the wall. She looked back over her shoulder and could see her footprints along the hallway. This area hadn’t been used or given a good sweep in a long time. In a way, that was kind of comforting. This level would only be used if there was a siege and those who lived outside of the walls needed to take shelter inside of the fortress. On the other hand, she hadn’t expected to see so much dust here.
A noise caught her attention and she turned to find a woman at the top of the stairs. She had straight black hair, very dark-golden-brown skin and seemed to be the type of woman she knew Linc and Colm favored. Her body was slim and sleek and she was almost a full head shorter than Cami. Even compared to her, the woman appeared to be small.
Cami glanced at the doors along the hallway, wanting to take a peek inside of them, but good manners insisted she acknowledge the woman with more than a glance. Just from the determined look on the woman’s face, Cami knew it wasn’t curiosity or concern that had brought her up here. No, the woman wanted to confront the person she saw as encroaching on her territory. Damn Colm and Linc anyway. Didn’t they know that it wasn’t a good idea to mess with people in their own Thent? It was bound to lead to some messy situations.
“Hello.” Cami smiled. Although it was an awkward situation, Cami didn’t blame the woman. She laid it all on Linc and Colm. It was stupid and cruel to play around with the hearts of women in their Thent.
“Hello,” the woman said, but she eyed Cami warily.
“What are you doing up here? Did you see the light and think something was wrong?” Cami gave the woman an easy way to back away from a direct confrontation. The woman seemed to be losing her nerve now that they stood face to face.
The woman took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “No, I followed you up from the first level.”
“I’m Cami. What’s your name?” Cami leaned a shoulder against the hallway wall and relaxed a little. She knew she sounded a little ditzy asking the woman’s name when she’d just admitted to following her up to this level, but she didn’t want to keep thinking of her as that woman.
“I’m Zinnia.” Her head tilted and she looked at Cami as if she couldn’t understand what she was doing.
“Why did you follow me up the stairs? Was there something you wanted?” Cami tried to keep the amusement out of her voice. Letting the other woman know she found this funny wouldn’t help the situation. Zinnia would probably take it the wrong way.
“Yes, there was something I wanted.” Zinnia frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Here? Exploring.” Cami wasn’t going to make it easier and steer the conversation to Linc or Colm, even though she knew that was what the woman intended.
“Not at this moment.” Zinnia voice roughened and she leaned forward. “I meant with the Ardin.”
“Let’s see. They’re helping me stop the old, false Ardin who ruled my Thent and I’m waiting for that to happen.” Cami shrugged and watched the woman’s face turn red.
“You know I don’t mean anything to do with their mission to get those men. I mean what are you doing with them? Do you think you can simply come in here and grab their attention? Do you think it’s going to be that easy?” Zinnia scowled and swung away only to turn back almost immediately.
“You’re under a few mistaken impressions. Now if I hadn’t made a promise not to send another woman at them as a distraction, I’d tell you to go ahead and do your best to take them. You’re also missing one important factor. They make their own decisions. What you or I think about it is pretty much irrelevant.” Cami resisted the urge to roll her eyes and laugh. The woman acted as if all Cami had had to do was beckon to those men and they’d come to her. She hadn’t done anything to attract them. She’d pushed them away and generally tried her best to keep them at a distance. None of it worked.
Zinnia’s mouth dropped open. “You don’t want their attention?”
“They’re Ardin. For you, that may be a draw. For me, it’s one of their greatest faults. On top of that, I don’t really know much about them so I’d just as soon keep