“Yes.”
“And I've heard you've already saved us from Vanre's foolishness and created a reagent to determine corruption.”
“How do you know that? Have rumors spread already?”
“Yes, but also, the King told me.”
“Oh? Are you friends?” A ridiculous surge of jealousy came over me. I pushed it down with cold reason—I wasn't interested in a relationship with the King, so how could I be jealous of a lover?
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“One can never be certain with kings. Or courtiers, for that matter.” He winked at me.
“Are you lovers?”
Caro lifted his eyebrows. “Why would you ask that?”
“He's shared events that have just occurred with you. That seems like a man confiding in a lover or a friend. You've just implied that you're not friends, so that leaves a lover.”
“I didn't mean to imply that. ” He cocked his head. “Are you his lover?”
“We have been intimate, but it was only once, so I wouldn't call him my lover.”
“Ah, yes. Volper are slow to take partners. Well, I am not his lover, Master Sevarin. You have no competition in me.”
“I didn't . . . I wouldn't have cared if you were lovers. I was just curious.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You say you know Volpers, but that's not true if you doubt what I said.”
Caro chuckled. “I do know Volpers. Usually, I would believe someone who said that to me. You, however, are not behaving as a normal Volper.”
“In what way?” I stopped a few feet from the dining hall archway to face him.
“There are certain physical marks of nervousness, interest, and jealousy. You are showing all of them.”
My heart raced, but I scowled at him. “Such as?”
“Such as pupil dilation, tension around your lips, and that tail of yours is a dead giveaway. You got jealous when I spoke of the King, nervous when you questioned our relationship, and relieved when I vowed that there was nothing romantic between us. Therefore, you are planning to take your relationship with the King to a more intimate level.”
“I am not!”
Caro held up his hands. “Very well. My mistake.”
“I'm sorry. That was an unacceptable outburst. You were calmly explaining your findings, and I reacted poorly.”
“And what does that tell you, Master Sevarin?”
I headed for the dining hall. “It tells me I need to change my behavior to suit my goals.”
Caro sighed and muttered, “Not quite what I was hoping to hear.”
Chapter Eleven
This was unacceptable. A stranger had just read my emotions—emotions I had ignored. My tail flicked behind me in irritation. Then I realized it was flicking and stilled it. I didn't enjoy being so transparent. Nor did I like how I was reacting to King Falken. It was all his pretty words and the way he looked at me. He didn't behave like a normal man, much less a king. I thought I'd been clear in the way I approached him. A man interested in romance wouldn’t have seduced him mere hours after their introduction. For me, such behavior always resulted in one of two things in the past: a torrid affair based only on sex or a feigned ignorance of what occurred and no further sexual activity.
