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The words took Hector by surprise, as he wasn’t even looking at her and had been eyeing a large warehouse on the other side of a line of smaller buildings.

And now that he was thinking about it, he and she had been spending a lot of time together lately, and yet he hadn’t heard the young woman speak very much at all. He remembered her talking to the Elroys a fair amount during the trip to Dunehall, but he wasn’t sure she’d ever uttered a single word to him directly.

Now that she definitely had, though, Hector was suddenly nervous, as it reminded him how little he actually knew of her.

“I feel I should thank you for protecting us the way you did,” she said.

Oh shit, and she was really nice, too? Why the hell was this happening now? ‘Garovel, help...’

‘Tell her it was no big deal,’ the reaper said privately. ‘And sound manly.’

Hector frowned and looked at her--which turned out to be a bad idea.

This was a proper young lady that was speaking to him. A noblewoman. Those golden yellow eyes that apparently ran in her family easily made for one of the most striking gazes that Hector had ever seen, and combined with the soft contours of her nose, cheeks, and eyebrows, Jada’s face created an uncommon blend of keen innocence.

Goddammit.

This was why he was in the habit of avoiding people’s faces. Especially women’s.

He tried to respond, but his mouth wouldn’t move, perhaps because it knew something that his brain didn’t. He decided to just go with a simple nod, instead. That would be enough, right?

Thankfully, it did seem to satisfy her.

Garovel picked up the slack before the silence grew too long. ‘What is your ability, by the way? We’ve yet to see you use it.’