Free A Veil of Secrets by Hailey Edwards Page B

him this was the female’s side of the river, as he well knew, and that he should leave, but he said not yet it wasn’t because I was on dry land. Then he demanded I tell him what he had told me while he was in his cups, and I refused because he was being such a beast. Then the brute lifted me over his shoulder and carried me to the courtyard where the barrels of dye are kept.” She paused for effect before snarling, “And then he dropped me arse-first into one. He ruined my dress and, as if that wasn’t enough, he shoved my head under too. If Asher hadn’t stopped him, I might have drowned.”
    Well, that somewhat corroborated Asher’s story.
    I fought not to laugh as Pascale’s anger flushed her blue cheeks purple. I gave myself the errand of reclaiming her rag while smoothing my features. “Is his concern justified? What did he say?”
    “He— Nothing.” She sighed. “He said nothing he should be ashamed of.”
    Whatever his secret, she appeared resolved not to share it, at least not with me. It was curious that she guarded his privacy after all he had done to her, all they had done to one another. I would have expected her to seek her vengeance through any ears she could bend.
    I dropped her washcloth back into the basin. “I’m sure it will all wash out in a day or so.”
    “I hope you’re right.” She tugged on her hair. “At least no one here will snicker to my face.”
    “The Salticidae seem very conservative. I doubt they want to engage in your feud.”
    “Feud, pah.” She glared at the offending blue strands. “He’s such an infuriating male.”
    Thinking of Asher’s strange behavior, I agreed. “Most of them are.”
    “It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Vaughn is his closest friend. His only friend, I bet.” Lips flat, she turned to me in all seriousness. “Who else would tolerate such a beast or beastly behavior?”
    Mentioning that Asher seemed to be his friend, or that Lleu appeared a harmless flirt to me, might cost me my best chance for having female companionship while in Beltania. “I don’t know.”
    “I don’t either,” she huffed.
    “A moment ago, did you mean Paladin Vaughn?” I asked.
    Vaughn was the Mimetidae paladin. For him to station a special friend of his so far from Cathis, their clan home, the paladin must have some stake in the welfare of this city or in Pascale’s safety. It made sense that because the Mimetidae were the guardians of Erania that they would send guards to watch over persons from that city who fell under their protection. As Maven Lourdes’s sister, neither the Mimetidae nor the Salticidae could afford for harm to befall Pascale while she was visiting here.
    Try as I might, I couldn’t shake the feeling something more was happening in this quiet farming community than we had been told. They had been too calm about the threat of risers. Any other clan would have raised the alarm and hidden their females and their children. Yet the Salticidae rulers had given more consideration for last night’s disturbance, whatever that was, than for a potential attack.
    “Yes.” Pascale wrinkled her nose. “Paladin Rhys is kind to Lourdes at least. His brother doesn’t have a kind bone in his body. Yet another reason he and Lleu are so well suited.”
    From what I had overheard from the Eranian guards, it seemed that Paladin Vaughn and Paladin Rhys were half-brothers, which might account for the differences in their temperaments.
    I laughed at her puckered expression. “If it makes you feel better, blue suits you.”
    “You aren’t serious.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “Even if that was the case, and I know you are being kind, who is here to see me? What does it matter how I look? It doesn’t really.”
    I didn’t contradict her. “Don’t tell me you’re complaining about the local customs too?”
    “No. Not really. My sister was wise to send me here.” She sighed. “She knew there would be no eligible males and