Page 25 of Lhora
“It’s the truth.” And it was, from what she was reading from him.
“If the Sarpi finds out you helped me escape, your ass won’t be worth the price of a cheap paganol,” she argued.
“I’ve done far worse things in the past,” he assured her. She gently probed him again. It was also the truth.
“And all I have to do is spend the night with you, and tomorrow morning you’ll send me home?”
“Yes.”
“Will my weapons be returned to me?”
“Of course.”
Although she knew he wasn’t lying, she couldn’t accept his offer this soon, or else he might grow suspicious. She had to string him along just a little further.
“How do I know you’ll let me go? How do I know you won’t send me back here instead?”
“You have to trust me.”
She laughed in his face. “Oh! You mean the way we trusted your father when we rescued you from the Tra’Mell? The way we trusted you to tell your precious High Council the whole truth about that encounter?” She didn’t have to fake her bitterness.
Duren’s face darkened. “I had nothing to do with that. Neither was I allowed to contradict what my father told the High Council. There are some rules I can bend, but that’s not one of them. That’s one of the reasons why I came here.”
“To apologize?” she taunted.
“Yes.”
“And by agreeing to go with you, that’ll mean I accept your apology?”
“By all the plugging goddesses, Lhora! What else do you want me to say?” he burst out.
“How about you’re sorry? And please?”
All pretense fell away from him. “Yes. I’m sorry for what you’ve been put through. I’m sorry for the kidnapping, and for incarcerating you, and for what you’ve had to endure. Now, will you come back with me and let me have the night with you? Please?”
She leaned back against the cell wall. “All right, but on one condition.”
“Which is?”
“I’m allowed to take a shower and be given a clean set of clothes.”
A tiny smile played over his lips. “Granted.”
14
Shower
No one questioned Duren when he escorted Lhora out of the dungeon. She noticed how he kept one hand clutching her upper arm to make it appear as if she was his prisoner. In a way she was, but she sensed it was more for show. When they emerged outside into the bright sunlight, she spotted a coach waiting for them. Duren loaded her inside before climbing in after her, then banged twice on the roof.
He never looked at her during their ride to the manse. His attention seemed to be focused on the passing scenery outside, but she knew differently. He was thinking. What he was thinking about, she could only guess, but she was pretty sure some of it had to do with her.
Speaking of her. She took a tentative sniff. Yes, she reeked. “Sorry about the smell,” she said, if only to break the silence. She noticed the windows were open to provide a small breeze.
“It’s not the smell that’s bothering me,” he admitted, finally turning his head to address her. “I’m wondering what it’s going to take to get you to trust me.”
She let out a bark of laughter. “You practically blackmail me to come back to your manse with you so you can sleep with me, and you’re worried about how I’m going totrustyou?”
“There’s more to this than you know.”
