They all erased their boards, and Sadie knew she wasn’t the only one wondering about Nicholas’s answer. For once, though, other thoughts didn’t swamp her because she was too focused on her own to notice them.
That had not been an answer chosen to match Abigail.
“Next question: If you had to spend all day in part of Marstede, where would you choose?”
The brewing room. Sadie would gladly stay an entire week in there. The whole month, even if she had to sleep there. But she couldn’t write that as her answer. She should write one of the parlors, which would almost certainly be Abigail’s answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie so much on this question. For the first time, knowing that she had to hide her answer hurt. And so she gave the most honest answer she could without exposing all her secrets.
“The spring,” she shared when it was her turn, making everyone frown, as there was no spring on the parts of the estate they had visited. Everyone except Madeleine and Nicholas, that was. The dowager listened to her answer with a small smile. And Nicholas?
He looked at her with enough heat in his hazel eyes turned mostly green that she couldn’t help but remember what had happened when they had stopped by the bank of that spring. He continued looking at her when he flipped over his slate and told everyone that his favorite spot was also the spring.
Liar, she mouthed at him. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and she realized she had just contradicted him. Just as she had when they first met. He wasn’t picking his answers based on Abigail anymore, but on her.
He’d avoided her for days after the incident at the spring, and now he wanted to make bets with her and tease her in front of everyone? Granted, no one—except possibly his mother—knew he was teasing her, but that didn’t change what he was doing. She thought he had made his decision.
Had she been disappointed that he wouldn’t trust her enough to follow through on the path those kisses had led them toward? Of course. But she’d also been relieved. If he didn’t trust her, then she didn’t have to feel guilty about the secrets she was keeping. Her real name was the least of the bunch.
Madeleine only asked three more questions before declaring the game over, but for each of those questions, Nicholas’s answers felt like a private message to Sadie. She didn’t know what to make of it.
“And our winner is Sadie,” Madeleine announced. “And in second place is Abigail. They will sit next to Nicholas at supper. I will also announce our next round of activities for the coming week tonight.”
Sadie shot out of her seat the moment Madeleine finished talking. She needed a moment away from everyone and their thoughts in order to put her own in order. She wished she could retreat to the brewing room, but Jane would surely head there next. Pippa came and went from her suite at random times. If Sadie really wanted to be alone, there was only one place she could go.
She made it out of the manor without issue and turned toward the Gloaming Forest. Her thoughts weren’t alone in her head though. Someone was within range of her power, which extended out about the same size as the parlor she had just left. She turned, unsurprised after the anger her magic was picking up to see Abigail marching toward her.
“You cheated!”
Sadie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least Abigail’s thoughts and words matched. “It was a game, Abigail. And you will be sitting next to Nicholas tonight at dinner, too.”
Wouldn’t that be fun?
“But you cheated! You never could have guessed so many of his answers otherwise.”
“We weren’t supposed to be guessing his answers, but writing our own honest opinions,” Sadie pointed out.
“We all know that wasn’t what the game was about. And you must have been looking at what he was writing. How else could you have answered the same as him so many times? I’ve never even seen a spring, so how could you know it exists, let alone claim it is your favorite place?”
“The spring is in the forest. I can take you to it right now.”
Abigail lifted her chin higher. “Fine. Show me this spring.”
Well, damn. Sadie had hoped the offer to take her into the forest would be enough to get rid of Abigail. She underestimated how far the other woman would go to win over Nicholas, however.
If she does know where this spring is, then I need to, too. It could be the perfect spot to seduce the baron, since he likes it so much.
“You want to go into the Gloaming Forest?” Sadie asked, hoping to make Abigail reconsider.
“I knew you were bluffing. You don’t know where the spring is at all.”
Sadie sighed again and resumed her walk toward the woods. She looked back over her shoulder at Abigail. “I’m going to the spring now. You can follow me if you want.”
Abigail followed.
Sadie stayed several strides in front of her and took the opportunity to lick her thumb and trace the glyph on her amulet once more. Abigail’s thoughts faded from her awareness. Once they were under the trees, however, the younger woman sped up and closed the distance between them, clearly less sanguine about entering the forest than she had pretended.
She jumped when a bird cawed directly overhead. “Why would the baron want to spend time out here?”
“Most of Marstede is in the forest. It would be odd if he were afraid of his own lands.”
