5

“I believe you’re familiar with apples,” he said, pointing to the poached fruit. “They’re cooked in wine and honey. The juice next to you is a native berry; you used to love it.” It was hard to be patient. She’d once treated him like a beloved brother, and now she thought he was trying to poison her.

She shot him a look and went back to staring at her plate. “What’s this sausage made of?” She looked hideously suspicious and a little green. “You don’t eat people, do you?”

His eyes widened. “You can’t be serious!” When she just looked at him, he snapped, “It’s an animal. A grazing beast called a deerhare.” When she still wouldn’t eat, he demanded, “What’s wrong?”

She considered him. “How do I know this isn’t drugged?”

Frustration made him sigh. “Would you like me to taste everything? Better yet…” He switched their plates and cups, then handed her his roll. Then he topped off her plate and dug in, ignoring her.

Keeping an eye on him, she finally picked up her spoon. She must have been hungry because once she started she quickly finished everything in front of her.

Relieved to see her fed, he gestured to the sitting room as the servants cleared the table. When they were alone again, he retrieved a folder from his desk and placed it on the low table in front of her, taking one of the chairs opposite. “This is your dossier. We’ve completed a fingerprint analysis, voice scan and DNA test. You are Rihlia, daughter of Rhapsody and Crewel Sotra. When you were a child, we often called you ‘Wiley One,’ or ‘Wiley,’ for all the mischief you got into. Obviously that name was the one you used when you crossed worlds.” When she said nothing, he asked, “How did you come up with the last name, Jayems?” The question had been burning him.

She looked away, focused on nothing. “The orphanage gave it to me.”

“Orphanage?” Somehow he’d never pictured her in such a place. There’d never been a question she was loved, and he’d thought she was dead. They all had. The thought of her in such a place chilled him. What other indignities had she suffered while they’d given her up for dead?

“The place where they raise children who have no family. Unwanted children,” she said coolly, as if he needed a definition.

The bitter edge hurt him. “You were wanted,” he said intensely, leaning forward. “You were taken from us. I searched for days, trying to find you. There was nothing to be found, no scent or sign of you, and now we know why.”

Her face was closed. “So? Now you know where I was. Put me back.”

Disturbed by her lack of emotion, he said, “You belong here.”

She said nothing.

Lost, seeking a way to reach her, he asked, “What do you do in your world?”

“I’m a clerk in a hardware store.”

He puzzled that out. It didn’t sound too enthralling. “Do you enjoy it?”

She shrugged.

“Do you have a lover?” His gut clenched at the thought of the complications that would bring. He didn’t want to hurt her more.

“No!” she said vehemently. “I have a life. I was enjoying it.”

Relieved, he said with less intensity, “Do you have many friends?”

“Some. Enough.”

“And this roommate you mentioned…?” When she remained silent, he decided she needed more facts. “We moved to this world to avoid humans. Our kinds never mixed well. We killed each other. Humans fear us. I assume they’re the ones that taught you to fear yourself.”

No response. Normally that wouldn’t bother him, but this wasn’t the ordinary sort of inquest. Her feelings mattered. “This friend of yours would turn on you if he knew who you were.”

“You don’t know Jasmine!” she exploded, killing him with her eyes. “She’s not just a friend, she’s the sister of my heart! She was raised with me, went to school with me. She even stayed in Alaska just to be with me, and she hates snow! She’s the closest thing to family I’ve got, and you’re not going to talk trash about her.” Then she added grudgingly, “Besides, she’s got my dog.”

He smiled. “A dog is not a problem; if that’s all you want. Your friend is.” He thought for a moment. “We can fake your death.”

She blanched. “Don’t you do that to her! She has no one else. If she thought…” she broke off, unwilling to finish the thought. “You don’t know what it’s like to be alone.”

“You’re not alone.” She would never be alone again if he had his way.

It only made her angry. “I am! Was…listen, I’m talking about Jasmine right now. I won’t let you hurt her like that.”

He settled back in his chair. They were on familiar ground now. He had a bargaining chip, and he waited to see what she would suggest.

It didn’t take her long to offer a deal. “Let me see her and explain, and I’ll…I’ll promise to listen to what you’re saying.”

“You’re already listening. You can’t help that.”

She blew out a breath. “I won’t try to escape if you let us talk.”

“You won’t run off regardless. There are dangers in the woods around here, and I’m not about to permit you to charge off heedlessly into them.” There were political dangers aplenty inside the Citadel, too, but she didn’t need to know about those yet.

He didn’t need to add that he had the manpower to make her stay where he put her; it would only alienate her.

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to marry you over this.”

“That’s not an issue we’ll bargain over.” That was something he’d tackle after he’d gotten to know her better. They had enough to deal with at the moment. “As I said, I don’t hurt women. That includes forcing them to share my bed. If you find yourself there, it will be because you chose to go.”