Free Close Contact by Katherine Allred Page A

if I could learn anything of interest.
    I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I’m sorry I made you late for your meeting with the king. Will it cause you problems?”
    He had given up all pretense of grooming and was still watching me in the mirror, a slight frown on his rugged face. It was only then I realized old habits had taken over and I’d been organizing his room. I forced my hands behind my back, locking my fingers together to keep them still, and faced him as he answered.
    “No. The king expects his unmarried officers to join him for the evening meal once in an eightday, but my duty comesbefore socializing. It won’t be the first time I’ve been delayed, and undoubtedly won’t be the last.”
    “Oh. You’re dressed so finely I thought maybe tonight was a special occasion.”
    He arched a dark brow and shifted to lean one shoulder against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “We are always required to dress for the king’s meal.”
    Before I could answer, there was a knock at the door and two women entered pushing wheeled carts. They were dressed in the drab, modest clothing the majority of Madrean women wore, and stared at me with open curiosity.
    Silently they uncovered steaming dishes that filled the room with scents appetizing enough to make my mouth water. When they were done, the elder of the two turned to Reynard. “Will there be anything else, Commander?”
    “Nothing. You may go.”
    They dipped their heads and left, the soldier closing the door behind them. Once we were alone again, Reynard moved to the carts and filled a plate until it was heaping, then brought it to me, motioning me to sit on the sole chair.
    He saw my surprise at such consideration and his mouth kicked up again. “You said you’d walked all day with only water to sustain you. I’d rather you didn’t pass out from hunger before Marcus arrives.”
    “Thank you.” I took the food and dug in like I hadn’t eaten in a week, while Peri examined the carts and then lost interest in favor of drying her feathers on the arm of the chair. Even taking into consideration how long it had been since I’d filled my stomach, I was extraordinarily starved. If my brief foray into overdrive had caused this, I’d be wise to only use it in the direst of emergencies. After all, it wouldn’t do to drop dead from starvation in the midst of a crisis.
    Suddenly I was feeling a lot more sympathetic towardKiera Smith. Maybe she’d had a reason to angst after all. Being a Gertz GEP was turning out to be a bit more complicated than I’d expected.
    I was swallowing the last bite of roasted fowl when there was another knock on the door. This time the soldier ushered in a slim man of average height, a bit beyond middle age. His pale blond hair, pulled back into a neat queue, was liberally streaked with white, and his deeply tanned face was creased from spending time outdoors. Dark brown eyes that mirrored fatherly concern swung from the commander to me. Then he opened his arms.
    “Echo, sweetheart.”
    “It’s Marcus,” Lillith told me.
    Promptly, I leaped to my feet and launched myself at him, the now empty plate clattering to the floor. His arms closed around me, and he rocked us gently from side to side. And I felt strangely comforted, as though I’d finally found safe shelter when the rest of my world had turned into a swirling mass of confusion.
    “I was so sorry to hear about August,” he said, just loud enough for his voice to carry to Reynard. “He was a good man. I’ll miss him.”
    “Thank you,” I murmured. “He considered you his most trusted friend.” I didn’t dare look at Reynard, but I could feel him watching us with interest.
    Marcus took me by the shoulders and shifted me back so he could look down at me. “Now, what’s going on here? I expected you to arrive this morning and come straight to me. Is something amiss?”
    I gave him a briefer version of the tale I’d told Reynard about being dumped by two men,