “Not good enough.”
“Then who?”
“We’ll find out shortly.”
We stood together. A minute crawled by.
“Solentine left us a babysitter.”
He made a noise halfway betweenmhmand a growl.
“Still upset that I took his offer, I see.”
“It was a regrettable decision, my lady.”
There was more than one way to say “my lady.” Gort said it without any thought behind it, as a common courtesy. Clover said it like a pledge of loyalty. Just now Everard had said it like I belonged to him. Like I was his lover. That “my lady” was a declaration of exclusivity, desire, and intent.
Oh no. The Sleepless Duke had regrouped. I’d frustrated his plans for me by becoming a Demarr, but he had formulated a new strategy. Letting me slip through his fingers wasn’t an option. He still needed the knowledge in my head, and I’d opened this door by planting a vision of me in a sexy nightie in his. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
“That’s a bit hypocritical, Your Grace. In my place, you would’ve done the same.”
“In your place, I would have chosen the wiser option. I can protect you better than the Demarrs.”
“Yes, but Solentine offers no surprises. I’m familiar with the way he thinks. I don’t even know you.”
It was true. I had been in Solentine’s head, in Hreban’s, in Sauven’s, but never in Everard’s. I knew what he did and how he reacted but never why.
“Then I will have to introduce myself.”
