Page 117 of Alien Burn

Sereya fixed her eyes on the tiny fastening at Roemary's throat. If she looked at her face, she might do something she couldn't undo.

Her mother had called that name up the stairs once, impatient because the meal was getting cold. Sereya remembered refusing to come down until someone came to admire what she had drawn.

She couldn't remember what the drawing had been.

She remembered the voice.

“Look at me,” Roemary said softly.

Sereya did.

“I would hate for your handsome friend to be disappointed too.”

There it was. Not a promise to tell him. Not quite a promise to tell someone worse. Roemary left the choices open and let Sereya supply the faces.

She had become very good at that.

Sereya drew enough air to speak.

“I'm going to my appointment.”

For a moment Roemary's smile held without changing. Then she stepped aside.

“Of course. Don't let me keep you.”

The first step was the hardest. After that, Sereya made herself keep the same pace all the way to the entrance.

“Would you like to return to your room?” the guard asked quietly.

She almost said yes. To shut the door, pull the shutters, lie down until her heart stopped battering itself against her ribs.

Then Roemary would know exactly where she had sent her.

“The office, please.”

The guard nodded and turned with her.

Sereya kept her hands folded. She had learned young how to hide shaking fingers.

Dhomhes was coming out of the office when she reached it.

He saw her. His mouth began to curve, and she nearly looked away.

There was a whole life in that nearly. Rooms she hadn't entered. Friends she had stopped answering. Making herself less pleasant to people who might have liked her, because Roemary could always find a way to make liking her expensive.

She was tired of paying.

“Dhomhes.”

He stopped immediately.

“Can I speak to you?”

His glance moved to her hands, then back to her face.

“Yes.”

He spoke to the staff member waiting for her and opened a small sitting room beside the office. There was a table, two chairs, a neglected pitcher of water. He let Sereya choose the chair with its back to the wall.