“You have a lot of women working here,” he said.
“I do,” she said happily. “That was one of the first changes I made, you know. For when I was here before, it was all men. Except those doing menial positions. I made a change. Women in this country who desperately needed money... I hired them. Now they can take care of themselves. If they have husbands that are cruel to them, they can leave. This is a very good thing.”
“It is a good thing,” he confirmed.
“I would hire men if I needed them. I am hiring you. But for the most part I find women do the work just fine.”
He chuckled. “Sadly, you need a man to protect you?”
“It’s sad, this thing in the world. I am not so strong.”
She looked up at the ceiling. It was midnight blue marble, swirled through with bright colors. It reminded her of the painting The Starry Night, and she had always thought it beautiful. She had made changes to the palace, but what she’d said was true. They were not flush with money. These things were not changes she had bought. These stones had been here for centuries. The only things that remained of her family. She had always found them soothing.
“I do not care much for men.”
She had not meant to say that out loud. He was, after all, a man, and she needed his help, so perhaps it was not in her best interest to say mean things about his gender.
“You don’t?”
She would have to answer for that now. “Non. It was not women, after all, who seized power in my country and killed my family.”
“No, I suppose it wasn’t. If it helps, I’m not a big fan either. I have seen a great many atrocities in this world. Most of them committed by men. So I’m with you.”
“Well. I’m glad we can at least agree on that. Though I hear tell that your sex has a few things to recommend it.”
“Do you?”
“I have heard. I surround myself now with many women, and we have conversations. Most of them have a fondness for at least one man in their lives. That is fair, I think. But...I do not know enough of men.”
“Is that why you offered me your body?”
Heat flooded her face. “It is not a gentlemanly thing to remind me of that, I think.”
“Is that so?”
She frowned deeply. “You turned me down.”
“I was not aware it was a proposition, so much as a form of payment.” He looked her over, his expression dispassionate. “Payment I don’t require.”
“Yes. That is what it was. Payment. If you don’t want it, it’s okay with me.”
“Then you don’t need to be so angry about it.”
“I’m not angry,” she said. “I have no anger to waste on you, in truth.”
“Another very good thing, because I have a feeling that anyone who is on the receiving end of your anger is going to find himself very unhappy.”
“Yes. This is true.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “It was a good thing they did not wish me dead. Pierre Doucet, he was a friend of my father’s, and yet he killed my father, his wife and son. By order, at least. He did not spare me due to any sentimentality. I tell you this. He only wished to use me when it was convenient to show my face, and I made it hellish hard for him. I do not hold my tongue well.” Anger, sadness and old fear welled up in her chest. “I might have suffered when I misbehaved, but it was worth it. A reminder that I was still me.”
“They hurt you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “They killed my whole family. Stole my life. A beating here and there was nothing.” She felt moisture in her eyes and hated it.
He stopped her. He did not touch her, but his gaze stopped her. And she saw there... The predator.
“I am very glad I was put on the mission to kill Pierre Doucet. I am glad I ended him.”
She was not used to this. Not used to someone being so firmly on her side. “As am I.”