Page 43 of Reflections of Silence

She shook her head, eyes widening. “The bayou community?”

I frowned. “Who are they?”

“Granny Smythe leads them. No one can visit.”

“No one?”

“No, madame.” She spun on the spot, collecting my nightclothes. “It is forbidden. There are...animals there.”

I smiled humorlessly. “More frightening than Sebastian?”

“Oh, much.” She looked at me, then seemed to realize what she’d said. “Madame, forgive me. I am so sorry?—”

“Minette. If you don’t start using my name, I’ll start doing my hair on my own.” I threw the threat out in a gentle tone but fixed her with a sharp eye, though we both knew I was joking. The corners of her mouth turned up as she bobbed another curtsey. “And stop doing that.”

The poor maid stood stock still. I laughed, unable to help the breach in etiquette, but I didn't care. She gave me a rueful smile, heading for the door, laundry collected in her thin arms.

Smiling to myself, I collected a book I’d been reading, ready to spend some time in the gardens, determined not to be afraid of the maze.

“Minette,” I called, halting the maid at the door. “Would you locate a small basket of food for me to take outside?”

The bemused maid bopped a half curtesy, turned bright red, and exited in a flurry of nightclothes.

“Could you chew any louder?”

“Would you like me to try?” I swiveled around to face Dolion. He gave me a slow grimace. “Does it hurt to move when you’re like this?” I gestured to his stone form. “Do your legs get tired, crouching there?”

“Does your mouth cease their insidious questions?” he groaned. “We’ve kept my existence secret for over a decade, and in the space of a week, you’ve risked that effort on a multitude of occasions.”

“Are you telling me you dislike my company?”

Dolion grinned. “Not at all. Expose away.” He yawned. “It’s a boring way to pass the time. Especially with no events to mark my passage.”

“You’re obsessed with time,” I pointed out, scattering crumbs on the surface of the water pooling around him. Ducks pecked at them, edging closer to me. I dropped the remainder of the roll at their feet. Feathers fluttered in the water, showering me in a spray of droplets as they attacked the bread in a flurry.

Dolion stopped pouring water when I arrived, and was happier to talk than bide his daylight hours in solitude. I hadn’t asked how the fountain function worked and didn’t ever intend to investigate his anatomy.

“You would be, too, if you watched days go by as a garden fixture.” He snorted derisively. Water splattered water, frightening the ducks. I grimaced. “You’re turning my fountain feral,petite lynx.”

Better than Sebastian’s preferred ‘little hellion’.

“I bet you say that to all the girls.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him. His bellowing laugh filled the garden, frightening theducks, who sprinkled me with fountain water in their distress. “Dolion…I have a favor to ask.”

“That sentence has never meant good things.” He crouched back on his haunches.

I took a breath. “I want you to take me to see Granny Smythe.”

Stone eyebrows rose so high, I thought they might crawl over his bald dome. “Why do you want to see Granny Smythe?”

“So you’ll take me to see her?”

“Not yet.”

I waited. The eyebrow arched again, and I gave in. “She might know something about Amy.”

“Amy. Oh,petite lynx, do not go down that path.”

I chewed my lip, looking down at my hands. “It’s all right.”

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