Chapter 32: Echoes of Sincerity
"I'm sorry." She's breathless, her eyes a blaze of worry and she's still standing by the entrance, fingers never leaving the doorknob. "For both coming in without permission and the…." She trailed off, gesturing to his coat. He was staring at her, an anomaly uninvited in his room and her mouth felt dry.
"You don't have to forgive me. I don't expect it." Practiced words rolled off her tongue. Sincerity quieter in echoed apologies. "I promise to not endanger you further, if you would like another guard-."
"You didn't hurt me." Soft, patient, his voice velvet.
"I could have though."