person.
We were even getting along so well that after I’d told him some of my hobbies and interests outside of dance. Warren even made me crack a smile when he said with a completely straight face that he was surprised that in all my telling about myself, I hadn’t once mentioned my love of law and my dreams of someday getting into law school and becoming a full-fledged attorney.
I pointed my little lobster fork at him, actually fighting a chuckle. “You’re hilarious. Maybe you should consider taking some comedy classes and becoming a full-fledged comedian.”
Fork perched above his lobster, he smiled back, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. “Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, comedian. I like the sound of that.“
“That’s the spirit. If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Things took a bit of a turn a short while later. Thinking that I finally had him convinced that I wasn’t any kind of a covert ops enemy, I casually asked if, when I left after dinner, I should inform Hugh that his services as my prisoner guard weren’t needed anymore. “Or do you want to tell him yourself?”
Frowning, Warren took his napkin off his lap and placed it on the table. “I won’t be calling off Hugh’s services, and neither will you.”
I stared at him, hardly daring to believe my ears. “What?”
“You’re still my prisoner, and until I can trust you in my community fully, I’m going to have you under guard every second of every day. Same as your friend Dalton.”
Heart racing, I suddenly stood, slamming my napkin on the table. “Like I told you in the hospital, Dalton is not my friend, or my boyfriend, or my anything. I only just met him the night his stupid vibration device thing made me fall over the deck of the cruise ship.
I’ve barely even spoken to him while we’ve been here in the village together. I’m not a spy, and I’m not any kind of an enemy to you or any of your people. And if you still don’t believe that even after everything I’ve told you tonight, your name shouldn’t be Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, comedian. It should be Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, asshole.”
With that, I turned heel and began stalking out of his castle, not caring if he chased after me or what his reaction to what I’d said would be. Melody had assured me that there really wasn’t even any kind of a jail facility in the village, so I didn’t have any fear about that anymore. Warren didn’t chase after me, or yell, or do anything. I didn’t even hear him get up from the table.
Once outside, I strode past Hugh, who was sitting beneath a copse of palms just a short distance from the castle. “I guess you can escort me home now, since I’m still a prisoner, still a person not to be trusted, not even to walk from castle to castle, despite the fact that I just spilled my guts about my life in an attempt to prove I really am who I say I am.”
Hugh had gotten up and was walking beside me now, though he didn’t respond to me right away. When he did, it was in such a quiet, serious voice that I had to strain my ears to hear him above the noise of the churning, nearby ocean.
“I’m probably old enough to be your father, Ellie, so let me give you some fatherly advice. Just slow down. Give him time. Chief Knight has experienced some betrayals in his life, both before we all came here to the island and after, that have made him very slow to trust. But eventually, if you’re really not a spy—”
“I’m not.”
“Then eventually he’ll come to realize that. Eventually, he will learn to trust you if you are trustworthy. And maybe even sooner than you might think if you’ll just step back a little from trying to force him to trust you and just let it happen naturally.”
I snorted, stomping across the village walkway. “‘Let it happen naturally’ by continuing to allow myself to be treated like a prisoner?”
Hugh sighed, looking exasperated in a very
We were even getting along so well that after I’d told him some of my hobbies and interests outside of dance. Warren even made me crack a smile when he said with a completely straight face that he was surprised that in all my telling about myself, I hadn’t once mentioned my love of law and my dreams of someday getting into law school and becoming a full-fledged attorney.
I pointed my little lobster fork at him, actually fighting a chuckle. “You’re hilarious. Maybe you should consider taking some comedy classes and becoming a full-fledged comedian.”
Fork perched above his lobster, he smiled back, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. “Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, comedian. I like the sound of that.“
“That’s the spirit. If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Things took a bit of a turn a short while later. Thinking that I finally had him convinced that I wasn’t any kind of a covert ops enemy, I casually asked if, when I left after dinner, I should inform Hugh that his services as my prisoner guard weren’t needed anymore. “Or do you want to tell him yourself?”
Frowning, Warren took his napkin off his lap and placed it on the table. “I won’t be calling off Hugh’s services, and neither will you.”
I stared at him, hardly daring to believe my ears. “What?”
“You’re still my prisoner, and until I can trust you in my community fully, I’m going to have you under guard every second of every day. Same as your friend Dalton.”
Heart racing, I suddenly stood, slamming my napkin on the table. “Like I told you in the hospital, Dalton is not my friend, or my boyfriend, or my anything. I only just met him the night his stupid vibration device thing made me fall over the deck of the cruise ship.
I’ve barely even spoken to him while we’ve been here in the village together. I’m not a spy, and I’m not any kind of an enemy to you or any of your people. And if you still don’t believe that even after everything I’ve told you tonight, your name shouldn’t be Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, comedian. It should be Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight, asshole.”
With that, I turned heel and began stalking out of his castle, not caring if he chased after me or what his reaction to what I’d said would be. Melody had assured me that there really wasn’t even any kind of a jail facility in the village, so I didn’t have any fear about that anymore. Warren didn’t chase after me, or yell, or do anything. I didn’t even hear him get up from the table.
Once outside, I strode past Hugh, who was sitting beneath a copse of palms just a short distance from the castle. “I guess you can escort me home now, since I’m still a prisoner, still a person not to be trusted, not even to walk from castle to castle, despite the fact that I just spilled my guts about my life in an attempt to prove I really am who I say I am.”
Hugh had gotten up and was walking beside me now, though he didn’t respond to me right away. When he did, it was in such a quiet, serious voice that I had to strain my ears to hear him above the noise of the churning, nearby ocean.
“I’m probably old enough to be your father, Ellie, so let me give you some fatherly advice. Just slow down. Give him time. Chief Knight has experienced some betrayals in his life, both before we all came here to the island and after, that have made him very slow to trust. But eventually, if you’re really not a spy—”
“I’m not.”
“Then eventually he’ll come to realize that. Eventually, he will learn to trust you if you are trustworthy. And maybe even sooner than you might think if you’ll just step back a little from trying to force him to trust you and just let it happen naturally.”
I snorted, stomping across the village walkway. “‘Let it happen naturally’ by continuing to allow myself to be treated like a prisoner?”
Hugh sighed, looking exasperated in a very
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