Page 57 of Apples Dipped in Gold

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?” Lore asked.

“For letting me rest,” I said. “You did not have to make yourself miserable. I am used to sleeping on the ground.”

“You needed real rest,” he said. “We still have five days of travel.”

We were silent. I could feel him fiddling with the laces.

“Where did you sleep last night?” I asked.

I tried to keep my voice light, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded.

His hand stilled. “What?”

My face grew hot, and I couldn’t decide if I should abandon this line of questioning or plow ahead.

“Where did you sleep last night?” I repeated.

“I didn’t sleep,” he said.

My brows lowered as I considered the implication. “Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” I said quickly, realizing how great a mistake this was. “I was just curious.”

“Why are you curious about where I sleep?”

“I’m not,” I said.

“But you just said you were curious about where I was last night,” said Lore. “There must be a reason.”

“There isn’t,” I said. “Have you finished? I thought you were adept at removing gowns.”

“Samara.”

I turned to face him, frustrated. “Because of the way you looked when you came into the library this morning.”

He tilted his head to the side, the corner of his lips curved.

“And how did I look?”

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders at the same time. I think the reaction was more for me—a kind of surrender. It was too late to back out now.

“Like you had slept with someone,” I said.

“What makes you say that?” he asked.

“Iknowwhat men look like the morning after sex.”

My face was so hot I could barely stand it. I was going to have to jump in the river just to cool down. Perhaps I would also drown, and then I could escape this humiliation.

Surprise flitted across Lore’s face before he grew rigid with anger. He took a step forward. “How would you know that?”

“Do not condescend,” I said. “I am not ignorant.”

“I have never for a moment thought you ignorant,” said Lore. “So you think I spent the night with someone?”