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Madison tried not to read too much into that. She didn’t need any other excuses to feel insecure. “Is something the matter?” she dared to ask.

“No,” said Dimas, and he waved at the other man as if shooing him away.

The shorter man merely nodded and excused himself.

Wait a minute. Was Dimas some sort of big shot, on top of everything else?

Oh, hell.

Was she getting herself into trouble again? Because she was starting to feel like she was.

And she didn’t know what to do about it, either.

“I apologize for not engaging with you more,” said Dimas. “You must be bored.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. And besides, it’s a little early for us to be getting engaged, don’t you think?”

That just made him raise an eyebrow at her again.

“That was another joke,” she clarified.

“...I know,” said Dimas. “It was very funny.”

Her face scrunched up a little. “Are you...? Are you being sarcastic?”

“No.”

Her face scrunched up a little more. “Are you sure? Because it sounded like you were.”

“I promise that I was not being sarcastic.”

“Well, if you thought it was funny, then why didn’t you laugh?”

A beat passed, and the man gave a hulking shrug. “I don’t know.”

Not sure what to say to that, she pouted.

Surprisingly enough, that seemed to get a reaction out of the man. Not a big one, of course, but something at least. She couldn’t tell what that expression meant, partly because it was gone as quickly as it appeared, but immediately thereafter, Dimas took the lead in walking. “Perhaps I can show you something,” he said.

Madison’s eyes lit up, and she skipped a bit closer to him. “Oh? What kind of something would that be?”

“A certain room,” said Dimas, taking them through the main courtyard where Warrenhold’s eight great towers all surrounded them.

“What kind of room?” she said with a slight grin. That room wouldn’t happen to have a hot tub or a bed, would it? She had to stop herself from saying that out loud.

“A shrine,” said Dimas.

Oh. Well, that was a little disappointing, but she was curious, at least. She’d never been taken to a shrine on a date before. She didn’t think she’d ever been taken to a shrine, period.

“From what I understand,” Dimas went on, “there are several shrines in Warrenhold, but I only know where two of them are. I’ll take you to the one that is probably quieter.”

“Alrighty,” said Madison with a nod. She followed him toward the tallest and skinniest building, the one she’d heard people calling the Entry Tower.

As they neared it, another man approached Dimas and spoke quietly into his ear. He held up a finger in her direction before excusing himself and asking her to wait a moment.