He came to her rooms that evening.
Asked if Vaeren's gift had concerned her.
She said no.
He said it concerned him.
She asked why.
He didn't answer.
She noted that he didn't answer.
He noted that she noticed.
They sat with that for a while.
He knocked at her door after the evening hour.
She opened it. He was leaning against the opposite wall — the same posture he'd had the night he came after the notes, the night she'd opened the door and found him there not entirely sure how he'd arrived.
"Come in," she said.
He came in. Sat in the chair by the fire. She sat at the desk and turned to face him.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
"The gift didn't concern you at all," he said. Not a question. An observation.
"No," she said. "I assessed it, responded appropriately, and returned to what I was doing."
"Most people would have been flattered," he said. "Or frightened. Or both."
"Vaeren sent expensive silk and a note implying we had mutual interests," she said. "There was nothing flattering in it — it was a calculation, not a compliment. And there was nothing frightening — it was an opening move, not a threat."
"You read it as a chess opening," he said.
"Because that's what it was," she said.
He looked at the fire for a moment.
"It concerned me," he said.
"I know," she said. "You said so."
"I said it concerned me and you asked why," he said, "and I didn't answer."
"No," she agreed. "You didn't."
The fire was quiet between them.
"Why did it concern you?" she asked again. Evenly. Not pushing. Simply returning to the unanswered question because unanswered questions were inefficient.
He looked at her.
He's deciding something, she noted. Whether to say the real thing or a version of it.
"Because he was looking at you," Malik said, "and calculating what you were worth to him. And I find I have strong feelings about people calculating what you're worth."
The room was very quiet.
Oh, she thought.
She looked at him steadily. He looked back.
Neither of them moved toward it or away from it.
"That's worth knowing," she said at last.
"Yes," he said. "I thought it might be."