Page 52 of The Warrior Priest
“That, and your memory and observational skills.”
“My memory is faultless. You know that.”
She clapped my shoulder and flashed a smile. “Then I expect you to pass with flying colors.”
There were numerous small tests like that as autumn rolled into winter. Events in Glancia seemed a world away as the days blurred together. My training gave me little time for anything else, which was a blessing. It meant there was less time to think about Rhys. I still thought about him every day, however, usually as I stared up at the night sky as we walked through the city. Was he looking up at the same sky, wondering how my life was going without him? Did he think of me at all?
Giselle always seemed to have a knack for knowing when I was thinking about him. She also had a knack for distracting me from those thoughts, either by making me do more training, or taking me to a tavern. After I punched that fellow who’d squeezed my breast, the men became a little more respectful. When one desired me, he would ask to take me to one of the bedchambers instead of demanding or trying to grope me. Although I was often propositioned, I didn’t take a lover, despite Giselle’s encouragement.
She had several lovers, mostly men but sometimes women, too. No one seemed shocked so I pretended that I knew that sort of thing happened all the time. Then after a little while, I no longer raised an eyebrow. It seemed perfectly natural for Giselle to bed whomever she pleased.
One evening, when she said she was slipping off for a while with one of her regular lovers, I told her I was leaving and going to bed early. After hearing some news from Glancia earlier, I felt a little homesick. How long would it be before I saw Tilting again? I wanted to go back. The question was, should I?
The house was quiet, but I couldn’t sleep. I decided to read until I drifted off. Giselle wouldn’t mind if I borrowed one of her books. Although I hadn’t been in her office since the day I arrived, she’d never actually banned me from entering. She simply kept the door locked to keep the collection safe from burglars.
The lock presented a little more difficulty than I expected, but I got it open with my picking tools after remembering a very old lesson from my father on a similar mechanism. I studied the spines of the books, but the one about Zemayan beliefs caught my attention. It was the one with the red leather cover that Giselle had been reading soon after my arrival. I removed it from the shelf and sat on the chair at the desk, making space by pushing some correspondence aside.
A letter in the middle of the pile caught my attention. It bore the Tilting governor’s seal. The seal was still intact, so Giselle hadn’t read the letter yet.
The front door opened, and cool air brushed my cheeks. I waited for Giselle to find me. I intended to confront her about the letter, but she spoke first.
“What are you doing in here? Does a lock mean nothing to you?”
“I thought you’d be proud. That lock is complex.” I held up the letter. “Why are you corresponding with the Tilting governor?”
She approached the desk and accepted the letter with a frown. “I’ve been dumping the correspondence there all week. I haven’t got to any of it yet.” She broke the seal and unfolded the single sheet. “That’s interesting. It’s about you.”
“Me?” She handed it to me, and I read. “He wants to hire you to find the girl disguising herself as a boy called Jac.”
“Apparently.”
“He’s offering a nice sum.”
“Not nice enough.” She took back the letter and tossed it onto the desk. “What aren’t you telling me, Jac?”
I looked down at the book.
She picked it up and closed it. “You told me he wanted you because you had the pendant. He has the pendant now, so why does he want me to find you?”
I blew out a breath and met her gaze. “He’s my uncle.”
“Ohhhh. So you’re the niece who died.” She sat on the edge of the desk, frowning. “Except clearly you didn’t die. I think you need to tell me everything.”
And I did. She listened, riveted, and when I finished, she clutched the book to her chest and stared at me. “That explains the nice accent, your…bearing, I suppose you’d call it. I could tell you weren’t born in a gutter. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone knowing the connection.”
“You didn’t trust me?” She sounded hurt.
“I felt ashamed having that man as my relative.”
She nodded. “That makes sense. I’d hate being related to him, too.” She tapped the letter. “Don’t worry, Jac. I won’t turn you over to him.”
“I never doubted it.” I stood. “I was going to read for a while in bed. Why are you home so early? Did your lover lack the stamina?”
“Quite the opposite. He wanted to invite another woman to join us. I do not share.”
“Remind me never to take a potato off your plate.”
