She stared at the crowd without looking at any one in particular. Indecision on her next move clouded her mind. She wanted to rush back to the bedchamber and forget about exploring for the rest of the day. There were too many people around. She didn't like the way they avoided her. None of them looked in her direction if they could help it. No one spoke to her, which suited her fine, but it bothered her. She couldn't determine why it bothered her; it just did. And Jaren didn't help! Her stoic, silent shadow. She turned to face him. "What?"
He ignored her and didn't even look at her. Instead, he nodded in greeting to two passing knights.
Kaily crossed her arms over her chest.
Jaren came closer to Kaily. "Perhaps, Mistress, you would like to inspect the battlements?" It sounded like a question and at the same time it didn't. She suspected she might not be given a choice, which irritated her more. Considering that up to that point, Jaren remained silent, she might not want to be too hasty in refusing. He didn't give her enough useful information over the past week, but maybe she should give him a chance to change that.
"Lead the way. I don't much care for being followed." Kaily said in a harsher than she would prefer tone. She knew the stress made her temper rise close to the surface. She didn't care. She was close to hitting her breaking point.
Jaren inclined his head. He glanced around them. She noticed that those who glanced in their direction ducked their gaze and hurried away.
Kaily's temper rose with each step Jaren and she took. She realized he took her back the direction she came. Back to the tower with the bedchamber. While a part of her did want to hide in the bedchamber, time continued to run out. She needed to find escape, and sooner whether than later. "Jaren!" Kaily called after him. He moved faster than she could keep up.
He stopped and turned towards her.
If she followed closer, she would have run into him. She hurried to catch up to where he waited. He glanced at the few passing women and then looked back at her.
Kaily frowned and opened her mouth to say something.
Jaren gave a slight shake of his head. His eyes contained warning. He placed his forefinger in front of his lips for the briefest of moments and then made it look like he merely rubbed his chin. After the women passed out of sight, he turned and ran up the tower stairs two at a time. He moved so fast Kaily ran and still couldn't keep up.
Jaren ducked into a side door just before the door Kaily knew to be the door leading to the library. She ran through the door, surprised to find herself on a spiral stairway that looked like the one she took earlier. But she knew it couldn't be as that stairway only led between the library and bedchamber. Jaren stopped at the top.
"What's that about?" Kaily asked between breaths once she made it to the top of the stairs. She looked at the door they stood in front of and back down the stairway. That door looked just like the bedchamber's door. "Is that the bedchamber in there?"
"Keep your voice down," Jaren hissed at her. He turned and pushed a stone on the wall before she could reply.
Kaily heard the grating sound first and then the stone wall moved and slid aside to expose an open doorway. Stairs led up. She went up the stairs after him.
Jaren helped her through the narrow door. "Aye. That was the bedchamber, and this is that tower." He said. He closed the door.
The wall with the door they came through stood too high to see beyond. The inner wall stood low enough to see the inner bailey. From the vantage point she could see three other towers not just two. A walkway connected all four towers. The layout of the castle and inner bailey formed a square. Some of the other buildings she saw from the alcove window. The main gate entrance now visible from the vantage point. The castle, big enough to house a small battalion and village. Like the clothing and the bathing chamber, contradictions existed. Everything a combination of old and modern. She was not there to solve the mysteries of the contradictions, she chided herself. She needed to focus on getting out of there. The roof provided a great vantage point. She wished she'd known sooner. Another reason to be irritated with Jaren.
The wind chilled her, and she stepped back towards the high wall to get some relief. She looked at Jaren. He leaned against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest and watched her. His scrutiny made her uneasy. He no longer showed indifference or deference. He appeared to be waiting for something. She wondered, again, if he knew she wasn't the Mistress everyone else believed her to be. She returned her attention to the inner bailey.
After a noticeable silence between them she took a deep breath. She gathered her courage she dropped on their way to the battlement. Time to get answers. She would accept nothing less from Jaren. "You know I'm not
