In the Open Cage

Chapter 16

Royle tapped against the door, opening it before there was even an answer. The room was mostly empty, the cadets having been taken out for their morning training. It would take at least an hour before any of them would return. Twisted sheets and scattered clothes spoke of a rushed wakeup call that had them scrambling to make it to the training grounds in time. They would be expected to clean it all up before breakfast.

Only one bed was made in the entire room, tucked underneath another held up by wooden beams. Misa stood next to it, back bent as she stuffed the final bits of what little she had into the suitcase she had taken from her home. And maybe it was because he was aware of who she truly was, but even through the purgehouse uniform, he could see a hint of her curves that attested her femininity. He didn't know when he began to notice them. All he knew was that the burning desire to see what lay beneath had driven him insane on more than one sleepless night.

Royle shut the door behind him, cutting off the rest of the purgehouse from their private moment.

"Finished packing?" he asked. Misa jolted up, hitting her head on the corner of the upper bunk with a resounding thud. Her cap fell off, revealing her long hair tucked tightly underneath her hairnet.

"Ow!" she groaned, rubbing the top of her head. She gave him a glare before her cheeks burned into that embarrassed blush that sent a rush of warmth through his heart.

"I'm sorry; did I scare you?" He let a hint of amusement into his words.

Misa sighed, leaning over to grab her cap. "What are you doing here?" she asked, completely avoiding his question. It seemed she was doing a lot of that lately, and it drove him mad that she always ran away the moment they had some kind of connection. Like she didn't want anything to do with him. But then again, why would she? The only reason she was even with him was because he had given her no other choice.

"I thought I'd drop by to see you before you leave." Royle approached her, carefully as if she was an injured animal. He was afraid that one wrong move would push her away into a deep corner she would never leave, deeper into the frustrating barrier that forced him to stay away.

Misa didn't smile as he'd hoped she would. He couldn't remember if she had smiled since the accident. He couldn't blame her. Not after the horrors that she'd witnessed.

"You didn't come back yesterday," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You said you'd come back, but you didn't."

A pang hit Royle's chest at the accusatory tone in her words. "I'm sorry," he said before he could stop himself. At least, he refrained from saying he was busy. He suspected it would have been a poor excuse for his absence no matter how true it was. Because Torren had been right, and Royle only had until dawn to study the site before it was cleaned up.

There were marks left on the carriage. Marks left by someone who knew how to cast spells. And though Royle barely knew anything about spells, he knew someone had used magic to blow a hole on the ceiling of the carriage, and it was likely Leira had been removed through it when it tipped over.

"Did you find anything?" Misa tilted her head in inquiry, her forehead creasing in worry. Royle wished he could somehow relieve her or help her forget the horrors of the previous day. It was wrong, the way he was beginning to see her, to want her.

"No," he lied. It wouldn't do any good for her to know it had been a witch who caused the accident. Not when she had to focus on getting her magic under control before it got her killed.

Her shoulders sagged. "I'd prefer to stay. Just until Leira is found."

He'd suspected as much. In fact, he had expected she would be more resistant to go to Harthem. Most likely, Torren had played a hand in convincing her to leave with him as planned. At the very least, Royle felt slightly better about letting her go with the lieutenant by her side. It didn't sit well with him that a witch would have attacked the carriage and taken the prisoner away, and the thought of having Misa so close to Nisha terrified him more than he liked to admit. Nisha, who was much more capable than using a bull to kill purgehouse officers. Nisha, who could make Misa disappear just as Leira did.