She's A Liar [T.R. & R.B.]

VI

6| Dangerous stratagems

Tom Riddle did not deserve peace.

He realised this when, disturbing him from his newly found quiet, a gentle but determined knock on the door made him get out of bed. 'Odd' he thought, usually elves appeared in rooms without any trouble.

As soon as he opened the door it was natural to look down - given the stature of the elves - but his gaze landed on a pair of elegant shoes and a familiar skirt. He dragged his gaze over her figure until it met the girl's pitchy one, which seemed to want to occupy not only his mind endlessly but also his physical space.

He raised an eyebrow, eyeing the tray with the dinner in her hands and then her again. He watched her waiting for her to explain herself, she did so as soon as she could no longer bear the weight of his gaze.

"I was informed by the elves that you would be eating in your room, my lord."

"And they told you this because..."

"I asked."

While he was pleased that she was also spending time thinking about him, this new information could only go to fuel the doubts he had about her.

He felt inside a plan he had not devised, unaware of what would happen next. Stuck in his own darkness.

"Why are you here Althea?"

"Maybe I just wanted to bring you dinner Sir."

And it was that maybe that put him on his guard, unsure whether to interpret it as an expression of her desire or to apply a note of concession. His frown grew as big as her smile. "You're too smart to think I'd believe you."

"You think I'm smart?"

Tom's smile did not return. "Is there anyone who doesn't consider you intelligent?" He felt a change in the air, her magical energy suddenly became more sparkling, more obvious. He could almost see the colour - peacock blue.

Althea had to fight to keep the smile from leaking out as it pushed its way out.

Validation

"I wanted to discuss a few things with you about my role here and I thought it would be more pleasant if we talked about it over dinner" her eyes lowered for a moment before they snapped back to his, "alone."

He opened the door wider and stepped to the side to allow her to enter "have a seat". The idea of having dinner alone with her, in her room, was giving him strange ideas and he hurried to look away from her curvaceous figure before she could notice and find himself with bigger problems. Forcing himself to think of alternatives he repeated her words.... Discussion, she wanted to discuss what?

Althea could only roll her eyes at the choice of decor, if it could be called such. Apart from the large bed, the desk and the wardrobe there was nothing else. On the other hand, every single available space had been filled with books and books and... books. 'Had he read them all?'

"Where can I put this down?" She asked referring to the tray and casting a glance at the desk full of papers. Writings and drawings were scattered across the parchment, several ink bottles had not been closed and the thought of setting the tray down there, risking spilling them on the table made her shiver.

"Put them on the bed."

As an involuntary reaction the girl wrinkled her nose and looked at the bed sceptically.

"Any problems?"

Althea shifted her weight between one foot and the other almost embarrassed under Tom's puzzled gaze.