The Girl Underground

Chapter 15: The Names of Two Good Men

Chapter 15: The Names of Two Good Men

Something was troubling Malia tonight. John could see it, even past her smile at his violin music, and underneath her kisses and touches. He could sense that something was not right, something was upsetting her.

"Is everything alright at home?" He asked her. They were lying down on the small cot he brought down there a few days past, he had one arm around her and she was resting her head on his chest.

She nodded, but didn't look up at him. "Everything's fine."

"No one is troubling you?"

"No one."

"You're happy?"

"Immensely..." She frowned up at him then. "Why all the questions?"

"I just like to think that if something was wrong, you would tell me," he looked down to her. "You would, right?"

She paused, then, and that was almost enough for him. "If it was my place to."

"Your place?"

She sighed and sat up. "John, as much as we want to hide it, we're not the same station. So there are some things that I am not at liberty to say, as a servant. Like if I saw something happen in Dawn-Bridge-"

"Did you?"

"No, it's hypothetical," she ran a hand over her hair. "But if I saw something happen there, I would be bound by loyalty as a servant to my house to not say a word, even if it was troubling me."

John sat up as well. "Are you saying that you saw something that troubles you and you're bound by loyalty to not tell me?"

Malia winced and paused before laughing and shaking her head. It all was too forced. "No, of course not! It was just an example."

"Telling me isn't breaking loyalty to Dawn-Bridge, Malia," he reminded her gently. "I'm the Magistrate, after all."

"I haven't forgotten that," she whispered. "Trust me, I haven't. You're such a good and noble man, John. The best of men... And I am luck that you should give me your affections."

She was trying to change the subject. He saw the people he would interrogate do this all the time, either for the purpose of protecting themselves or someone they loved. Who was she trying to protect? He knew something was troubling her, and she wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it. He desperately wanted to know what bothered her so he could fix it. He wanted her to be happy always.

"If you do not wish to tell me just yet," he said finally, voice even, "then that is alright, Malia. I would never force you, you know that. All things in their own time."

She turned to him and smiled. "Thank you, John, but there is nothing."

"If you say so," he pulled her to him. "Do you want to know what went through my mind when I first saw you?"

She nodded quickly, smiling wider. That was the genuine smile he was looking for.

"I first thought 'who is the strange woman on my property? I have never seen her before, is she lost?', then I thought 'perhaps she's a robber...'."

"A robber?!" Malia's jaw dropped.

He silenced her with a quick kiss and laughed. "Now, let me finish, my dear. I thought 'perhaps she's a robber, I've heard of men sending impossibly beautiful women to rob wealthy homes, simply because any man would be a fool to refuse such a goddess'."

Malia sniffed. "That's nonsense, I'm not so beautiful that a man would risk his crimes on me!"

"Oh, but you are," he stroked her hair. "And that is the next thing I thought, as I was speaking with you, 'how is it that such an angel has escaped my notice for so long'?"