Book 2 Chapter 1 Part 3

“It was Zaine,” Sephy said. She and Robin were sitting in his cubby, which was a dirty hole in the side of the wall with a ratty curtain to keep out prying eyes, in the cavern under Junayd. Out in the main cavern, which was roughly as large as the castle’s ballroom, the people protected by The Underground went about their daily lives while the Providers and Caretakers worked in the city to provide food. “Your chaperone? The one I had lunch with the other day?” She nodded. “The one you told me you didn’t like?” Another nod. He cursed, far more colourfully than she had and for a moment she stopped sulking, her eyes lighting up in amusement. “You went out, alone, without your sister, with a man you didn’t trust? You are crazy. I suspected it before but now it’s a certainty.” She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms defiantly. “I’m sure it comes from associating with common sneak thieves,” she huffed with uncharacteristic snootiness. “Common? Common? My Lady, you insult me. And worse, you’ve changed the subject.” “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” A loud clatter and the sound of raised voices somewhere out in the caverns drew her attention. “Shouldn’t you look into that?” “No one raised the alarm, it’ll sort itself out. You need to tell me exactly what happened.” She sighed. “Mery was exhausted after your little party yesterday so she was still asleep when I finished breakfast. I left her the book I had purchased for her our first day here and went out to the market street with Zaine. Close to midday he suggested we return to the inn for our meal and that we take a quieter side street.” “You were stupid enough to agree?” “Would you stop scolding me? Dammit Robin, I was tired and distracted. I wasn’t thinking about Zaine, I was thinking about ...” She blushed. “Thinking about what?” I was thinking about dancing with you last night, alone in the passage, and how it made my heart race, she thought, but all she said was, “It’s not important.” “Okay.” His tone of voice made it obvious he didn’t believe her and she hoped against hope he hadn’t picked up on her thoughts. “So you went down a back street and ..?” “And he started talking about his family, how important they are, how he’d make a good match for any woman. That’s when I started to get that strange feeling and I started to pay closer attention.” “What did he say? What exactly did he say?” “You know I could just show you what happened and then you could stop asking me all these stupid questions.” “Can you do that?” She shrugged. “I sometimes watch people’s dreams at night, when Jonathan is asleep and he can’t yell at me for using my gift. Dreams and memories aren’t that different.” “So what do I need to do?” “I just drift into their minds but you probably shouldn’t do that. I’ll have to actually play the memory out for you. Usually thoughts are just sound for me.” “Me too.” “You need to open your mind a bit and I’ll try to put images to the sounds.” “So you’ve never done this before?” “Not exactly like this, no. But it should work.” He settled on the meager covers and sighed. “Okay, what do I do?” “Relax, close your eyes, and focus on my mind. But no snooping.” “Whatever my Princess commands.” Sephy closed her eyes and let the memory of her encounter with Zaine sit in her mind for a moment. When it felt clear and real she gently pushed the images in the direction of Robin’s familiar mind, hoping he would be able to see it.