Straightening, he took her hand and kissed her fingers, eyeing her curiously.
He pulled her chair out for her, and she sat, smoothing her skirts.
“Nice dress.”
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the compliment and choosing not to explain her decision to forgo the gowns he had given her.
He drank his goblet of blood, and she dined on roast venison. She speared a potato with her fork and thought of a ballad she knew, repeating the words over and over in her mind. He had let slip that such a thing would prevent demons from reading her thoughts, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try. Over and over, she recited the ballad, but no attack on her mind came.
She glanced at him and found him staring at her as if she had something on her face—had he noticed she was trying to keep him out of her thoughts?
But he said nothing, so she ignored him and finished her meal in silence.
“Thank you for dinner. It was lovely,” she said, pushing her plate to the side.
“I’m glad you liked it,” he said, his voice wooden.
She was quiet and waited for him to finish the last of his goblet before rising from the table.
“So, tell me. What have you learned during your study of my library? Surely, you have read half the books in there by now?”
She drew back in her seat, surprised he was taking a stab at conversation. “No, I haven’t read them all yet. There must be thousands.”
He leaned forward in his seat. “Well. I’m glad there’s someone here who enjoys them.”
She frowned, confused as to why he was being nice to her and seeming, for all the world, like he was actually interested in speaking with her.
“Don’t tell me you have all those books and have never read them?” she teased, knowing full well he wasn’t a big reader.
Caspian sipped from his goblet. “Ah, I’m afraid so. I haven’t read many of them. I just buy them and add them to the collection.”
Amused, she leaned forward and smiled. “Hmm ... In that case, I’ll tell you that you have some good titles for someone who doesn’t like to read.”
“I should double what I pay my servant who does the shopping for me then. Is the library your favourite part of the castle? You seem to spend most of your time there.” He wasn’t smiling, but he was certainly giving her a less hostile expression than usual.
She drank a sip of water from her crystal goblet, her fingers tensing on the stem. Something about him taking an interest in her today didn’t sit right. Quietly, she said, “Yes, I believe it is.”
“Did you have a library at home?”
“We did, but it was not nearly as big. We had a few shelves of books and a study, hardly enough to be considered a library.” She smiled. “And you? What is your favourite place in the castle?”
He swirled his goblet and glanced at the ceiling, contemplating. “The view from the second-tallest tower. You can see the best view of the mountains from there.”
She flicked her gaze at his goblet—a chilling reminder that no matter how he spoke to her, he was still a monster in every sense of the word.
“Ah, yes, I’m sure the view would be spectacular there, especially on a clear day, but I haven’t explored there yet.”
“I’ll show it to you sometime.”
“Oh,” she said, taken aback. “I’d like that.”
“Perhaps now.”
“Er.”
He rose from the table and extended his hand.
“Sure,” she said to her own surprise, rising to join him.
