“Don’t you eat around here?”
Elysia huffed at the unspoken demand.Wordlessly, she grabbed two tea plates and plopped down Lynd’s meat pies . Handing one off to Beatriz, she curled up on the couch to wait. She allowed her sister all of two bites before placing her own pie back down.
Any day now.
Triz licked her fingers and leaned back against the wall. “Scarzan. What do you know?”
There it is.
She frowned. Beatriz didn’t usually get caught up in political affairs. Scarzan was a disgusting specimen. He also happened to be one of the Bellian representatives visiting soon. “What is it you want with him?”
The diplomats had not even arrived yet. How could she possibly have found herself ass up in their matters already?
Beatriz shrugged. “We have a common interest, that's all. Never hurts to have a little leverage in your pocket. And you, sister dear, seem to have large pockets these days.”
Taking a bite of pie, her sister spoke through her mouthful of food. “I heard about those con artist bloodletters. The undead gods know who you paid off to get those tips, but you did it somehow.”
Irritation boiled within Elysia, building like a geyser of steam, but her sister continued, oblivious as ever.
“And you still spend half your time up the Crown’s skirt. Doing all of Father’s dirty work.” She swallowed and grinned wickedly. “Or perhaps I should say, down the Crown’s pants.”
The geyser almost blew, heat rising rapidly from her chest to her face. She didn’t care about the sexual innuendo, but the jab at being their father’s pet was a poke against a bruise that would likely never heal.
Jaw tight, she spat out an ineloquent rebuttal. “As if you knowanythingabout my life. All you ever do is show up when you need something like some kind of leech. I’m not helping you this time.Get out.” She gestured pointedly at the door, her eyes cold and voice harsh.
Unfazed, Beatriz chewed slowly, staring her dead in the eyes and waiting. Her comments had hit their mark and she knew it, thanks to Elysia’s oversized reaction. This wasn’t the first time they’d played this game. Beatriz would say something terrible, setting off Elysia’s temper, so she could pretend she wasn’t going to help and feel like she had a spine for all of two seconds before inevitably caving. But they both knew she’d cave.
She always did.
Beatriz might not know what exactly Elysia did for their father, but she was smart enough to capitalize on the oily self-loathing her sister tried so hard to hide.
Elysia felt the muscles in her neck grow taut as her frustration mounted. Every last drop of cool, collected logic seemed to abandon ship when it came to Beatriz. She imagined throttling her sister. Beatriz didn’t know shit aboutwhyshe worked for their father. She just liked to judge her and throw it in her face whenever she got the chance.Selfish, ignorant bitch.
“I need to know before that damn party Mother is hosting.” Beatriz tossed her plate aside carelessly, scattering crumbs everywhere.
Elysia glared at her sister, her temper falling and annoyed embarrassment rising in its place thanks to her own inability to maintain her composure. She sifted through what she knew about the incoming diplomat and tried to find a single trail that could possibly connect back to her sister. On paper, diplomat Scarzan of Bellia ran their neighbor’s treasury, much like Remy’s father did for Kava. Off paper, he was a connoisseur of a Bellian card game called fitz. He spent much of his unreasonable salary playing both fitz and any other game that could swallow money.
She ignored her sister’s impatient foot tapping, taking her time to weigh out the value of her secrets.
Rumor had it that Scarzan had bet off one of his daughters to a Bellian crime lord. No one had seen or heard from the girl in months. But it was merely a rumor. A rumor that Elysia would need to confirm before it was of any use to her sister.
Her fingers combed through her hair as she thought.
Bellians valued their daughters deeply. Unlike most lands that Elysia knew of, the Bellians considered their daughters to be gifts. Gifts that grew into oracles, warriors, and the mothers of every single future Bellian. If the public learned what he haddone, it would leave the diplomat not only shamed but likely dead. They were as ruthless as they were wise in that land.
It was a secret that could break this man. And that was fine if the information was true. She could appreciate a culture that meted out swift justice for a crime such as that.
Still nestled in the safety of her couch, she mused that this wasn’t the type of secret to be gifted lightly. It wasn’t the type to be gifted at all.Because she wanted this one for herself.
She toyed with keeping it. She’d had plans for this little tidbit. Been holding onto it for the right moment. The only reason she hadn’t dropped it in her father’s lap already was because international accusations were tricky. She needed something truly solid,irrefutableeven, before she made her move. Her father hated Scarzan. She could’ve milked it for time off. Time off that she desperately needed.
Beatriz’s unblinking eyes beat down on her, and she sighed.There goes those plans.Looks like she’d be going out into the night and listening to Relaclave whisper. All so that Beatriz could wield the truth like a scythe.
Elysia studied her sister. She was expectant and waiting. As if there wasn’t a chance Elysia would leave her hanging.She’s always so sure I’ll bail her out.A staggering wave of resentment crashed over Elysia. Bitterness filled her mouth even as she agreed. “Fine.”
Her resentment turned to ash, though, as the one thought that never failed to sway her hand returned.Please don’t wind up dead.The plaintive words were quiet in her mind. It wasn’t a new thought. She wasn’t even sure it was from the good of her heart. There was just something unbearably lonely about imagining a world without her sister.
Her wild, infuriating sister.
