The door opened again for lunch and the fyrhund slipped through it. Stupid creature, I thought. Now it was locked in with us.
Kanesha fed him a small part of her lunch. “He needs a name.”
“Not yet.”
She glanced at me.
“Trust me. Not yet. Don’t name him.” I wasn’t sure why I said that to her.
Trust me.
Whatever I was worried about, it extended to her. “But he shouldn’t have come in.”
While he had been outside, then…well.
“Did you put this collar on him?”
“No.”
And then I laughed. Examining the collar revealed a note tucked actually inside it, between the two strips of leather.
It was from Thruor.
It said “Midnight.” That was all, but I recognized her handwriting.
Hopefully they didn’t see it. Hopefully whatever magical bugs were here only worked on audio.
And I was not sure how they were going to deal with the forcefield.
I decided not to worry about it, but gave the fyrhund – who was actually a floppy eared hound, a big one, here – a hug.
He washed my face thoroughly.
Kanesha laughed at that. “Be careful.”
“I can handle a bit of dog slobber,” I noted. “So can you.”
“When I’m not wearing makeup.”
“Which we aren’t.”
And the door opened again. A different maid. “It is time to start getting ready for dinner.”
It felt like it had barely been lunch. She pretty much stuffed me into a red and gold gown, Kanesha into a green one. But she knew how to make women pretty, and I was used to it.
Not used to the tight bodice, but I could get used to it. Think of it as just another shoot, I told myself.
Midnight.
Hopefully we’d even be back there by then. But Surtur was…
…seducing both of us. He didn’t just want Kanesha as leverage, he wanted her support.
Why? I did not think I could understand the why of that. She was a mortal and a rival for my affections, and his initial deal was that he would let her go if I agreed to marry him and never see her again.
Had she said or done something…
…was he falling for her? I hoped not, but it did seem like a logical explanation.