I sighed. “I’m afraid that isn’t an immediate possibility, but I will do my best to find you a way there.”
“Why won’t it be an immediate possibility?” she asked.
“I promise, I will explain, but I think it’s best if we talk about it inside once you have some clothing.”
She glanced down at the cloth she’d wrapped around her body. It barely covered her, ending at mid-thigh and wrapping tightly over her breasts. It displayed her shape in fine detail, something my men were obviously enamored with if their staring was anything to go by.
She realized this as she looked around and saw the way the soldiers were gawking at her. Her eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth at them. I couldn’t help but admire her spirit.
Several of my guards cringed a bit at the feral look she shot them, but Talus looked intrigued.
Shit.I had to get her out of here, or I would end up having to fight my own soldiers because of that possessive voice.
“Please, female. Come with me.”
Her chin lifted as she faced me. “I’m keeping my knife.”
I nodded.
“That’s my?—”
I scowled at Talus. “She disarmed you, and you never noticed. Ask the arms master for another.”
“But I bought that knife from Sturm’s forge with my own money!” he argued.
“Then, I guess you’ll have to use your reimbursement to purchase another,” I shot back. “Consider it payment for me saving your life.”
His mouth snapped shut because he knew I was right. He hadn’t even noticed the human steal his knife, much less that she was about to slice him open. If I hadn’t witnessed how fast and skilled she was myself, I would have dismissed him from training immediately, and he knew it. A human less than half his size should never have been able to steal a knife from his boot.
“Yes, Bokkan,” he finally said.
I turned and gestured for the human to come with me. “Female, please follow me.”
She kept a good distance between us, trailing behind me as I led her around the house toward the kitchen door. It was the closest to the training yard. I didn’t think she would appreciate me trying to lift her through the window into my study.
When we entered the room, Masu, the imp who cooked my meals and organized the household staff, looked up from her place at the stove.
“Master! What are you…” Her question faded into silence when she saw the human female. “Oh, my. Who is this?”
Wiping her hand on a towel hooked into her apron, Masu bustled toward the female, oblivious to the knife in her other hand.
“My dear, are you hungry? Thirsty? Please, come sit at the table, and I’ll get you some tea and some soup.”
The female took a step back, her body tensing when Masu put a motherly arm around her shoulder and guided her toward the table against the wall. But the human didn’t attack her. She let the imp fuss over her, her jaw tight and her eyes darting around the room, assessing and cool.
It was obvious she was anxious based on the visible pulse at the base of her throat, but nothing else about her demeanor gave it away.
Who was this human female that looked so fragile and breakable yet had more courage and skill than some of the finest soldiers I’d ever worked with? She should never have been able to even hold her own against Talus. He towered over her and likely weighed three times more than her.
“I am Masu. What are you called?”
I tuned into the conversation suddenly, wondering what the human’s name was.
She shot me a lethal look, but her expression softened when she spoke to my housekeeper. “My name is Leda.”
“Oh, what a beautiful name!” Masu said, clasping her hands over her chest. “It’s the perfect name for such a pretty female.”
While most females would have preened at the compliment, the human, er, Leda, didn’t seem disarmed. If anything, she grew more suspicious.
