Hidden behind my mask, my forehead puckered as I tried to figure out what he was getting at. “Does that mean it’s bad and I overpaid?”
“It means all tea is good. Unless it’s poisoned or charmed,” Orrin said.
“Ah. Okay.” I stood there for a second, caught off-guard by the whole thing. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”
There had been a part of me that assumed he’d just throw it out, even in my most optimistic thoughts I’d never guessed he’d be so happy to just drink tea.
Yeah, I should ask Grove for help in understanding fae more. None of my training classes ever covered this.
“You have questions for me today?” Orrin prompted.
“Yeah.” I flexed my hands in my gloves to ground myself as I tried to get my thoughts in order. “You heard you’re probably going to Ghast Prison for a bit?”
Orrin nodded, maintaining his serene zen. “Indeed.”
“You’re okay with that?”
Orrin shrugged. “I knew if I was caught there would be consequences for what I did.”
Huh. Okay…
I wasn’t surprised Ghast didn’t seem to bother him—it would probably be on par with this windowless room, since his crime was relatively small for Ghast.
Still, I’d been hoping for some kind of reaction—anything that would give me a hint at how deep this mess went.
“Going to Ghast is a bit over the top considering you did damage to public property, when Ghast is for the worst supernatural criminals,” I said.
“It has been twenty-nine days since I was arrested,” Orrin said. “Eventually the werewolves were bound to tire of me.”
A dig at werewolves seemed very in character for him and still not a reaction. Was there anything I could say to throw him off?
“I saw Gisila outside,” I blurted out.
Orrin jolted, jumping so hard he sloshed the tea in his cup.
I stared at Orrin, wide-eyed.
Orrin stared back at me, also wide-eyed.
Long moments stretched between us as I pondered that obvious reaction and how I could follow up on it.
“I’ve seen her around Magiford a few times since you were arrested.” I slowly and carefully said.
Orrin set his cup down—which I took to mean this was very serious, but also could have been an attempt at saving his precious tea so he didn’t spill it if he jumped again.
Silence stretched between us, I didn’t know how to test if Orrin was trying to be helpful or if this was an elaborate performance to mislead me.
I should have asked Sunshine to come with me. She’d know. Lesson learned.
I racked my brain for clever ways to ask questions, but the truth was I could barely have a halfway normal conversation the way it was. Maybe I was better off just being upfront?
“Is there anything you want to say?” I asked. “About that? About… Gisila?”
I assumed he wouldn’t react, so I was shocked when Orrin set his jaw and drew his head back.
It wasn’t a clear yes or no reaction—which I badly needed in order to make sense of this. But maybe he couldn’t give me a clear reaction, because of the geas?
I cleared my throat and tried again. “Or is it that there’s a lot you want to say, but can’t?”
