Chapter 552
Katelina drifted to sleep in Jorick's arms, but woke suddenly. There was the memory of a voice, though she didn't know what it had said, or who it belonged to. Her eyes jerked to the door. Silence. As she started to relax, a soft sound came, like a shuffle. She threw back the blankets and catapulted over Jorick. She jerked the door open, but there was only Sarah, staring down the corridor. Their eyes met and they nodded, then Katelina returned to her bed and Jorick's curious questions.
"I thought she was crazy, too," Katelina whispered. "But this is the second time I've heard someone. Maybe she's right. Maybe the stalker is real."
Jorick asked the same question she had: Why would anyone stalk Sarah?
"Maybe if we find out who, we can find out why."
Jorick scoffed.
That evening, she followed him down to breakfast. They passed Roger and Jamie in the corridor. Katelina needed to talk to them without Jorick, but she couldn't think of a way get free until they reached the dining room. Sarah was noticeably absent, so she murmured an excuse to look for her and hurried away before Jorick could comment.
Back in the hall, Jamie nodded as the blurry eyed guard reeled off his report. Katelina studied Roger, making a mental list of his symptoms. His skin was paler than usual and his eyes were sunk in. A blister on his hand showed he'd wandered into sunlight. Since he did the day rounds, maybe he'd seen or heard something.
He saluted Jamie and started away before she pounced. "Roger, isn't it?"
He turned bloodshot eyes on her. "Wow. You know my name. Should I be flattered?"
She looked to where Jamie stopped to talk to someone else. She didn't have time for Roger's sarcasm. "You're awake all afternoon. Is anyone up with you?"
"Are you implying I'm not doing my stupid job? Because I am, even though it's useless. It isn't like this place is remotely sun proof, and the only way I can safely get from floor to floor are the stairs in the walls, but I'm doing it. Up and down and"
"Stairs in the walls?"
He looked at her like she was stupid. "You know, the passages hidden in the" He broke off and snickered. "You don't know and you're accusing me of not doing my job."
Katelina bit back a growl. "I'm not accusing you. I just want to know if anyone else was awake today."
"Besides the servants? Cornelius has the morning shift, but otherwise no, no there wasn't. If that's all you wanted then I'm going to bed."
Katelina let him stomp off and looked back to Jamie, her mind churning with the implications of a hidden staircase. The Executioner gave a polite laugh, then broke free of his cornered conversation. She hurried after him, and caught him before he reached the dining room.
"I have a question. You checked the guests in, right? How many wind walkers are there?"
Jamie studied her carefully. "I don't know. Why?"
"You could look it up, couldn't you?"
His suspicion appeared to double. "I could. But why would I?"
Before she could think of a sane way to phrase her answer, she felt the spark of mind reading. Her first reaction was annoyance, but in the end maybe that was easier.
He sighed. "I see. There's a new troupe arriving that I need to check in, but if I have time I might do it."
With his non-committal answer, she wasn't sure whether to thank him or not.
They split up in the dining room and she made her way to Jorick, who was locked in conversation with a pretty contortionist. Katelina glared and he offered her a wink as he extracted himself from her eager conversation.
"No luck with Sarah?" His voice held a note of amusement.
"Very funny. What? You're punishing me by talking to her?"
Surprise blossomed in his eyes. "Punish-what?" Comprehension dawned. "No, little one. You aren't a child and I don't need to punish you with jealousy. Though it's slightly worrisome you lied to me to talk to Jamie."
"Because it's easier than listening to your ridicule."
He quirked an eyebrow. "You honestly think I ridicule you?"
"Not me, but my concerns."
He sighed. "I'm not ridiculing, or belittling, I'm just-"
"Dismissing?"
He made a frustrated noise. "I don't mean to come off that way. It's been a long time since I needed to consider someone's worries when I don't share them."
"Since Velnya?"
"No. I never took her concerns seriously, either."
Katelina thought of the letters he'd saved, written to Velnya while he was away working for Malick. They were full of reassurances that, despite her misgivings, she had nothing to fear.
"I didn't think she did," Jorick said softly. "I only wanted to stop her from worrying needlessly, from being unhappy." He caught Katelina's hands. "I came from a life of worry; worry about food, shelter, clothing, health. I may not remember the details, but I remember that, and immortality has done little to remove the worries, only made them bigger. There's blood, sunlight, a thousand political factions, violence, death. It's all there, all crowding the edges, gnawing away at joy. That's not what I want for you. All I'm trying to do is protect the one I love from unhappiness."
"You can't protect people from unhappiness, Jorick. You told me last night that reality was death and I needed to face it, but so is unhappiness. And that's something you need to face."
"What's wrong with wanting to spare you from it?"
She tried to keep her tone diplomatic. "It's not wrong, just-impractical. Your intentions may be good, but your dismissal doesn't reassure. It only makes people feel like you're laughing at their concerns."
"I'm not laughing at you. I've never laughed at you or your concerns. I'm sorry if you thought I have." He squeezed her hands. "If this matters to you, I'll try to take it seriously, all right?"
"Try?"
"Katelina"
"All right. I suppose it's a start. You have to overcome five hundred years of being an unsupervised ass." Her grin turned serious. "But really, all I want is for you to take me seriously instead of treating me like a child."
"I don't mean to treat you like a child. I just don't want to watch you worry over phantoms."
Phantoms. The word struck a chord and she remembered what she'd forgotten. "What if they're a phantom?" she asked excitedly.
Jorick frowned and she explained, "The person in the hall. What if we can't see them, not because they aren't there, but because they're invisible?"
"If that was the case, you wouldn't sense them at all."
"Unless they relaxed for a minute?"
"Maybe."
"We should have Jamie add phantoms to the list." She looked for the Executioner, but he was already gone.
"What will you do with a list? Follow them around?"
She explained the idea of watching them for symptoms of sleep deprivation and late rising. He nodded and said, "Older vampires can get by on less sleep. Not to mention they may have powers that developed after their registration. Still, a list can't hurt. I'll speak to Jamie and tell him to add the phantoms to it."
"Good luck. He's taking it as seriously as you."
"I told you I'd try, Katelina, but I can't if you won't let me."
"Fine. He's taking it as seriously as you used to."
"That's better." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my morning in the dining room."
