There was a guilty look when she brought up, however inadvertently, being used for money and connections. He still didn’t trust her, but … he could see where she had been wronged.

“Thank you, Nisa. I appreciate it.”

There was also the fact that she just also really, really liked murdering, with the same intensity he enjoyed snooping. Would not being supposed to stop him? If anything, it added to the thrill.

Getting a deal that actually sounded workable was probably a once in a life time event, so he snatched her hand and shook when she thrust it at him. Just as well, when she tried to walk it back,

“Too late!” he grinned. “You already shook on it.”

He put his hands in his pockets again, and started back on their path.

“Allah forbid I need that many. She might not suit you, but I will miss her if she takes flight.”

When, more like. The real question was … would he take a chance under the wings of the unknown, or stick it out with the devil he already knew?

Nisa waved him off. "It is alright. "

He shook on it before she could stop him and she looked surprised but decided it was for the best. "Maybe you'll introduce me to this lover then, since I can't be expected not to kill them if I don't know them?"

That would at least remove her curiosity over who ensnared her brother's heart after all this time.

She smiled as he actually looked happy as they headed home. "I do not know if you will find that many. You seem rather picky from what I recall when you did meet people. But I seem to not know what you get up to out of the house in dark alleys or is it red light districts?"

Ah. Nisa had carefully observed his … tendencies. That did not bode well.

Aslan held his hands up, like this sad rule of gentlemen not kissing and telling was tragically out of his control.

“Yes, Nisa. I snatched a princess from a brothel, and I pleased her so well she ended up paying me instead. As long as you avoid anyone taller than me who has connections, it shouldn’t be a problem. Now, enough about me. Tell me more about your pretty, loyal maid.”

Nisa shook her head as she resumed her walk. "I am sorry but that is not how it goes. There are too many people who match this description and I'll not start measuring people I dislike. You will give me something to identify her with otherwise it's just too difficult. "

She shrugged and then waved him off the subject. "You said she was watching you sleep, so you've met Briar. She is a good cleaner and has shown I can trust her. The fact she is lovely is just a bonus. I value her skills far more."

She was very lovely though. That was one reason Nisa did prefer she didn't keep her head down and hide her face.

It was a cruel game to play. If Nisa truly humored him, then it sullied a proper woman’s good reputation. If she did not – it guaranteed her death.

“She has blonde hair … enjoys knitting,” Aslan hinted, clasping his hands behind him. “This town is far too small,” he added with a smile.

Sorry, Nettie.

“I doubt she’d admit it if you asked her. Too much to lose.”

Skills. Allah above, was that actually a nightmare or had this Briar had plans?

“What sort of skills?” he asked nonchalantly.

Nisa gave her brother a very obvious suspicious look. Nettie was.. a prostitute? Maybe just someone who liked to play with men secretly? She had a hard time believing it. Was the woman far more sneaky than she had considered? The woman would look good with her brother and be good for him, but that was a lot to consider. She knit her brow.

"I'm certain she wouldn't.." Does her uncle know? It wasn't her place to air someone's dirty laundry, but it was strange. She would talk to the woman alone later.

She became calm and enigmatic once more. "Why should I mention that? I do not know if her skills will be useful to you. Or if you care, you're rarely home anyway, long as she keeps the place clean and can cook, right?"

Did he feel bad lying to Nisa? Fuck no. Did he feel the slightest bit wary about her investigating this? In truth, he figured it was too absurd a claim to possibly take seriously – the aim was to shut down the conversation about this mysterious lover’s actual identity, not to send her investigating.

It wasn’t a very well thought out plan.

But the topic changed, and so clearly it a success.

It was Aslan’s turn to side-eye his sibling when she got defensive. Had she sent her maid to kill him, or was the maid just prone to that herself? Lovely. London it was.

“Just trying to get to know someone who is important to you, Nettie.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets once more as they walked.

Nisa was ready to ignore it but froze and rose a brow. "Nettie?" She managed to contain a small curious hum. "You're mind is elsewhere. "

She folded her arms. "If you want to know her skills. Ask her. But do not interrogate. My habits don't scare her off. Hut yours might." The woman turned on her heel to keep walking.

"I'll definitely have your lover over to the house soon to meet her better."

His mind was elsewhere. Gold rings or not – the invitation was a trap. How hard was he obligated to fight for a cannibal priest of some means, planning to whisk him away to a disposal site? The betrayal would certainly feel less from someone he’d only known some scant weeks than an entire lifetime.

And what did Malachi think about Nettie? Probably not much, right?

Shit. He said her name out loud.

“Maybe she could use a fright,” Aslan mused, and then regretted it immediately.

“Come now,” he teased. “A brief fright is not comparable to scaring the lover off entirely.”

More like offing her, knowing Nisa.

Nisa rose her brow. "I thought you wanted me to keep my hands off of her."

She walked on quietly for but a moment. "I will not let you wave this over me eternally. Until you have the first name of a possible marriage option , I owe you and her nothing."

Her face looked ahead and she seemed calm and unbothered by the topic. "She seemed happy to visit, perhaps you will be there and we can have a lovely dinner together."