Chapter 32: Chapter 33: Embarrassment.

Finlo was close again, too close for comfort, but the seriousness of our conversation helped me to forget about that.

‘The poison…’

I refused to take another step back, not wanting to retreat out of fear, or a silly thing like embarrassment. Instead, I stared deep into his Lime green eyes. “Mara gave me the antidote yesterday. The poison should have all been neutralized a while ago.”

He gave off a soft smile as he placed his hands on my shoulders, leaning on me. “Good. If it was her that gave you the antidote you'll be fine.”

“Finlo…”

I suddenly became very self conscious about my dress being too large as his hands rested over the straps that held it up. Given the fact that it was so easy to take off, I couldn't stop my whole body from tensing up.

“Finlo…” I shyly muttered, lifting my hands up and holding the dress tightly against my body. “Please take your hands away…”

He let out a sigh and slowly took a step back. “Sorry…” His voice was suddenly cold and distant. “Poison is… It's no joke ok.”

Before I knew it he was wrapping his cloak over my shoulders. “H-hey.” I muttered, turning even more red as he wrapped his arms around me to properly place it around my body. It was a long and thick fur cloak that felt even thicker than the fur blanket I had in my room.

“You said you were cold, right. I've got all this armor to keep me warm, I don't need it.”

Since he had been wearing it it was already warm to the touch, and the scent of flowers was embedded in it. It felt just as good as being near a fireplace. I felt chills run through me at the sudden warmth and finally began to relax as the cloak's trim gently rested on the ground, clearly being designed for someone taller.

After quickly looking around, Finlo jumped up and seated himself on a hay bail. “Ok, so. You were poisoned…” His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

I nodded. ‘Right. If anyone would know about poisons, it would be Finlo. “You… Know things right?” I raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response.

He sighed. “So you don't know who did it.”

‘How does he already know what I'm going to ask!’

I leaned back against the wall next to him and sat down, huddling under his warm cloak. “Well no. Mara told me it was better I didn't know. I think she knows who it was… But I don't think it was her, otherwise she would have reacted differently. She let it happen though, so I figure it has something to do with my training.”

He jumped off the railing and sat down next to me, staring off towards the other wall. He was so close again, but this time it felt comforting in a way.

His shoulder brushed up against mine as twisted to pull out a knife, beginning to flip it as he thought through the situation. “Right, so that just leaves the rest of the nutjobs in your family.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. A part of me wanted to lean on him, but I stayed sitting up straight. We were close, at least I liked to think so, but we weren't that close.

He flipped his knife into the air and sighed as it fell to the ground, sticking straight up in a crack that had formed in the stone. “Don't get me wrong, I owe them, but that doesn't mean they're any less messed up… Suspect number one is Bhaltair right, Mr. first born.”

I rested my head back against the wall. “Maybe, but wouldn't Mara just tell me if that was the case? She's not the type to keep secrets.”

“I don't know, that woman is impossible to read. Airsidh has a fake enough smile, your sister might have even done it. After all, she's getting all the attention now that Mara isn't spending time with you.”

I didn't want to admit it, but he could be right. I liked to think I knew my family, and that Lu wasn't the jealous type, that she was my sweet younger sister. In the end though I hadn't really had a conversation with her since I was 7 and she was 5.

Airsidh was so mysterious that I didn't even know what to think of him anymore. The simple truth was that I hardly knew anyone in my family. It wasn't like we got to spend much quality family time together or anything.

‘Hes right… It really could have been any one of them. “Ok, so what do we do?”

The truth was that there was plenty of motivation for having me killed too, so it was also possible that was what happened, and Mara simply hesitated to save me.

I heard him let out a long slow breath of air. “Hm… When I was in the circus we had to deal with a lot of poison. I can figure out who did it.”

“Oh that's right, that's what you did before you came here right? That's where you picked up all your handy tricks?”

He turned to look me in the eye and I could tell instantly that his expression had soured. “That's right I… Well… That's a story for another time. I'll get you the pellets. I think I already know what poison they used so it shouldn't be hard to make some.”

I pulled out the small pouch Mara had given me. “It's fine, Mara gave me this in case anything happened.”

His sour expression turned back to normal. “Yea, that tracks, that's why you dont think it was her. Still, it won't actually do anything. If I wanted to poison you I would make sure to take that away first, it's not like you're hiding it very well. It's true that placing an item between your breasts is a common tactic used to hide it, but that won't work for someone like you. Besides, pellets are different from antidotes. That's why I offered even though I could see that you had that.”

‘Someone like me…’ I scoffed, unconsciously narrowing my eyes and tensing my body again. Even though I was completely covered by his cloak, I still wrapped my arms over my chest. “Whatever, is that seriously the best way people here can come up with to hide things.

He leaned forward and picked up his knife, spinning it as he continued. “No, for instance many of the girls I knew in the circus would conceal things in their underwear because they thought people wouldn't look there.

‘And yet… He knows about it… which means he probably would…’

My curiosity of just what this so-called “Circus” he worked for actually did only increase, but I put away those pervasive thoughts.

“Uhm… That won't work either…”

“Right, That dress is the only garment you own. It's part of the traditional training, the less you have on to conserve heat, the tougher your body will become. As a result you’re basically forced to go commando.”

I pushed my knees together, wishing he would cut his paragraphs a bit shorter and trying to ignore how casual he was about the whole topic. “Well, what if I tie it into my hair?”

His eyes widened. “That could work, I can't say I've ever heard of anyone trying that before. Here let me see.” He reached towards the pouch around my neck.

I jerked to the side and covered myself even tighter with the cloak. “Finlo, stop touching me…”

He nervously retracted his hand. “Oh, my bad, old habits die hard you know.”

‘What's that supposed to mean…’

I took the pouch off myself and gave it to him. My hair was still matted, but it was a lot cleaner than it usually was, so there was a chance it was workable at least. “Can you try to tie it?”

“Yea sure. I'm going to have to touch your hair, is that ok?”

‘That's what he asks about.’ I let out an exasperated sigh. “Go for it.”

“Oh, and just so you know, this is an antidote, pellets are what we call medicine that boosts your immunity, whereas an antidote simply counteracts the poison. If you take a pellet in the morning, and get poisoned in the afternoon, it will still help you.”

I rolled my eyes and turned my back, letting him continue rambling for a while. Eventually I felt him start to tug on my hair. It ached just having his hand gently rustle it. ‘This is going to suck…’

“Sorry my hands are probably cold.”

I heard him rubbing them together before he blew warm air on them. His breath passed through his hands and reached the back of my neck, making my hair stand up on end. “Finlo…” I groaned.

“What?”

“Forget it…”

After a couple attempts he gave up, deciding to first try to untangle my hair with his hands. A long while later I began to finally get used to him being there, even when it was quiet.