From mewas clear, even if he didn’t speak the words.
But asking would go against everything that made Soren a warden. It would leave his arms empty of the only home he’d ever known when he wasn’t supposed to claim any.
He rose up on the balls of his feet just enough to steal a kiss, desperate and hungry, and give up the only answer he’d always ever offered since Vanya had placed the vow around his throat.
“No.”
Because what Soren wanted he could not ask for, and there was nothing free found in a heart given under duress.
Four
JOELLE
Joelle smiled her goodbyes at yet another House representative who waxed lovingly about her gathering but still didn’t hint at loyalty given. As they were a minor House, she mentally filed them in the column of one who would wait until the last minute to see how the Houses shook out before siding with the majority, whoever that would be.
Then she turned her attention tovezirAmir Vikandir, of the House of Vikandir, and knew a lost cause when faced with one.
Well—almost a lost cause.
“A moment,vezir,” Joelle said.
Amir was one of the last to wend his way to the door of her estate, but he stepped aside for Joelle to say her goodbyes to the last group of House representatives, seeing them on their way. Multiple gatherings were happening today, some of which her House had not been invited to but which the House of Sa’Liandel had. She’d made careful note of those lack of invites, knowing those Houses would need more persuasion to align them with hers.
It was a delicate dance she’d thought would be easier. Vanya’s counteraccusation and the appearance of the warden had disrupted her carefully laid plans to strip him of the Imperial throne and bury him in the crypt. It meant she was clawing for support when she anticipated a clear advantage.
“My driver is waiting, but I can spare a few minutes,” Amir said.
“Long enough for a cup of tea, I suppose?”
He smiled politely, inclining his head a little. “I had my fill during the gathering today.”
“It’s bad business to meet without a proper drink. Come now. Our Houses were once close.”
“If I remember my history correctly, yours attempted to murder mine some generations back.”
It was Joelle’s turn to smile as she beckoned him to follow her away from the front door and down the hallway. “As one does in Solaria. Your House still stands, and so does mine. Tea will not make either fall. I’ll send a servant to let your driver know he can wait until you summon him.”
She had no great desire to kill him, as that would not gain her what she wanted. Despite how tempting it would be to indulge in such actions, his death was not what she was after.
Control was.
“If you wish to ascertain my position, I believe I made it clear over the last several gatherings of the Conclave,” Amir said once they’d made it to her personal library, the room windowless to protect the books.
“Clear enough, but this is the Conclave. You can’t fault me for laying out my side of the argument.”
Joelle took a seat on an armchair whose cushion held firm beneath her weight. Amir reluctantly took the seat opposite hers as a servant bustled into the room, carrying a tea service on a tray. It was set down between them on the low table, with the handle of the ceramic teapot angled toward Joelle as befitted the host.
She knew this tea set quite well and picked up the teapot despite the ache in her finger joints. She poured tea at an angle into Amir’s cup, making sure that gravity pulled from the hidden chamber inside the teapot first. She deftly poured herself at a slightly different angle, the tea the same color but coming from the chamber one would see if they lifted the lid.
The key difference between their brew was the three drops of distilled venom drawn from the red-backed snake that called the Wastelands home that would be in Amir’s tea. The paralytic toxin it became was quick acting to a degree, its bitterness hidden in the blackness of the tea she’d opted for to cleanse the palate after all the sweets offered at the gathering. Amir seemed appreciative enough of the taste when he lifted the cup to his lips, breathing in the steam.
Joelle did the same, opting to take it plain and without sugar. She watched Amir sip his tea, his gaze never leaving her face. “You must know why I asked you to stay.”
“You must know nothing you say will sway me or my House from the road we are on,” Amir said almost gently.
“I am aware of that.” Joelle lifted her own teacup to sip at it before setting it down. Her knuckles ached, but she refused to flex her hands in front of him. “You’ve done your best to convince those today that the House of Sa’Liandel is the better option.”
“It is.”
