She stood and kissed him on the cheek. “Good. We start tomorrow.”
Chapter Seven
Raven strode down the hall toward the dining room, a receipt from the court accountant in her hand. She smiled when she saw Gabriel and Charlie already at the table. They were laughing about something, Charlie’s voice a tinkling bell. But it was the look on Gabriel’s face that melted her heart. Her big, broody dragon husband was beaming as if his entire body were filled with light instead of fire. To see them like this, totally happy, was milk and honey to her soul.
“What did I miss?” she asked through her own smile. “You two look like you’re having fun.”
“Charlie was showing me her new trick,” Gabriel said, raising an eyebrow.
“Another one?” As much as Raven enjoyed watching Charlie discover her powers, it was a little nerve-racking not to know when or where something new would appear. She tried to keep her expression positive and excited as she looked at her daughter and said, “Show me what you can do.”
Charlie opened her hand, and Gabriel placed a small round sapphire into it. Raven glanced skeptically at him, but he tipped his head toward Charlie. The little girl made a face like she was concentrating hard. The stone lifted off her palm and floated in the air.
Raven applauded. “Levitation! Good work, Charlie!”
The stone fell back into her hand, and she closed it into her fist.
“She’s not done,” Gabriel said around a tight smile.
Charlie looked up at her mother and opened her fist. A butterfly fluttered off her palm and danced between them, as bright blue as the gem she had transformed.
“Oh, Charlie, that’s incredible! Transfiguration, too? Good girl!” Raven beamed at her daughter. The butterfly balled in on itself and turned again into a stone, dropping to the ground near her toes.
“It never lasts,” Charlie said sadly.
“Don’t you worry about that,” Raven said. “It will last longer with practice.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Such a smart girl we have.”
“What’s that?” Gabriel turned his attention to the paper in Raven’s hand.
“It’s a receipt from the royal accountant. Marius has withdrawn a large sum of money from his account to pay for pit training.”
“So? Colin told me it’s helping him recover physically from the trauma of his resurrection. He said Marius has recovered almost all the mobility in his leg since they’ve been working together, but he’s too busy to train him anymore.”
“Right.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Did he happen to mention who Marius had hired to be his new trainer?”
His gaze settled on the firm line of her mouth. “No, but I’m beginning to fear his choice may be problematic.”
“Normally it would be none of my business where Marius spends his money. It’s his money. But when he mentioned what the money was for, the accountant thought I should know for reasons of palace security.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Harlow.”
“Darium’s daughter?”
“The one and only.”
“You know, I believed we were doing the right thing letting Darium off the hook for his alleged support of Eleanor, Raven. After all, there was evidence he’d distanced himself from my mother in the months before the revolution. But I don’t trust this family. He may not have been on the Highborn Council, but he was a nobleman, always on the fringes of political society. He benefited greatly from Eleanor’s reign.” Gabriel worked his jaw back and forth.
“We took away Darium’s position. His business folded. Does he even have the resources to be considered a threat?”
“They have resources. Hundreds of years of amassed wealth and a network of influential friends. I’m sure Darium has already broken ground on a new venture. We took his business, but there’s no law against him working. And now his daughter is training Marius in pit fighting?” Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the paper from Raven’s hands and made a face at the amount. “For an impressive wage.”
“Suspicious, right?”
Gabriel nodded.
Raven sighed. “We did invite her to the coronation for a reason. She isn’t to blame for her father’s actions.”
