“I’m going to return to my rooms now,” she said.

He straightened. “Lady, I have questions for you.”

Well, and she knew they must have this conversation eventually, and she preferred to have it in the dark, where his eyes wouldn’t unnerve her. Katsa pulled the quiver over her head, and laid it on the slab of stone. She placed the bow beside it. “Go on,” she said.

He leaned back against the stone. “What did you steal from King Murgon, Lady,” he said, “four nights past?”

“Nothing that King Murgon had not himself stolen.”

“Ah. Stolen from you?”

“Yes, from me, or from a friend.”

“Really?” He crossed his arms again, and in the torchlight he raised an eyebrow. “I wonder if this friend would be surprised to hear himself so called?”

“Why should he be surprised? Why should he think himself an enemy?”

“Ah,” he said, “but it’s just that. I thought the Middluns had neither friends nor enemies. I thought King Randa never got involved.”

“I suppose you’re wrong.”

“No. I’m not wrong.” He stared at her, and she was glad for the darkness that kept his strange eyes dim. “Do you know why I’m here, Lady?”

“I was told you’re the son of the Lienid king,” she said. “I was told you seek your grandfather, who’s disappeared. Why you’ve come to Randa’s court, I couldn’t say. I doubt Randa is your kidnapper.”

He considered her for a moment, and a smile flickered across his face. Katsa knew she wasn’t fooling him. It didn’t matter. He may know what he knew, but she had no intention of confirming it.

“King Murgon was quite certain I was involved in the robbery,” he said. “He seemed quite sure I knew what object had been stolen.”

“And that’s natural,” Katsa said. “The guards had seen a Graceling fighter, and you’re no other than a Graceling fighter.”

“No. Murgon didn’t believe I was involved because I was Graced. He believed I was involved because I’m Lienid. Can you explain that?”

And of course she would give him no answer to that question, this smirking Lienid. She noticed that the neck of his shirt was now fastened. “I see you close your shirt for state dinners,” she heard herself saying, though she didn’t know where such a senseless comment came from.

His mouth twitched, and his words, when he spoke, did not conceal his laughter. “I didn’t know you were so interested in my shirt, Lady.”

Her face was hot, and his laughter was infuriating. This was absurdity, and she would put up with it no longer. “I’m going to my rooms now,” she said, and she turned to leave. In a flash, he stood and blocked her path.

“You have my grandfather,” he said.

Katsa tried to step around him. “I’m going to my rooms.” He blocked her path again, and this time he raised his arm in warning.

Well, at least they were relating now in a way she could understand. Katsa cocked her head upward and looked into his eyes. “I’m going to my rooms,” she said, “and if I must knock you over to do so, I will.”