“Ach, I ought to have known you would welcome this, woman,” he snarled, his voice scathing. “For you will doaughtyou are asked for a bit of gold, will you not?”
Oh.Oh. It felt like a slap, like raw, visceral hurt flashed across Geva’s face, powerful enough that she nearly retched, the room stuttering around her.You will do aught you are asked, for a bit of gold.
And surely, he was referring to the night before. To how he’d ordered Geva to undress, and pinned her onto the bed, pushed inside her most intimate place. And how she’d begged for it, pleaded for it, and screamed his name. Just like… like he’d wanted.
And now he was judging her for it, mocking her for it, and Geva was staggering beneath the humiliation and the misery, her eyes swimming too much to see. But somehow, somehow, the unfairness of it, the gods-damned injustice of it, was enough to make her raise her chin, and find her breath.
“Ididn’tagree to work for Jule,” she whispered, her voice thick and choked. “I didn’t make any kind of commitment whatsoever. And I’ll remind you,sir” — her chin lifted higher — “thatyou’rethe one who hired me.You’rethe one who brought me here, and asked me to do all this work for you, and left me alone all day, without any kind of instruction or reassurance. I kept looking for you all day, wondering what had happened to you, but I kept trying my best for you, doing everything I possibly could to help you!”
There was no answer from Rathgarr, and Geva’s eyes still couldn’t seem to focus on his face, her clammy hand now rubbing against her trembling mouth. “And instead of thanking me,” she gulped, “you return my efforts with anger and mockery and contempt? Do you” — she choked down another breath — “do you evenwantme to work for you anymore, Rathgarr?”
Her voice had gone small and shaky by the end, betraying her weakness, her shame. Her fear of what he might answer, even now. Would he mock her? Remind her of her place? Throw her a coin or two?
And before he could do it, any of it, she lurched away, and staggered toward the door. And then hesitated, her eyes squeezing shut, her hands again clamped in fists at her sides.
“Oh, and I made you an appointment with Kesst,” she said, her voice wavering. “Tomorrow morning, in the Ash-Kai common-room, with the rest of your clan. And you’re going to go, and tell himeverything, andbegfor his mercy, orelse!”
And without waiting for an answer, she pushed unseeing through the curtain, and fled.
27
Geva staggered down the empty corridor on unsteady legs, her eyes blinking hard, her hands still clutched to fists.
She shouldn’t care. It shouldn’t matter. This was just a job, and she knew very well what Rathgarr was. A cold, greedy thief, who only cared about himself. One month, and then the sea.
But gods, why did it hurt so much. Why had she spent all this endless day searching for him, thinking of him. Why was she stillhelpinghim like this, with Kesst. Why did she keep thinking he was — they were —
“Poppet,” came a voice, Rathgarr’s voice, too close — and when Geva flinched and glanced sideways, he was there. Here. His eyes unreadable on hers, his big hand circling around her wrist, pulling her to a halt beside him. “Where do you ken you are going?”
Geva flinched again, and yanked her wrist away. “For a bath, in the Skai wing,” she gritted out, as she strode down the corridor again. “It’s been a long day.”
Despite the emptiness of the corridor, she was suddenly very aware of the dark, gaping doors cut into the stone around them, hiding any number of possible listeners. And surely Rathgarr was thinking of it too, his body lurching closer beside hers, his eyes darting uneasily at the walls around them.
“Ach, you need not go alone,” he said, a little too loudly. “It should grant me great joy to bathe you, my pretty pet.”
It was such a blatant lie, and Geva’s body reflexively recoiled, her sideways look at Rathgarr feeling almost wounded. “I shouldn’t wish to trouble you,” she managed. “I’ll be quite all right, I’m sure.”
Rathgarr betrayed a visible grimace, his head shaking, and his hand again slipped around her wrist. “I yet wish to come,” he replied. “I wish to keep you content, and safe.”
His fingers had purposefully squeezed at the wordsafe, his gaze again angling around the corridor, and suddenly Geva was fighting the urge to shout at him again, to shove him off and sprint away into the darkness. “Oh, yes, I know you’resoconcerned about my safety,” she replied, as blandly as she could. “As you’re such a kind andattentivemate.”
Rathgarr grimaced again, and darted another look at the darkened doors around them. “Ach, your safety is of greatest import to me, sweetling,” he said, his voice only slightly clipped. “This is why I am so pleased you spent all this day with the captain’s mate and son, who are surely the best guarded in all this mountain.”
Oh, sothatwas his explanation for abandoning her all day, then, and Geva glared at him, and walked faster. “Is that so?” she replied, surely with too much coldness in her voice. “I think you may have forgotten to mention that as well,love.”
Rathgarr’s jaw had gone very tight, his mouth pursed, his hand spasming against her wrist. “I hope you shall forgive my lapses, poppet,” he said. “I should never wish to leave you baffled, or vexed, or afraid.”
Geva nearly laughed at that, but bit her lip, and stalked faster down the corridor. They were surely in the Skai wing by now, and if she turned here, that waterfall bath should be around…
“I speak truth in this, poppet,” Rathgarr’s low voice continued. “I wish you to be… happy, here, with me.”
Good gods, that was nearly worse than all the rest, and Geva furiously shoved off his hand, and spun sideways into her destination. The cool, airy Skai bath, with the rushing waterfall pouring out of the ceiling, pooling onto the stone floor beneath.
Like the corridor, it was thankfully empty, with no other orcs to be seen, but when Geva stalked over to the edge of the pool, Rathgarr immediately followed, his big body restless and far too close. “Please, poppet,” he said, his low voice almost drowned out by the steady thunder of the water. “I am… sorry. I ought not to have said this, about the coin.”
Geva’s fury surged again, her head whipping back and forth. “But you did, Rathgarr,” she hissed back at him. “You said it, and youmeantit! You judged me for working hard for you, for doing my best for you! You made itveryclear” — she jabbed a shaky finger toward his chest — “that you only see me as a greedy, shamelesshireling, ready to sell out to the highest bidder!”
Her voice had gone far too frayed, her eyes painfully prickling. And before her, Rathgarr winced, and shook his head. “I do not truly see you thus, woman,” he replied, with a heavy exhale. “I was only angry, and afraid you should rather acceptheroffer of work, rather than mine.”
