Page 70 of Dare
“Mercurial, yes. Dreamy, as well. And adventurous.” She ducked her head for a moment, seeming contrite about that. “Mama said I couldn’t keep calm, that I did things without thinking, or that I went wherever the tide took me. And with all the hustle, they couldn’t keep a keen eye on me at the markets. Because of that, my parents fretted about me causing a scene if something riled me up. So we split up, one parent to the market and the other remaining at the boat with me. Without fail, that’s how we did it until—”
She cut herself off. Those golden pupils glistened, haunted by a private recollection. Torment sat on her face like a bruise—dark, infuriating, unacceptable.
It had to be about her parents. She hadn’t said what became of them after she was imprisoned, but with loss gripping her face, it wasn’t difficult to guess. Yet there seemed to be more. In addition to bereavement, guilt consumed the female.
To stop those thoughts from burdening her, I pressed on. “What about other travelers? Did you grow up among them?”
“What are you playing at?” she snapped. “What are all these questions for? I told you, I’m not an experiment.”
“I’m not talking to you like an experiment. I’m talking to you like a person. Isn’t that what you want?”
She gave a start. As did I.
Where the devil had that come from? In Winter, I did not engage with fools, much less inquire about their lives and take interest in what they said. I simply told my assistants to strap them down.
Though if I went farther back, nor did I have prisoners relocated. I never demanded they be transferred to secluded cells where they wouldn’t be disturbed, as I’d done in Autumn.
Poet and Briar had construed my actions as sinister. They had assumed I wanted to punish my quarry by locking her in solitary confinement. Except they’d been wrong.
Fewer neighboring inmates amounted to tighter security, because the sentinels wouldn’t be distracted, thus they would guard the beast more safely. Keeping her separate from the other captives had also ensured a better night’s sleep. It may have deprived her of company, but Poet and Briar had that covered with their frequent visits. Moreover, the relocation had granted this woman the privacy to clean and relieve herself.
If I had explained this to the jester and princess, they wouldn’t have believed it. Not that I’d have wanted them to. Any conspicuous investment in my captive’s comforts would not have done either of us good. Hence, I’d allowed the jester and princess to think whatever the fuck they wanted.
As to why I’d treated this woman thusly, the answer had to do with that memory she didn’t know about.
Back to the task at hand, goddammit. The scalpel peeled back a flap of skin from her shoulder. At the action, she shuddered.
“Almost done,” I lied.
“Bastard,” she growled. “A pinch?”
“When muscles are tense, it exacerbates physical trauma. I needed you relaxed.”
“Is that what you learned in Winter, back when you were a runt waiting for your horns to grow? You learned how to gut people while making them feel at home?”
“No,” was all I bit out.
My voice had gone brittle. This woman didn’t know the first fucking thing about my upbringing, much less what it took to heal someone.
And now she was making me feel defensive. When the fuck had I ever felt defensive?
In case she detected this, I searched for something dignified to say, to cover up the mishap. “For your information, horned animals do not dwell in Winter. Our fauna have antlers and … ears.”
My patient gave me a puzzled look. “Ears.”
I cleared my throat. “Paws as well. And whiskers.”
Shit. I knew babbling when I heard it. The woman stared, a mirthful grin creeping across her face, the sight oddly infectious.
“What else?” she teased. “Do they have claws and talons and tails?”
This was my fault. Nonetheless, the absurdity of this conversation dragged a reluctant smirk from my face. “All of the above,” I played along. “In fact, they also have muzzles and fur.”
“Mmm,” she replied with mock intellectualism. “How extraordinary.”
“Quite.”
“Except I wasn’t referring to animal horns.”