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I tried to keep the smile from my face, but she drew it from me anyway. “No, but that’s not for wanting to.”
Her mouth flexed into a grin. “I’ll get washed up then we can eat.”
SEVENTEEN
FALLON
When we entered the dining room once more, I felt all eyes turn on us. I wasn’t sure why these locals were being so protective, but I could tell that Orin was getting pissed off by it all. He chose a table at the back of the room, then sat facing the door. Grayson did the same thing when we were out in a public place.
He handed me a menu, then watched the room as I looked it over. After a moment of pretending to look at the dishes and their descriptions, I put the menu facedown on the table and met his eyes.
“Why is everyone acting so weird right now?”
“I don’t know what you mean by weird.” He stretched his long legs out under the table.
I peered around the room. There was open hostility there but also fear. “Like everyone wants to save me from you.”
“They do.”
“They do?”
He nodded. “They think you’re here against your will. They think I’ve captured you and am refusing to let you go.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “Is that right?”
“I’m the monster they’re all afraid of, and you’re the princess they’re all trying to save.”
I didn’t like being referred to as the princess. I’d much rather be the knight. “Little do they know,” I murmured in reply.
“You hate the reference.” He said the words with such conviction that there was no way I could confuse it for a question.
“Yes, I hate it. I never want to be the victim or even thought of as the victim ever again.”
Something passed over his eyes—there one minute and gone the next. “I can understand that.” His words were a crawl, a dark promise. “You need to eat. Order something.”
The waitress appeared just as he spoke, and I noticed she was throwing furtive glances at Orin the whole time. It was as if he were a lion, and she wasn’t sure what he would do next—whohe would eat next.
“The stew, please,” I told her.
“Something to drink?”
“Water is fine,” Orin said before I could reply.
The waitress looked to me, waiting for confirmation that what he’d said was, in fact, true.
“Water,” I said.
With a heaved breath, she turned to Orin. When she spoke, her voice was a few octaves lower than when she’d spoken to me. “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the same as the lady.” Then to prove that he wasn’t the big bad wolf they all thought he was, he smiled, except Orin’s smiles were utterly terrifying to behold. Instead of putting someone at ease like most smiles would, the way he bared his teeth made it seem like a very likely threat.
Once she was gone, he returned his expression to neutral impassivity.
“You enjoy the role of monster,” I told him.
“You think so?”
“I know so. You want to scare people away. That way they can never get close to you.”
