“I’ve gotten by Pax more times than I can count.”
I looked up to find her watching me with a set jaw and alert gaze so I gave her the nod I knew she was waiting for and sighed.
“I’d intended to visit grandmother this morning anyway,” I told her. “I’ll inform her.”
“I’ll check the perimeter,” Olympia replied with a nod and then headed off down the hall to do exactly as she’d said.
I glanced at the clothes I’d hurriedly put on and wondered if I had time to change them. Then I remembered my wife was probably already back asleep on the other side of the door and didn’t want to risk waking her again. Instead, I made my way to my study and sat down with a few reports and correspondences to await morning.
The sun rose over the peak of the First Ring a few hours later and I stood with it, stretching out my tired limbs and heading for the door. I hoped I could catch my grandmother before she attempted to head outside to her greenhouses and found herself blocked by Pax and the others. Nascha was a creature of habit. She didn’t like it very much when her routine was disturbed. I’d need to be there when she was told or have Pax risk a stern lecture from his Matriarch.
Indeed, my cousin seemed relieved when I appeared at the end of the hall. The tension in his shoulders eased at once but his eyes flicked to the mahogany grain of the door in a way that had me slowing my stride.
“What is it?” I asked, uncertainty thick in my tone.
“She’s—well—”
Without further explanation, Pax lifted a fist and knocked once before pushing the door open. I rounded the corner and slid my gaze away from my cousin to the open threshold in time to see my grandmother laughing along with…my wife.
I stood in the doorway, blinking at the pair of them smiling together where they sat on the end of my grandmother’s bed. Nascha patted Isla’s knee and my wife said something I didn’t hear through my surprise before her warm chocolate eyes drifted to me.
“There he is now,” she announced, letting me know, without shame, that I’d been the subject of their conversation. “Maybe he’ll be kind enough now to inform us why we’ve all been locked inside our rooms like prisoners.”
I blew out a breath.
“Good luck, Sir,” Pax muttered under his breath before pulling the door shut behind me.
Nascha and Isla both waited expectantly, matching serene smiles on their lips. I sighed and ran a hand through my unruly curls. When my wife’s gaze tracked the movement and dipped lower to my rumpled clothes, I knew I should have taken the time to change before coming here. I cleared my throat and stepped forward, doing my best to project confidence when facing the two most important women in my life as they narrowed their gazes at me and appeared ready to strip my skin from my bones.
“I was told—” I began but I, apparently, would not be starting this meeting.
“Did you perhaps forget I was still alive?” Nascha intoned, her voice having dropped to that dangerous timber she reserved for when she was displeased but still maintaining a calm facade.
I blinked and glanced at Isla who merely wore a frown and raised a brow.
“I—I’m sorry?” I asked, truly having no idea what else to say.
“While I still live, I rule this House, not you,” Nascha announced, rising from where she sat with Isla to face me down with her burning gaze. “I am no invalid to be kept hidden away in my room, uninformed of family business. If there is news, youcome to me with it. If the House is to be locked down,Iwill be the one to issue the command. Do you understand me, hafid?”
I lowered my head, properly chastened. The shame was a bit more poignant for the scolding having taken place in front of my wife.
“Yes, grandmother,” I replied.
“You used to include me, Milo,” she said, her tone changing from outrage to curiosity. Sensing it was safe to do so, I looked up again. “What changed?”
My gaze flicked once to Isla before I answered.
“Your gods,” I said. “You certainly think they’re real, whether they are or not. It’s impaired your judgment. Even if they are real, who’s to say they want what’s right for you? For us?”
Her brow furrowed.
“Where is this coming from?” she asked. “I knew you never cared for religion but—“
“I figured out what was driving Simi mad,” I told her. I was ready to draw this conclusion, for the first time, without all the evidence. “It was a god. Or, at least, someone claiming to be one.”
“How do you–”
“The necklace,” I said, glancing down at where it hung around my wife’s neck. Isla’s fingers went to it immediately, twisting the delicate chain that held the stone against her chest. “You wore it for years, yes?”
