Free What is Hidden by Lauren Skidmore Page A

send me away.”
    “What were you thinking, tracking me down in the middle of the night like this?” I scolded as I quickly pulled my dress on so I could invite him in.
    “It was all a matter of when I got my information and when I could get away,” he said.
    “Am I ever going to find out how you’re so good at finding people, or are you going to keep that a mystery forever?”
    “A man of mystery is far more attractive, don’t you think?”
    “No. I’d rather know what I was getting myself into, thank you very much.” I rolled my eyes and gave myself a once-over. “I’m decent, you can come in.”
    He pushed the door open and stepped inside, looking at me seriously. “I’m sure you’ll know one day,” he finally said. “As long as you don’t disappear again, okay? You scared me half to death.”
    “Sorry.” I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, now did I? And he’d been so far from my mind . . . most of the time.
    “I’m glad you found me, though,” I confessed. “I was afraid I’d have to resort to having no companions but the stupid girls in the kitchens.”
    He winced on my behalf. “They’re that bad?”
    “No,” I answered truthfully, “just the ones I’ve met so far, mostly. Except for maybe one girl, everyone seems to have their own agenda.”
    “How do you mean?”
    I sat on my lumpy bed and motioned for him to sit beside me. I could tell this was going to be a long visit—which was fine by me—and there wasn’t really anywhere else for him to sit. I wasn’t going to make him sit on the ground , though the mattress was really only a small improvement.
    “Well, as it was my first day here, you can imagine that I had no idea what was going on. I was afraid I was going to make a fool of myself because no one really explained what to do.”
    He nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. A noble dining hall is a bit of a circus, isn’t it?”
    “Which reminds me, on top of all of that , someone kept staring at me all through dinner, and I couldn’t tell who. And—” As I was about to say something about the prince looking at me, I realized how self-absorbed that sounded. And a bit ridiculous. He was behind a curtain after all. And, you know, a prince.
    “And?” he prompted.
    “And I don’t know. It was just different.”
    “Yeah. I wish I could’ve helped you somehow.”
    “Me too. Though I’m pretty sure you couldn’t have. Only girls are allowed as servers, and I think you’d stick out a bit.”
    He made a face at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, it felt good to laugh. “You think?”
    “Seriously, though,” I went back to his original question, “it seems like there’s some kind of hierarchy within the servants, and my being here throws it off. I don’t know. I’m probably just being paranoid.”
    “Hey, if anyone has a right to be paranoid right now, I’m sure it’s you.” He paused. “Any chance I can get more information on what happened the other night?”
    I sobered up and stared out my window, picking at loose threads on my skirt. “There was a . . . thief. He set fire to our workshop to cover his tracks. I don’t know where my father is, though my neighbors think he was killed, too.” My heart constricted painfully at the reminder.
    “Oh, Evie,” he murmured and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I let him pull me close and reveled in the warmth. “I’m sorry.”
    “I’ll be okay. I’ve got this position now, so I won’t go hungry or roam the streets or anything like that.”
    “I don’t understand why you couldn’t stay in your house and continue your work there. All your talent is going to waste here.” His hand began rubbing circles against my shoulder, and it was oddly distracting.
    “The thief got away,” I said simply. “And he knows I’m on my own and that I could land him in the Square. I’d be an easy target at home.”
    “But still . . .”
    “It’s not forever,” I said firmly. “I won’t slave away