“You seem surprised.”
“Considering where we were, yeah. I am.”
“Trust me.”
“Don’t think I have a choice at this point.”
The guards escorted them to a lift, and without a word, took them up to another floor. This floor, similar to the one they’d just been on, with the same trims and flooring, was intensely quiet. Almost unnervingly so.
Even Adryel seemed to realize this was a quiet space. She kept looking around, and then to him. Her eyes scanned everything, like she was trying to figure out her escape.
Honestly, he wouldn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot in the last few days. The fact that she wasn’t a pile of blubbering fear right now said a lot.
The guards opened a room for them.
“The Baron will summon you when he returns from the Coalition.”
Stron nodded. “Thank you.”
Adryel walked through, looking around, but didn’t put her hood down until the guard was gone and the door sealed. Quite a change from the cave, the suite looked like a smaller version of the apartment that Adryel and the others had been given in the tower before.
A private place where Stron had been known to spend time that was both secure but also very separate from prying eyes. Even the guards here were known to be some of the best.
Discreet as well as protective.
Adryel spun on him as soon as the door was sealed and they were alone. “Okay, Stron. It’s time. Start speaking.”
He crossed to the food prep area. “Are you hungry?”
“For information,” she replied.
He headed to the food prep unit, and got two glasses of juice. “Here,” he said, handing her the cup.
“Thanks. Now speak.”
“Do you have a particular topic you want to discuss?”
She glared at him, her bundles of her red hair piled on top of her head, frayed and chaotic, matching her frustrated expression.
He found it adorable.
“Don’t look at me like that. Just tell me what the hell is going on.”
“I’m not looking at you any particular way,” Stron said.
“Yes you are. Like I’m some cute little child you’re amusing. Knock it off and tell me what the hell Knobb was talking about back there. And what does it have to do with me and the rest of us brides.” She spat out the last word, like it made her mad to even admit that’s what they were there to be. “And why a damn zealot was following us, and, what was that, did he kill himself right there in the tunnel?”
“Yes, unfortunately, he did. Rather disappointing,” Stron said.
She waved a hand. “We’ll get to that in a minute. Right now, Knobb. Talk.”
He nodded, focusing his thoughts. “Yes. Knobb.”
“You seem to have an idea of what is going on. Share it.”
“Knobb mentioned stranding someone somewhere to make sure the job was done. In the past, this has been a way of making sure that certain tasks, especially those of questionable origins, get finished as they’re supposed to be done.”
“Like killing the assassin after the job’s done,” she said. “So, no one can trace it back to who hired them.”
