“Of that, I’m sure. But Koska is loyal. And I already pay him handsomely to keep my secrets.”
“What other secrets do you have?”
“Too many to count, my lady.”
She frowned. “My lady? Do you mock me?”
“Not at all.” It was a slip of the tongue really. “You seem so…”
“I do not carry myself like a slave, you mean.” Her voice grated with the edge of anger, with frustration. “Valerius liked me to appear like a patrician. A noblewoman. One of his many sick fancies.”
“That may be,” I agreed. “Still, it does not all appear to be pretense. You are indeed a woman of power and strength. Like all noblewomen.”
She examined me closely, trying to discover my lie. There was none to find.
“What if the ransom is high?” She changed the subject. “Won’t your Koska be tempted?”
“It will be very high. Fortunately, I’m a wealthy man, and I pay him very well. So it won’t matter.”
Silence fell between us once again. And the image of her only moments before standing proudly over Valerius’s body struck me hard. She appeared so majestic. It was a strangely beautiful sight. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.
“Though I wish I’d had the chance to end him, I am glad that it was you who did the killing.”
“I had more cause,” she snapped.
“Most certainly,” I agreed. “I’m sure you’d thought of that moment many times before.”
“Every day and every night for over three years I thought of it.”
She sucked in a deep breath and turned her lovely face to the sky. There was no moon, but still, pale light shone through the clouds. It was just enough to illuminate her expression of relief and joy and pain mingling altogether.
“How did you manage it?” I asked.
She turned back to look at me, her grave expression almost accusing. “You know very well how I did it.”
“You used your magic?”
“I am a witch, yes.” She quirked a brow in such a superior way, it reminded me of every noble dragon female I’d ever met. “It is a gift I’d never known was truly a gift. Until tonight.”
“Then you are blessed by the goddess Minerva. The soothsayers say she is the one who gives such powers to human women.”
She looked down, blinking away a look of pain. “Where will I sleep?” she asked hastily. “Do you have a changing screen? I can make a bed on the floor.”
“No. You will sleep in my bed.” When she gasped and took a step away, I held up a placating hand. “I will sleep in my study next door. There’s a comfortable chaise where I often fall asleep.”
“What about your body slave? Won’t he find me in your bedchamber?”
“I do not have one. I don’t allow slaves in my bedchamber or my study.”
“Why not?”
It was a peculiar practice. None of them ever questioned me since it wasn’t their place, but I was sure they wondered. But my household servants had been inherited from my parents—loyal devotees to Caesar—so I had never allowed them to know me or what I was doing. Only Alba, who ran the household, was allowed to clean my bedchamber, and only when I gave her specific permission, when I was present and could keep my eye on her.
“I am a private man, and they know that. It will serve to keep you hidden as long as you don’t leave this bedchamber and stay quiet.”
Stepping away from the balcony wall, I gave a small bow. “You may use whatever you need if you’d like to bathe and change.” I didn’t need to say that while she’d washed her hands and face, her gown was sprayed in blood. “I’ll have Koska find something more suitable for you tomorrow.”
She blinked, her expression still serious. And wary. She would likely lie awake all night, waiting to be attacked in my bed. But I had more difficult concerns than to be worried about Lela’s sleepless night.
