She shot him an incredulous look. No big deal?
“That’s why I made it clear that I’m attracted to you, too. So we would be even.”
“We will never be even,” she ground out. “Not when I can’t hear you. I can’t believe you…” She lowered her head into her hands and groaned. I’m so embarrassed. Mortified. Where can I crawl into a hole? Should I throw myself off the barge and swim ashore? We’re not that far from Eberon. I could be there before nightfall.
“Gwen, relax.”
She glowered at him. “How can I relax when you’ve been invading my privacy? How dare you!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. Your mind is so open, it’s like you’re shouting at me.”
“You want to hear shouting?” Her voice rose again.
“Gwen.” He touched her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me.” She jumped to her feet and stumbled a second before grabbing on to the table. Goodness, I drank too much. He reached out to steady her, but she slapped his hand away. “Don’t. And stop invading my mind!”
“I never wanted to.” He stood and leaned toward her to whisper. “Surely you agree that it’s better for me to tell you now than to let the situation continue as it is.”
“You should have been honest from the beginning.” Holy goddesses, have I been a fool? Brigitta warned me he has a great deal of secrets. And I know he’s capable of deception. The scoundrel.
“If I was truly a scoundrel, I would have never told you the truth.”
He heard me! “What else are you not telling me?”
“I’ll tell you everything you’ll need to know in order to help me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That means you plan to keep some things secret.”
He winced. “I will be as honest as I possibly can.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“It should be. If I do keep something secret, it’s because it would be dangerous for you to know.”
But that only makes me more curious. She looked away.
He groaned inwardly. If she found out the biggest secret of Norveshka, she would not be allowed to leave. And then she would really resent him. He would have to make sure she stayed focused on the health problems. It was her curiosity about the dragons that was dangerous.
“I’m not sure I can trust you,” she muttered.
“I realize that. But I will do my best to protect you. First we need to protect your privacy.” He stepped closer. “Let me show you how to build a shield.”
“Leave me alone!” She backed away. “I want to be alone for a while.” She rushed to the side of the barge and grasped the railing. Dear goddesses, what have I gotten myself into?
With a sigh, Silas sat down and refilled his cup. This hadn’t gone well. But he would have to be a fool to think it could have gone any other way.
* * *
Don’t think about him. He’ll hear you, Gwennore admonished herself. Wait—so what if he does? Then he’ll know what you really think. That he’s a rotten scoundrel. A low-down, dirty rat of a stinking bastard!
Behind her, she heard a cough as he choked on his wine, and she smiled to herself.
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to calm her nerves. One month. That was all she had promised the filthy bastard. She would concentrate on figuring out how the queen was being poisoned. And she’d work with the women he had mentioned—Lady Margosha and the army physician, Annika. For the most part, she would completely ignore the sorry, rotten bastard. She’d pretend that he didn’t even exist.
He cleared his throat behind her.
A wicked temptation to take revenge popped into her mind. Did she dare? Why not? He deserved it.
She closed her eyes and envisioned herself sauntering up to him and shoving her discarded chair out of the way. Then, ever so slowly, she would lift up her skirt till she could straddle his legs and settle in his lap. Then she would stroke her fingers down his cheek, and when his green eyes glittered with heated desire, she would pull her hand back and slap him silly.
“Not funny,” he growled.
She glanced back, affecting an innocent look. “Is something wrong?”
When he stared back at her, her heart stuttered in her chest. Goodness, the gleam in his eyes was even hotter than she’d imagined. She turned back to gaze at the shoreline. Two could get burned playing that game.
Don’t think about him. She concentrated on the shoreline and the hillside covered with thick forest. Behind the hill, there were peaks of mountains covered with snow. Such a breathtakingly beautiful country.
The scent of pine and spruce trees wafted toward her on a cool, fresh breeze. So many trees. No wonder there were tales to warn children not to wander off. But were the mountain trolls real? The illustrations in Torushki’s Bedtime Tales of a Mountain Troll had shown them as short, swarthy-looking creatures with long, bushy hair and beards, bulbous noses, pointed teeth, and bare feet. They dressed in dirty furs and never bathed.
They probably stank as bad as the bastard sitting behind her.
He sighed loud enough that she could hear.
Don’t think about him. So did the mountain trolls truly exist? She focused on the view in front of her and strained her ears. As an elf, she’d always had better hearing than her sisters. There was the lapping of waves against the barge and the rhythmic swooshing sound of oars, but she listened beyond that.
Once again she heard a whispering sound, murmurs carried to her over a soft breeze. She glanced up. There was only the one silent dragon overhead. These were multiple voices, and they seemed to be coming from the forest.
Can you hear me? she asked mentally, and a chorus of soft voices wafted into her mind.
Who was that?
She is not one of us. Ignore her.
She must not be one of the barbarians. They cannot hear us.
She must be Elf.
Then she is far from home.
Gwennore had counted at least five voices. They weren’t speaking Norveshki, but something akin
