Page 112 of The Champion

Rowena held her breath as Damien slipped into the king’s room like a silent specter.

More careful this time, as she was learning from her previous mistakes where she’d been caught by him, she peered through the cracks in the door to see what he was doing.

There was no sign of him.

Rowena tapped her chin in indecision. Should she slip into the room as well or wait for him to reappear?

Stryder had warned her most earnestly against following after Damien. After all, if he was the killer as she suspected, he wouldn’t hesitate to take her life as well.

But the prince seemed to like her well enough and if she turned up dead, then Stryder would know for certain who had done it and, no doubt, he would avenge both her and Elizabeth.

She could die in peace, knowing she’d avenged her friend.

There was still no sign of movement or sound from inside the room.

Now or never...

Taking a deep breath, she cracked the door ever so slightly and glanced around.

There was no one in there she could see. Where could he have gone? This was the only exit.

She stuck her head in a bit further.

“Looking for me?”

Squeaking, she jumped as Damien’s deep voice startled her from behind.

She swung around to find him in the hallway, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. How she hated that cowl that kept him completely concealed from her. It was extremely disconcerting to speak to someone when you couldn’t see their face or eyes.

“I... I...” she stuttered as she tried to think up another fabrication, “I was looking for my uncle.”

He cocked his head, or cowl rather, to the side. “And why would he be in there when Henry is not?”

She held her hands up and gestured, as she tried her best to come up with a reasonable excuse he might actually believe this time. “Because he likes to sit on... nay, wait. He... he forgot something. Aye. He forgot something.”

“He forgot something?” Damien asked in that calm, even tone of his that somehow reminded her of a still, bottomless lake. “Well, if you tell me what it is, I can ask Henry or his marshals if someone has found it.”

Given that she was lying, that wouldn’t work. And no doubt that was his intent. To catch her lie. “Nay, uh, I think he found it already.”

“Which is why you were here looking for him even though he’s nowhere to be found?”

She glared at Damien, wishing she could see his face. Then again, she had a distinct feeling he was laughing at her. Perhaps ‘twas best she didn’t see his face after all.

“Well, since he has indeed found it…” She inclined her head toward him. “I shall take my leave of you and head back to the great hall.”

She hurried away, but with every step she took, she could feel his gaze on her like a tangible, lethal touch.

At the top of the stairs, she turned to see that he hadn’t moved even the slightest bit. “Are you waiting for someone, my lord?” she asked him.

“I was just waiting to see if you would look back. You shouldn’t be so predictable, Rowena. It could get you into trouble.”

She swallowed at his words. “Is that a threat?”

“Nay, Rowena. I would never threaten such a rare treasure as yourself. Only others who aren’t as entertaining as you are.”

A tremor of fear went through her. “So, you admit to threatening others?”

“Hmmm,” he said as if considering that. “Aye, I have. For that matter, I’ve even been known to kill a few of them from time to time.”