“I see,” Shannon said. “The metal makes the sound.”
“Yes,” he said. “I suppose it’s more a loud clicking than clanging,” he added.
She smiled then, turning her eyes to rest them on his for a prolonged moment. There was something thoughtful in her gaze, as though she was reconsidering something, but he let the impression go. He did not need to analyze her. He knew what stuff she was made of and how clever she was at concealing it.
Any show of a change in her nature meant nothing.
“It sounds as though you have a fair society,” she said. “I’m not aware of any other kingdom that provides for its lower classes even when there’s no work to be done.”
“Their work has been done, that’s the point. Why should they not reap the benefits of what they have worked so hard to sow?” She smiled again. “What?” he asked.
“I see why you’re thinking that closing the borders won’t be objected to,” she said, and he got the sense that she was choosing her words carefully. “The people will see that they have everything they need here and be content.”
“Yes,” Ewan said simply. “I believe they will be.”
“And for those who wish to travel?”
“I have not gotten that far in my planning yet,” he lied with ease. He was not sharing every detail with her. But she lifted one brow.
“I sincerely doubt that,” she said, calling him out without a second thought.
“You know, you can be quite aggravating,” he remarked.
She smiled again, watching as the bell was hoisted toward the ceiling. The rope that would be pulled to ring it dangled through the air. It was made from silver velvet.
“It’s a grand celebration, then? This ball?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“And do you enjoy yourself?”
“As well as I can.” He shrugged.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not entirely comfortable in large crowds,” he said, not wanting to admit to the reason being how he disliked sitting on the throne and feeling the most blatant target in the room. “I do not always know what to say,” he elaborated to steer her quick mind away from drawing other conclusions. “I have a hard time finding the right questions to ask.”
“As far as I recall, you asked only good ones,” she said, a hint of earnestness in her voice.
“That was thanks to you.” He shook his head. “You made it easy for some reason.”
“True,” she said, and he raised his eyebrows at her. She giggled, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “I didn’t do it to trick you,” she added, still as earnest. “I could tell you needed a nudge and after one or two… or five… you managed to open yourself up a bit more.”
“So, you did that intentionally?” he asked.
“Ilistenedintentionally,” she replied. “When someone feels you’re truly interested in them, then opening up comes more naturally.”
“Were you? Truly interested?”
She smiled. “Now you are fishing for compliments.”
“Indeed,” he admitted, still enjoying the warmth that had settled in her gaze at the memory of those days they had spent together.
He shouldn’t be surprised that she seemed able to read him like an open book when Malcolm had always praised her ability to make a rowdy room gather together in hushed silence. She enraptured them simply by speaking a few well-chosen words. But that was because she had that presence about her.
“You made me feel at ease,” he said, unable to avoid the same hint of earnestness. “How do you do that?”
“It’s not that difficult,” she said.
