The Veil - Chapter 13

Clearing her throat delicately, Qui stared at her cards, running a finger over the backs as if she could feel the vines decorating the back of the card. She had been quiet after her story, letting Lekan infer as much emotional turmoil behind her veil as he wished. As he was surely mulling on the story she’d told, she fixated on exactly who Obi was. She was starting to think that she had assumed too many things about his character. The fact that he had given Lekan advice as to how to identify personality traits through cards made her suspicious.

To be honest, the cards themselves made her tense with a feeling that made her think of what a bilby must experience the moment before they were caught in a snare. In her home country in the far east, wisteria was a powerful symbol. It could be that Obi had gotten the cards without knowing what they meant, but she didn’t know how he could have gotten them without knowing. Her intuition whispered that he was hiding something.

“I think,” Lekan murmured, effectively breaking the silence, “that I’m going to leave you after this hand. It’s still too early for most of my friends to be about, but I think I could hook up with a few for some breakfast maybe. I-” He coughed awkwardly, heaving a sigh that wrenched Qui’s heart despite herself. “I don’t have much more time to be with them… You know?”

Suppressing a smile, she nodded, knowing that as soon as she had taken sex off the table, Lekan had become uninterested. She wasn’t that disappointed. Lekan was disastrous at cards. While she wasn’t surprised- he was too impatient to play a good game of cards- she was concerned. Cards were often a large part of upper class society. While Nidites weren’t so interested in cards, especially the youth, card games were wildly popular in Valod. It was just another thing she would need to figure out how to make him practice. Maybe Obi would do it for her.

The thought made her grit her teeth. What if the fool taught Lekan something wrong?

“Darling, I don’t blame you. You need to have time to… say goodbye.” It was a cruel statement, but she had some trouble understanding him most of the time. She couldn’t tell if he was affected or not. Sometimes, like just a few moments ago, she swore he was terrified, but other times it seemed to be the farthest thing from his mind. It miffed her that such a young man could confuse her like he did. She wanted to make sure that he was reminded of the seriousness of the situation.

Collecting the cards they had thrown onto table, she straightened the deck and decided not to point out that she had trounced him. She wouldn’t degrade him yet.

Smiling coyly, she leaned into him a little, letting her breath make the veil billow out to brush against his shoulder. “Do you think I could borrow these cards? I’ll return them tomorrow. I’m sure they’re important to you.” She ignored the wish to smile as his eyes danced from the hint of clevage her dress allowed and her face.

“Important?” he asked softly, sounding lost.

She gave him a husky laugh. “They’re your uncle’s, right?”

Blinking, he slid forward a little closer, his face a little sly. “Yeah. He acted like they were a big deal. He got them when he was in the war.” His face was almost comically depressed when she stood.

“Let me walk you to the door, Dear.” She held out her hand, watching with amusement as he let out a slow breath, obviously battling with the desire she’d whipped into a frenzy. Rising on her tiptoes so her mouth was by his ear, she whispered, “To get the women, you need to find a balance between letting her know you want her and knowing when to hide it.” She patted his shoulder. “I hope you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

He looked at her as she led him to the door, irritation raw on his face. “What do you want from me?” he demanded.

Frowning nervously, she shook her head. “I just think you can be polished, and I only serve the best.”

“You don’t serve me,” he pointed out. “I never paid you. You’re…” He scoffed. “Doing charity work.”

They were at the door now, but she faced him. “Could you afford me, Lekan?” she demanded, her arms folded.

For a man who had been fairly carefree, Lekan was very serious, almost angry. “Of course I couldn’t, not without letting Obi know something was up,” he snapped. “Why are you giving me the secrets of the trade?” He peered at the shadow of her face behind the veil, eyes hard. “Are you even planning to fuck me before I go to forsaken Volad? You may be the last decent woman I see that I don’t have to worry about stabbing me in the back.” His eyes widened a little as his nostrils flared in an expression of panic over in a moment. “Unless you are. Gods, were you employed by the queen? Isn’t their sentence enough?” Now his words were hurried and loud, unhinged. “They have to send someone to stalk me too?”

“You appeared at my door this morning,” Qui argued, a little threatened. However, this Lekan intrigued her more than anything else. He seemed to be acutely aware of the danger hanging over his head and to be bitter about it. It seemed much more natural than the jokester she had gotten to know.

“You tricked me. I bet you’ve been playing me this entire time.”

She was, but not for the reasons he thought. “Darling, that’s my job,” she cooed, resting her hand on his shoulder. “And I’m not in the queen’s employ.” She pressed her lips against his arm softly. “I… heard your story and was touched,” she lied softly. “You must agree that you’re ill prepared for this.” She took his silence in her stride, deciding it was agreement. “All I was trying to do was let you practice a little before you had to go spy on those barbarians.”

His clenched jaw relaxed slowly. “Why not just say that?” he sighed, turning away from her and running his hands through his hair.

A soft smile hidden by the veil, she laughed, not the seductive laugh she used to boil a man’s blood but a light genuine one. “You don’t have the reputation of being very obedient.”

He chuckled, sounding tired. “Very true.” Facing her again, he asked slowly, “Will I see you again?”

Qui shrugged. “Do you want to see me again?”

There was a long pause where Qui’s heart seemed to be frozen. If he didn’t say yes, she’d lose a lot of money.

“Yes.” His smile was self-deprecating. “I do need help.”

Gathering the lower part of her veil in one hand, she kissed him, the relief all too real. “You do, and I’m the one to give it to you. We’ll do just fine.” She opened the door, finding his surprised expression endearing as he stared at her for a beat too long before swaggering out the door.