I nodded. “Why would I lie about that?”
“I…” She looked away, her lips pursed. “It doesn’t matter.”
But I thought it might’ve.
I leaned against the settee. “How did you end up on the ledge?”
“Well, that’s kind of a funny story…”
“I imagine it is. So, please, spare no details.” I crossed my arms.
She sighed. “I came to find something to read, and I stopped inside this room. I…I didn’t want to go back to mine yet, and I didn’t realize that anything about this room was special.”
I followed her gaze to the liquor cabinet. That hadn’t given away that this was a private chamber?
“I was in here, and I heard the Duke outside in the hall. So, hiding on a ledge was a far better option than having him catch me here.”
“And what would’ve happened if he had?”
She shrugged again. “He didn’t, and that’s all that matters. He had a meeting here with a guard from the prison. At least, I think that’s who it was. They were talking about the Descenter who threw the Craven hand. The guard got the man to talk. He said that the Descenter didn’t believe that the Dark One was in the city.”
“That’s good news,” I forced out.
She glanced over at me. “You don’t believe him?”
“I don’t think the Dark One has survived as long as he has by letting his whereabouts be widely known, even by his most fervent supporters,” I replied.
“I think…” Her grip on the book she held tightened. “I think the Duke is going to kill the Descenter himself.”
I remembered what she had asked me. “Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know.”
I tilted my head. “I think you do, and you just don’t want to say it.”
Her lips pursed. “I just don’t like the idea of someone dying in a dungeon.”
“Dying by public execution is better?”
She stared at me. “Not exactly, but at least then it’s being done in a way that feels…”
My heart was kicking faster now. “Feels like what?”
Poppy gave a shake of her head. “At least then it doesn’t feel like it’s…” She glanced at me.
I was holding my fucking breath for her answer.
“Something being hidden,” she said.
I stared at her. She didn’t like how the Ascended handled things. I’d already suspected as much, but to see how uncomfortable she truly was with it was something…
Important.
And I would have to think about that later when it was quiet, and I could figure out what it really meant.
“Interesting,” I said.
“What is?”
“You.” I eyed the book she held.
“Me?”
Nodding, I then struck, grabbing the book.
“Don’t!” she gasped.
Too late.
I freed the tome from her grasp and stepped back, glancing down at it. “The Diary of Miss Willa Colyns?” My brows furrowed as I turned it over. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Give it back.” She reached for it, but I moved away. “Give it back to me now!”
“I will if you read it for me. I’m sure this has to be more interesting than the history of the kingdom.” Smiling, I opened the book, quickly scanning the page. One sentence stood out boldly.
He took me from behind, pounding the iron steel of his manhood into me.
My mouth parted as I blinked. I flipped a few more pages, my brows rising as I caught sight of words like nipples and salty come.
What in the world was she reading? Better yet, why was she reading it?
“What interesting reading material,” I remarked, glancing over at her.
Poppy looked like she wished to throw a blunt or sharp object at my face.
My grin returned. “Penellaphe.” I feigned shock. “This is…just scandalous reading material for the Maiden.”
“Shut up.” She crossed her arms.
“Very naughty,” I teased.
That chin went up as if on cue. “There’s nothing wrong with me reading about love.”
“I didn’t say there was.” I glanced down at a page that included the oh-so-romantic verse—Gods, I’m soaking wet just sitting here penning this. I looked at her. “But I don’t think what she is writing about has anything to do with love.”
“Oh, so you’re an expert on this now?”
“More so than you, I imagine.”
She pressed her mouth shut. Only a second passed. “That’s right. Your visits to the Red Pearl have been the talk of many servants and Ladies in Wait, so I suppose you do have a ton of experience.”
“Someone sounds jealous.”
“Jealous?” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “As I said before, you have an overinflated sense of importance in my life.”
I snorted, returning to skimming the book. Damn, this Miss Willa was a very…descriptive writer.
“Just because you have more experience with…what goes on at the Red Pearl,” she said, “doesn’t mean I don’t know what love is.”
“Have you ever been in love?” I asked half-jokingly, but as soon as the question left my tongue, it no longer felt much like a joke. My eyes narrowed. “Has one of the Duke’s stewards caught your eye? One of the Lords? Or perhaps a brave guard?”
Poppy shook her head as she stared at the liquor cabinet. “I haven’t been in love.”
“Then how would you know?”
“I know my parents loved one another deeply.” She toyed with the jeweled top of a decanter. “What about you? Have you been in love, Hawke?”
“Yes,” I answered honestly, my chest twisting. I then stared at the book, seeing none of the words as I thought about Shea.
Poppy looked over her shoulder at me. She dragged her teeth across her lower lip. “Someone from your home?”
“She was,” I said. “It was a long time ago, though.”
“A long time ago? When you were what? A child?” she asked.
I chuckled at the confusion in her tone, welcoming how her question made it easier than normal to tuck away everything related to Shea. I refocused on the page, giving a paragraph a quick read. “How much of this have you read?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Probably not, but I need to know if you got to this part.” I cleared my throat.
“I only read the first chapter,” she added quickly. “And you look like you’re in the middle of the book, so—”
“Good. Then this will be fresh and new to you. Let me see, where was I?” I ran a finger over the page, stopping at the halfway mark. “Oh, yes. Here. ‘Fulton had promised that when he was done with me that I wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a day, and he was right.’ Huh. Impressive.” I paused, sneaking a glance at her.
Her eyes were wide behind the mask, but perhaps I’d been wrong in thinking what Kieran had offered the night before would scandalize her.
“‘The things the man did with his tongue and his fingers had only been surpassed by his shockingly large, decadently pulsing, and wickedly throbbing—’” I chuckled. “This woman has a knack for adverbs, doesn’t she?”