He gaped at me and pointed at Sher-sah. “On that thing?”
“Be careful. He understands more than you’d think, and he’s very, very proud.”
“And his teeth are very, very sharp.” Falak’s tone sounded playful, yet his words carried an undercurrent of threat.
“Take it from someone with firsthand experience.” I scowled at the ringmaster. “I think we’re finished for the evening, anyway. It’s late and we’re all tired.”
“What are your intentions, Sir Faust?” Falak asked. “Forgive me, but the circus is not a travelling inn, though lately it would appear otherwise. I cannot provide you with room or board.”
Gideon nodded as though he’d expected Falak’s response. “I’ve brought my own provisions and transportation. I only ask that you allow me to follow your caravan, so I can guard Evie.”
Falak pressed his lips into a thin line. His nostrils flared. He folded his arms over his chest. “If you ask the lion, there, he might tell you Evie no longer requires your protection. He seems to have taken it upon himself to offer his services in your absence, and he might resent the usurpation of his position.”
Gideon arched an eyebrow and bit his lip, smothering a chuckle.
“It’s not funny,” I said. “Falak’s serious. So is Sher-sah. Come, let me introduce you. Maybe I can negotiate an arrangement between the two of you.”
He followed me across the ring to the napping lion and stopped before him with a guttural exclamation of surprise. “But...he’s a machine.”
“Spend enough time around the circus’s creatures and you’ll find yourself questioning things you never thought you would.” While placing a hand over my stomach, I raised the other high in the air, and executed a deep and melodramatic bow. “King Lion.”
Sher-sah opened one eye and looked at me. He opened the other, raised his head, and smacked his lips. His attention shifted to the young man standing beside me, so I nudged him and hissed under my breath. “Bow.”
Gideon’s jaw clenched, but he did as I asked, dropping low in a graceful gesture of deference.
“This is my companion, friend, and guardian, Gideon, and I’m hoping you’ll accept his presence. I’m asking you not to eat him if you find him prowling about the circus. He’s here to protect me. And the princess.” The last bit might have been presumptuous of me, but I knew Gideon well enough to assume he’d never let harm come to Genevieve if he could help it.
Sher-sah huffed and rose to his feet. He stretched, sinking low on his forepaws while his rear end rose high. His tail flicked. He stood and padded around Gideon and me, snuffling the air as he prowled. Finally, he stopped and sat, curling his tail around himself as he faced my guardian. “What now?” Gideon asked.
“Hold out your hand. Let him smell you.”
The muscles around his eyes tensed, but he offered Sher-sah his open palm. The lion snuffled his hand and rubbed his jaw against his fingers in an inviting way.
“Does this mean he’s not going to bite me in two?”
I shrugged. “Seems like it. So long as you stay on his good side.”
“He lets you ride him?” Sher-sah had risen again and rubbed himself against Gideon with greater enthusiasm. Gideon spread his feet, bracing himself against the cat’s caresses. “Is that...is he purring?”
“I’m not sure if that’s the right term, but I don’t know what else to call it. It means he likes you, I think. And as for the riding thing.... I don’t think he lets me so much as he tolerates me.”
Gideon stroked the big cat’s smooth hide, rubbing his haunches. “You’re right. He’s something more than just a machine. But what?”
“I’m not sure, yet, but I’ve sown some seeds of inquiry that I hope will bear fruit tonight.”
“What do you—”
“Not now,” I whispered, noticing Falak’s approach.
“The lion seems to like you,” the ringmaster said.
“Sher-sah recognizes a kindred spirit when he sees one,” I said. “He shouldn’t bother Gideon tonight while he’s patrolling.”
Falak raised both hands at his sides, palms splayed. “That’s between you, your friend, and Sher-sah. I accept no blame for what could happen if the lion changes his mind.”
“I take full responsibility for the risks,” Gideon said.
“You say that now....” Falak brushed his shirtfront, smoothing wrinkles, removing dust. He squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes at the spot above Gideon’s shoulder where Sephonie’s tip peeked out. It appeared Gideon had found the time, after all, to rig a harness for his beloved crossbow, so he could always keep it at his side. “Don’t interfere with this circus or its performers, and you and I will have no reason to quarrel.” He touched his cap and bowed from the neck. “Good night, everyone.”
Falak strode away, disappearing into the darkness at the edge of the camp. Gideon started toward his horse, Wallah, waiting at the edge of the riding ring, and I followed. “You’ll be alright for the night?” I asked. “You have enough provisions?”
He stopped at Wallah’s side and stroked his neck. “I’m better prepared than we were when we fled Inselgrau...and Lord Daeg. I have a tent, blankets, food. I’ll be alright, Evie.”
“Did you tell my sister where you were going?” Genevieve asked.
He shook his head. “If word of Evie’s plans got to the wrong ears, it could endanger everything. Trust is too valuable a commodity to be given away freely these days.”
“If you’re not too tired, there’s a lot I want to tell you,” I said, “but we’d best do it somewhere a little more private.”
“Besides,” said the princess, “we’re expecting company.”
Gideon arched an eyebrow.
“Come.” I motioned for him to follow. “I’ll explain everything.”
The three of us wedged ourselves into the costume wagon’s limited space and attempted to make ourselves comfortable. Genevieve and I slumped together on the floor while Gideon leaned against a sewing table and tried not to bump his head on the wagon’s low ceiling. “So,” I said, bringing our meeting to order. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
“Start from the moment you left the castle,” Gideon said. “You went straight to the circus?”
