Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) (25 page)

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Authors: Sharon Shinn

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He was silent for a beat. Then he said, in a carefully neutral voice, “So you were thinking about me all last week?”
 
 
It was not what she had expected him to say, and she was surprised into a laugh. “I was. But only because you’re such a novel experience. Don’t get all conceited.”
 
 
He bowed his head as if rebuked. “I’ll try not to think too highly of myself. I’ll try to keep in mind that you would find any stranger equally fascinating.”
 
 
“See, that’s the sort of thing that would send Torrin into a frenzy,” she scolded. “He can’t stand the idea that someone would flirt with his only sister.” Justin laughed, and Ellynor bristled a little. She said, “Why is that funny?”
 
 
“I didn’t even realize we were flirting.” His face was full of mirth. “I don’t know enough about women to realize when it’s just a conversation and when it’s—” He made a motion with his hand.
When it’s something more.
 
 
Ellynor was flustered. Sweet Mother, had she assumed too much? Had there not been that undertone of romance in some of the things they said? Had she just been so caught up in the dark appeal of doomed lovers that she believed Justin felt the same sparks and energies? “Oh! Well, I—I mean, certainly you—and, of course,
friends
is what I want us to be—all we can be—”
 
 
He stopped her with a hand on her arm. She didn’t think she touched her cousins or her brothers in a whole day as often as she and Justin had touched each other in an hour. “I thought of you all last week, too,” he said quietly. “I haven’t known that many women and I don’t know how a man is supposed to treat them. I have a friend, and he’s in love with a woman, and he is so good to her that she knows she is safe and cherished no matter where she goes in the world. If I was in love with someone, that’s how I’d want her to feel when she was with me. But I don’t know anything about falling in love or the steps people take to get there. I thought we were friends, too. Maybe that’s how it starts. Maybe only some people go on from there. But I think that’s where we are.”
 
 
She smiled at him, feeling her eyes mist up again. “I think that’s where we are, too, Justin,” she said. “But I’m glad we’re that far.”
 
 
“How long will you be in Neft, this visit?”
 
 
“I don’t know. About a week, I think. The Lestra didn’t really want me to come, but she wanted to please Jenetta Gisseltess. I don’t think she’ll want me gone too long.”
 
 
“Will I be able to see you again?”
 
 
“I hope so,” she said swiftly, and they both laughed.
 
 
“I can come back tomorrow night. About this time. If you can get free.”
 
 
She nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Most everyone else is asleep.”
 
 
He lifted an eyebrow. “
Most
everyone else? You snuck out of a house where someone was on watch?”
 
 
“Just a footman. And he was half asleep.”
 
 
“Like to see you running an ambush,” he commented.
 
 
“My days of playing pretend war games with my brothers are long over.”
 
 
His expression said,
I wasn’t talking about pretend games,
but he didn’t pronounce the words aloud. For a moment, her heart misgave her. Who
was
this man she was admitting so blithely into her life—no, that she was running after in a headlong fashion, demanding to be admitted into his? She knew nothing about him except that he was dangerous and had a story he refused to tell.
 
 
And that he was funny and kind and impatient and thoughtful and stubborn and, at the oddest moments, vulnerable. And that she was about to walk away from him right now and already she missed the sight of his smile, the casual touch of his hand.
 
 
He had decided to say something else. “If you can get free during the day instead, I’ll most likely be at the stables,” he said. “Do you remember how to get there?”
 
 
“I think so,” she said cautiously.
 
 
He grunted. “I’ll make a map for you. I’ll bring it back tomorrow and leave it—” He looked around. “By that fence-post. I’ll dig a little hole. You’ll know it by the fresh dirt.”
 
 
She could feel her eyes light up with excitement and intrigue. “All right. But I don’t know what they’ll have me doing during the day. I’m supposed to be nursing serra Paulina. Who doesn’t need that much nursing,” she added.
 
 
“And then I’ll be back tomorrow night. Around this time.”
 
 
“Or I could come to you at the stables tomorrow night. If you’ve left me a map.”
 
 
He looked at her as if she was crazy. “At
night
? By yourself?”
 
 
“I told you. I can practically see in the dark.”
 
 
“I think you must not be remembering what happened to you last time you were wandering around Neft on your own.”
 
 
“But there’s nobody out at night! Look! We’re the only two people on the street.”
 
 
“Believe me, there are people out in some of the districts you’d be crossing through. And you
don’t
want to come across them while you’re alone. Night
or
day.” He studied her in the dark. “Promise me you won’t try it. Or I won’t leave the map.”
 
 
“You’re as bad as Torrin,” she said.
 
 
“Maybe.” He just waited.
 
 
“Oh, fine, I won’t try to come alone at night.”
 
 
“Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow, one way or the other.”
 
 
She pushed herself to her feet and he rose nimbly at the same time. “Something to look forward to,” she said with a smile. Her feet were tangled in his shirt. She rested a hand against his shoulder as she unwrapped herself and handed back his clothing. “You’d better wash that before wearing it again.”
 
 
“Bring your shoes with you tomorrow night,” he ordered. “Unless you want me to get all my shirts dirty.”
 
 
“You’re very bossy.”
 
 
He shrugged. “Never thought of it that way. I’m practical.” “You’re extreme.”
 
 
“Sometimes.”
 
 
She shook her head. “I’ll bring my shoes. Justin, it was so good to see you.”
 
 
“Tomorrow then, Ellynor.”
 
 
It could have been awkward, for it almost seemed as if she should hug him good-bye. Instead, she smiled, gave him a little wave, and hurried back through the gate. Through the door, past the drowsing footman, silently up the stairs, into her own room.
 
 
Across the floor so she could gaze out the window. Yes, as she’d expected, Justin was still there in the street, waiting to make sure she’d safely navigated the nonexistent hazards of the house. She waved again. He lifted a hand in a brief salute, then turned and headed back down the hill. She watched him till he was out of sight.
 
 
CHAPTER 12
 
 
MOST unexpectedly, it turned out that serra Paulina had a soft spot for forbidden romance.
 
 
Ellynor had, understandably, slept late—and found herself encountering Jenetta Gisseltess’s frown when she checked the sickroom at noon the next day.
 
 
“You’re supposed to be here nursing my mother, and yet you sleep the whole morning away?” the noblewoman exclaimed. “A girl from the kitchens would do as well, and so I will tell Coralinda! Why we had to send all the way to the convent for such sloppy work—”
 
 
“Oh, hush, Jenetta. This young woman has been a great help to me,” Paulina interrupted. “She was in my room till nearly dawn, after traveling half the day to get to my side! I think she deserves an extra hour of sleep in the morning.”
 
 
Jenetta looked even more furious at being scolded in front of a virtual stranger. Her cheeks were red with rage or embarrassment as she glanced at her mother. “You said you were still in pain this morning,” she said stiffly.
 
 
“I imagine I will be in pain for a great many more days,” Paulina said tartly. “But I’m
better
. I told you that the minute you came in. All due to this girl and her kindness.”
 
 
Ellynor judged it time to speak up. She assumed a most contrite expression and dropped a small curtsey in Jenetta’s direction. “I’m sorry. I got to bed very late. The serramarra assured me servants would be in this morning. I could sleep in the room with her so that she would never be alone—I would be happy to do that if—”
 
 
“Mercy, no!” Paulina cried. “It’s bad enough I have to have people hovering over me at all hours, helping me with the most intimate things. Can’t I sleep in private, at least?”
 
 
“Truly, I did not mean to abandon her,” Ellynor said humbly.
 
 
Jenetta was a little mollified. “I suppose I can see why you might be so tired after a day like you had. It’s just that I hate to think of my mother suffering—”
 
 
“Oh no,” Ellynor said earnestly. “I will do everything I can to help her.”
 
 
There was then a brief consultation about how serra Paulina was feeling, what Ellynor might do to aid her this afternoon, and what duties Jenetta had that would keep her from her mother’s sickroom the rest of the day. Finally, Jenetta left, and Ellynor and the old woman were left alone together.
 
 
“And are you really still in pain?” Ellynor demanded.
 
 
“No! In fact, I feel amazingly good. Strong enough to tear these splints off and go dancing down the hall.”
 
 
“You promised you wouldn’t do that,” Ellynor said.
 
 
“I won’t. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”
 
 
“Well, and you could get in trouble, too! Just because your leg is feeling better doesn’t mean the bone is truly healed. It will take some time to regain its full strength and be able to bear your weight. And as for
dancing
. I think it will be awhile before you should attempt anything so energetic.”
 
 
“It has been awhile since I have attempted to dance, but I am thinking now I should give it a try,” Paulina said. Her voice sounded amused; she was watching as Ellynor eyed the remains of her breakfast tray, still laden with fruit and pastries. “Are you hungry? Eat whatever you like.”
 
 
“I’m famished,” Ellynor admitted, picking up a flaky roll and devouring it. As soon as she’d swallowed, she added, “I didn’t stop in the dining hall to get a meal—and just as well, or think how late I’d have been then!”
 
 
“Still, I do wonder,” the old woman said in an innocent voice, “what kept you abed so long this morning? It was midnight when you left my room. And you couldn’t get up till noon?”
 
 
Ellynor had not thought to prepare an excuse, and for a moment her mind was empty. She had picked up an apple and now she just held it in her palm. “I was—well, the trip was long, and I was more tired than I thought I’d be—”
 
 
Paulina was watching her, the blue eyes bright with curiosity.“Tell me, Ellynor. Do you have a lover in Neft? Did you sneak out to be with him last night?”
 
 
Ellynor had taken a bite of fruit and now she almost spit it out. “A—a
lover
?” she exclaimed, when she was done coughing with mortification. “Serra Paulina!”
 
 
The serramarra waved a hand. “Oh, perhaps someone you have not actually taken to your bed,” she said with the unconcern of the very old and the not easily shocked. “A boy you fancy. Someone who makes your heart race and your dreams turn dizzy.”
 
 
That describes Justin well enough
, Ellynor thought. She said, “Novices at the convent are discouraged from forming attachments to young men.”

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