Any Other Name (The Split Worlds) - By Emma Newman Page 0,71

by such an unremarkable creature. There’s only one conclusion to be reached: you’re not as unremarkable as you appear to be.”

“Or…” Cathy ventured, “he could be mistaken, and his affection misplaced.”

“I did not invite you to speak,” he said. “Poppy may have delighted in your opinion, but I am not he. You are here to answer my questions. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my Lord.” She spoke with as much deference as she could but it had never come easily to her.

“Why did Poppy value you so highly?”

The last thing Cathy wanted to do was tell the truth, but she didn’t know if she could bear to lie under his scrutiny. “I impressed him, my Lord. And amused him.”

“How did you impress him?”

“I… I managed to humiliate a Rosa.”

A tiny movement at her wrist tore her eyes from his; the thumbnail was closer to her skin. “How?”

“By helping a mundane man beat him in a duel.”

“A Rosa duelling a mundane? What precipitated this?”

She hesitated, and the talon moved closer. “A wish I made, my Lord. It resulted in the Rosa losing a mundane woman he’d been promised. But it wasn’t my fault.”

“Who granted you a wish?”

“Lord Poppy.”

“Only one?”

She could hear the shortness of her breath as the nail moved closer. “Three, my Lord. I was tasked to impress him with my choices, which I did.”

“You told me humiliating the Rosa impressed him.”

“It… it was complicated.” She struggled to speak, the fear tightening her throat as the nail hovered above the vein. It was dark blue and she could see her pulse making the skin quiver up and down.

“Poppy was never complicated. He hasn’t granted any of his pets three wishes for five generations. Why give them to you?”

“A whim?” She didn’t want to reveal what had really caught Poppy’s eye.

The nail touched the skin, as sharp as a pin, making her jolt and the breath fly from her lungs. She couldn’t take her eyes off it and felt his intense focus on the top of her head. As the seconds passed the pressure increased, so slight she thought she was imagining it, then she saw the skin being pushed inwards and the pain increased.

“I asked to go to university at my coming of age,” she blurted, but the pressure didn’t ease. “And then I ran away from my family and lived in Mundanus.” She felt the skin break. “I hid from them for over year,” she cried as a deep-red bead rose and started to trickle up the nail in a most unnatural way. “I hid from Poppy too until he found me, I don’t know how!”

The blood ran back down the nail, pooling where its sharp tip was still pressed. Her heartbeat was roaring in her ears, she could feel sweat rolling down her back and she shook violently. It was hardly a wound, yet she felt as much distress as if it had been a knife driven deep.

“Always better to tell me the truth as soon as you speak.” He tilted his head, studying her discomfort. “Such fragile reluctance…” The nail drove deeper and the bead of blood elongated into a narrow rivulet, sliding down the side of her wrist onto his fingers. “There is something you cling to, a vain hope perhaps.”

He squeezed and she cried out in pain, frustrated by her impotence and enraged by his casual cruelty.

“That’s better,” he said. “I can hear your secret now. Did you really think that learning of your little rebellion would concern me? Did your family lock you away once you were returned?”

She nodded, watching the blood and wanting to run.

“And you think that now I know your plan to do it again, I’ll do the same?”

She looked up from the nail to his eyes, closer than they were before. How did he know? A good guess?

“A mortal says so much when in crisis, and they rarely use words,” he whispered, answering her silent question. “Answer me.”

“Yes,” she said, doing everything she could to hold in the gathering tears.

“And that hope endures even after I summoned you. I have no concern about your fantasy, for that’s all it can be now. You felt my summons. There is no magic in the Split Worlds that can hide you from me, should I discover you’ve disobeyed your new family.” The fingers holding her wrist curled and she saw their nails growing too, felt them prickle her skin but not pierce it yet. “But now we have met, I’m sure you are more keen