She walks right up to me, her coffee eyes running from my head to my toes. Her mouth twists in distaste. “I see the Lemming is still alive,” she announces with disappointment.
“I am.”
Shaw doesn’t move to intervene. Whether it’s because he has faith I’m strong enough to handle Max, or because he craves amusement after a long journey, I don’t know. I appreciate it all the same. Max will never respect me if I let Shaw fight my battles for me. “And so is he, thanks to thisLemming.”
If this surprises her at all, she doesn’t show it. Her eyes flick from me in pure dismissal. She says to Shaw, “What were you thinking bringing her here? And why did you not meet us in Havay?” Her face is furious, but there is something behind the anger that denotes what she doesn’t say.She thought he was dead.
To his credit, Shaw doesn’t waver in the face of her anger. He only looks slightly bored, that arrogant grin pulling at his mouth. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, Maxi.”
Max stares at him, as if debating whether murdering him right here in the drive would be worth the effort. Then she makes a humming sound of acknowledgement. “Fine. But it will have to wait until you’ve both bathed. You’re making my eyes water.”
Shaw laughs, enveloping Max in a hug. I watch the way her fingers cling to the back of his shirt. An ugly emotion rears inside me, one with beady eyes and a dark soul. I shove it away as Max and Shaw disappear inside the cavernous house, their whispered bickering trailing behind them.
“You might want to give them a good thirty second head start,” Calloway says good naturedly. “The yelling can get pretty loud.”
As if on cue, Shaw’s curse echoes through the open front door. It’s followed by Max’s shout that sounds suspiciously like ‘you godsdamn bastard’.
“Guess they aren’t waiting until after a bath?”
Calloway just shrugs, as if to say he told me so. “Since you're no longer spitting or tied up, is it safe to assume you’re now here of your own accord? Or this part of your plan to poison us all in our sleep?”
“If Shaw survived my setting him up to be attacked by a yamardu and was excited by my stabbing him, a little thing like poison would probably only spur him on,” I remark dryly, not at all kidding.
Calloway bellows. “No wonder he likes you, you vicious little thing,” he says, clapping me on the back. “Knew you had it in you.”
He throws his hand around my shoulder cheerfully. I hesitate, still unused to the way touch is so freely given here, but it’s different than Shaw’s. It’s pleasant and warm, but it doesn’t burn and spark. “Let’s show you to your room, then.”
I nod gratefully as he steers me inside the house. Exhaustion that has wavered at the edges, staid by adrenaline and determination, now settles with fervor. It sinks into all my nooks and crannies like quicksand. I hope the manor house has some sort of indoor plumbing. I’d probably commit an untold number of heinous acts at the moment to be granted a hot bath.
The foyer is three stories, bordered on each side by large, swirling staircases that meet at the top of the second floor. As worn as the outside of the manor is, the inside sparkles as if every surface has been lovingly tended to. Cheerful daylight pours in through the large windows and what should feel cold, with its ornate details and marble fixtures, instead feels warm and cozy.
Like a home.
A woman bustles in from a side door looking harried, no doubt a result of the shouts that echo from somewhere beyond her, amplified by the cavernous ceilings and cracked marble floors. “Haven’t even had a proper meal and they’re already fighting like cats in a barn. Mannerless terrors, the lot of you.”
In spite of her words, her tone can only be described as admiring. She waves off the shouts and turns an appraising gaze on me. “And who’s our guest, Calloway?”
“This is Mirren. She’s Shaw’s…uh, friend.”
A knowing smile spreads across her face, as if she’s aware I’m nothing close to Shaw’s friend, but she nods. “Nice to meet you, dear. I’m Rhonwen, house manager. Anything you need while you’re here, you be sure to let me know.”
Rhonwen is similar in age to Farrah, but far more laugh lines fan out from her eyes and mouth. Gray has begun to creep at the temples of her otherwise chestnut colored bun and though she is short in stature, she appears sturdy. Her hazel eyes travel over me and I run my hand once more over my tangled braid. “You’re probably just dying for a bath. Calloway, show her to her room and I’ll be up with some fresh towels and hot food.”
Calloway nods and turns to head up the stairs, just as a large crashing noise reverberates through the hall. Rhonwen shrieks in objection and hauls off toward Max and Shaw. I consider sticking around to bear witness, but my exhaustion wins out and I follow Calloway up the stairs.
“Who all lives here?” I ask as we steadily ascend, “Is it just you three and Rhonwen?”
“It’s us and Denver that live here full time, but the manor is always open to whoever needs it. For a day or a month. Or like us, years.”
“So, Denver isn’t your…”
Calloway raises a brow in surprise but doesn’t seem to share Shaw’s reticence in speaking about himself. “My father? No. My family died in a skirmish between warlords near Siralene when I was 14.” Sadness borne of old wounds clouds his normally cheerful eyes. “No one wants to take in a boy on the verge of manhood, except maybe a workhouse where I was more likely to die than ever pay off my debts. Denver visited Siralene and he caught me trying to pick his pocket. Instead of turning me in, he took me to Nadjaa and gave me a home.”
He says the word home guilelessly, the difference between him and Shaw stark. What happened to Shaw that makes the word ‘home’ die on his lips?
Calloway reaches the top of the third-floor landing and gestures to the right. “Last door on the left. Make yourself at home. I’ll make sure there’s some desserts on Rhonwen’s tray,” he wiggles his eyebrows conspiratorially, and I laugh in spite of myself.
My stomach growls loudly at the thought of food, having been unfortunately empty since the rabbit the night before. “Thank you, Cal,” I tell him sincerely.
