The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [57]
He was like a holiday away from the demands of her studies and she knew he loved her. She felt it in her soul and trusted it. What she didn’t trust was the pesky doubt that something wasn’t quite honest between them. He seemed to be everything he boasted—quite good at music, and quite good at lovemaking too. But underneath it all, something about him made her wary. She sensed a lie—Mulengro between them.
She wondered if he was committed to some other woman, or perhaps he’d lied about his past or his family. Well, she had done that too! Maybe she simply felt her own deceit thrown back in her face. Still, it festered. Whenever she tried to broach the subject with him it was like bouncing a ball off a brick wall. Clay was most skilled at deflection. Sometimes it would be hours later before she realised he hadn’t actually answered her question. He was a true bard.
She shrugged. She didn’t care about commitment or a formal relationship. She cared about friendship, love and intimacy. She cared about a feeling of family. Somehow, the murders that descended on her family’s estate five years ago had come to the foreground of her thoughts again. A part of her feared that the funny feeling she had about Clay might be connected.
Or I’m just being paranoid.
She pretended everything was fine. She did that very convincingly, but it didn’t change the apprehension. Aside from Drayco and Nell, there was no-one in the world with whom she felt completely safe—no-one she trusted implicitly. Jarrod too, of course, but she hadn’t heard from him and probably never would. They’d agreed it would be so. They protected each other with silence.
Stop thinking about this! She put both hands to her head. If you must think about it, put up a mind-shield, for great demon’s sake.
Without vigilance, a receptive ‘traveller’ might hear her thoughts, and there were plenty of those about, practising at all hours of the day and night. Their bodies remained inert, but anyone sensitive enough could feel their spirits darting around, learning to ‘hear’ the thoughts of others, sending messages of their own.
The last thing she wanted was to arouse curiosity about her past or her concern with Clay. He had moved up in rank in the last six months and enjoyed a fair measure of popularity. Suspicions would be reported to La Makee. If that happened, Rosette would have some explaining to do. She and Nell had agreed the past needed to remain buried. It would be safer that way.
Lost in her shielded thoughts, she raised her head just in time to avoid colliding into a group of girls coming up from the pools. They were wrapped in copper-coloured towels, their long wet hair dripping down their backs. They looked golden in the flicker of the torchlight and she wondered how she could have missed their approach with all the noise they made.
‘Having a late one again, Rosette?’ Amelia spoke, clutching her towel with one hand and pushing wet hair off her face with the other. ‘You missed communal dinner.’
‘Training,’ Rosette replied. She barely slowed her pace, determined to continue along the track with just a nod and a smile. The pretence involved in conversing with these girls was not appealing. She didn’t have the energy for it. Not tonight.
‘You’re always out in the wee hours,’ Amelia said, moving to block the way. ‘You, and that mammoth familiar of yours…where is it?’ The girl looked around, eyes narrowing.
Rosette stopped just short of her and crossed her arms. ‘He, Amelia, not it. And how is Drayco’s size, or my training schedule, any of your business?’
‘I didn’t mean to pry. I simply…’ Amelia stumbled back a step only to have her companions push her forward again. She stuck out her chin as she spoke: ‘It’s just that you’re a recluse, and it’s so big. How does a kitty-cat get to be that big?’ She giggled with the rest of the girls.
‘He is not a kitty-cat.’ Rosette’s jaw tightened.
‘Oh, excuse me. Temple cat.’ Her voice became