“Yes?” She walked over. Her shoes tapped, echoing, sounding so small and lonely in this monstrous room. She halted before them
“You’ve been brought to hear my decision. I’ve assessed all the evidence, from your testimony through to what we know of the PME’s plans. Lieutenant Inkline seems to have been working independently with this plot to eliminate me. I’ve heard what Theo Kevonis has had to say, as well as my own security about your actions.”
Every muscle hummed with tension. She curled her toes in her shoes, made herself look straight at the president. Not at him.
“My decision is that you shall be exonerated of any ill will toward this current administration. That you have a separate case to answer to for misleading Theodore Kevonis. I give you a choice.” He paused, his chin lowering, mouth a straight line.
“Either you can be extradited to a place chosen by the state. This place to be outside the influence of the PME as much as we can possibly ensure. In gratitude…”
What? Gratitude? He plans to reward me?
“For your courage in the face of enemy forces, we will award you an annual salary of forty thousand drachma in perpetuity.
“Or, you may instead surrender to Theodore Kevonis and accept his decision regarding your future.” At that, the president clasped his hands before him and waited.
Theo? How could this be? But, she had her chance, small though it might be. Afraid of what she might see, she glanced at Theo.
The president leaned forward and whispered, “Go to him.”
She blinked, raised her chin, nodded.
From the red suffusing Theo’s face, he’d not known of this alternative. Was this Dankyo’s doing? “I will accept the decision of Theodore Kevonis.” Thank God, she’d said that without quaking.
Heart thudding, she walked to Theo, every step under his furious gaze feeling like it might crumble her legs to dust, and stood before him.
She moved her mouth, trying to say something, anything that would make the determination leave his eyes.
“Please.”
He shook his head. “How can I accept this? No. I cannot trust you, Claire. I have people who need me as much you. People who do trust me to keep them safe.”
“I never meant to hurt anyone. I know what I did was wrong. I’ve said as much. You were there, weren’t you?” She searched his face for clues. “At the interrogation? I know you were there. I could feel you.” She clenched a hand over her heart, gritted her teeth until her jaw ached. “I can feel you. That’s how close we are. If you make me go away, I will never be whole again. Without you, I am nothing.”
“No. You’re stronger than you think, Claire.” Yet his eyes softened, and for the first time, something stirred between them.
She shut her eyes, shook her head. “Am I? You convinced me I wasn’t just a weapon, a thing. You’re the only person I’ve ever been this close to, and…I had thought you loved me. I don’t know what else I can say. How can I show you that you can trust me again?”
Pain coiled tight in her chest—she wanted to fix what she’d broken so much. But wishing wouldn’t work.
He sighed. “How? That’s just it, Claire. It’s not just that I don’t trust you. Or even that I don’t—” He swallowed. “You did not trust me enough to tell me what you were. I could have helped you.”
Her heart faltered. “Is that it? But…” Confused, aghast at this apparently impossible problem, she thought back and knew what she must say, then hesitated. If she was wrong, this would destroy her chance of ever putting things right.
“Would you have, Theo? Would you have helped me? Because, back then, when you knew me so little, I believe you would have sent me away.” She stopped. There it was—she’d thrown her last hope at his feet. Please. Please, let me be right.
He seemed to loom taller. His forehead wrinkled. “I would never…”
She sank to the floor; the timber jolted hard on her knees. “No?”
The hurt in his eyes and the deep breath he took told her she’d hit the mark.
“Perhaps,” he whispered. The frown melted into a new curiosity, and then he shook himself. “It matters not at all. Not now. I can’t trust you now. I can’t.”
Hands on her thighs, she bent her head. “Why not? Why not? I’d put my life in your hands. Here I am, at your feet. Please, I do trust you. Do what you will with me.” She scrambled for something that would be solid proof.
“Do what I will? You know, Claire, that I would never hurt you. This proves nothing. I can’t know what is in your mind or what other secrets you might hold from me.”
His legs moved. He was leaving. She gasped and looked up. “Use ropes on me! Tie me up if you wish! Let Dankyo do it. I don’t care! I…I trust you.”
“You think that offering to let me hurt you is some sort of proof? And since I will not do anything to hurt you, this still proves nothing.”