For the next hour, they answered every invasive question we had with patience and far more good humor than I could have mustered. By the end, a sneaking strand of hope had weaved its way through me.
Maybe wecouldmake this work. Not just for now, but forever.
Twenty
Zier
Avalon Halhed was beautiful. When she came down for dinner after her girls’ day, she was wearing a deep blue dress that made the opalescence of her skin seem even more radiant. It plunged low, and I had to agree with Taeme, she did have magnificent breasts.
We were eating outside, which, according to Baron Taeme, was something they did frequently so their animal companions could join. Given the Taeme family had a whole menagerie of animal companions, it made sense that you wouldn’t want them banging around in the formal dining area. I tried to imagine growing up knowing that you had something always watching your back. Goddess knows, I could have used it.
I looked at Vox Vylan, the way he held himself still a little apart from the group, even though the love between them all was as obvious to me as it was to everyone else in this courtyard. Some would say that the Eighth Line would relate most to the Third. We were both natural hunters, preferring to keep our Baronies heavily wooded. And maybe that was true.
But I saw a reflection of my younger self in Vox Vylan. A father who was never happy, who wanted more and more from his people, from his family, until we were all wrung dry.
I hadn’t murdered my father, despite the whispered accusations when I’d first ascended to Baron. But I hadn’t saved him either. I hadn’t even buried him, after he’d been gored by a wild boar in the Westwoods. I’d let the beasts eat his flesh and bones, and hoped that they’d shit him out on all the land between the Alutian Sea and the Dragonspire Mountains. He had been a miserable man, who’d made his Barony miserable too.
Sipping my drink, I looked around the rest of the people gathered in the small courtyard. I guess I should’ve been happy he’d never actively tried to murder the other Lines, just his own.Small mercies.
Ora Taeme passed me the bread rolls. “Do you think you’ll return home after this, Zier?”
I almost laughed that she thought there would be an “after this.” Feodore Vylan wasn’t going to lay down. This would tear all of Ebrus apart before it was done.
“I’m unsure. Ivo has prepared to stand in for me his entire life, and he and Kyler make a great team who are determined to make the lives of our Line—and indeed the rest of West Ebrus—as prosperous and happy as possible. It’s something they’ve talked about for a long time. I wish it came about under better circumstances, though.” I touched the base of my throat, my chuckle bordering on bitter. “Being Baron was not something I ever wanted. I was just the most capable when the position arose. The twins were still young when my brother and his wife died, and not much older when my father died. I believe they are plenty old enough now to lead. I was a similar age when I took the mantle.”
Ora nodded sadly. “What happened to your brother and his wife was a tragedy.”
I inclined my head. It was—more so because my father had murdered them. My brother had dared to suggest he was nolonger fit for leadership, and so my father had sunk their boat as they sailed back into Eaglehoth.
That had been the way of the Lines for too long, at least in the Eighth. It was all backstabbing and private volleys for power. Not anymore. It stopped with me. I would hand over the reins to Ivo and Kyler.
The topic shifted to something more lighthearted, and I found the teasing tone of conversation and the absolute insanity of so many animals almost comforting. Something scurried up my leg, and I looked down at the small ball of purple fluff on my thigh. It stared up at me with big eyes. No, not at me. At my piece of steak.
Laughing, I pulled the piece from my fork and stealthily fed it beneath the table. It took the meat between its paws and gnawed on it with an eagerness that was pretty cute. I knew this little creature was Avalon’s, and it seemed to give off the same fiercely loyal feeling as its owner. It stuffed the rest of the meat in its mouth, giving me another pitiful look until I also gave it a piece of potato, then curled into a ball to demolish its small meal.
It was still curled up in my lap when we finished dessert. Avalon stopped beside me and looked down at my lap, a gentle smile on her face. “He likes you.”
“He knows a sucker when he sees one.”
Her sweet laugh made my skin tingle. If someone had told me even two months ago that just a woman’s voice would set my blood on fire, I would have laughed in their face.
“That explains why he stays with me,” she murmured conspiratorially. She waved a hand toward the garden. “Do you want to take a walk with me?”
“Alone?” Why did I sound like a scandalized court matron?
Avalon rolled her lips together, clearly trying not to laugh. “Well, yeah. Alone. Unless you’re worried about your virtue?Because I’m not going to lie to you, my virtue is lying on the floor of the Ninth Line dorm room back at Boellium.”
My face felt hot. Was I actually blushing? I was a decade older than this girl. No, woman. She wasn’t a girl; she would already have been considered a spinster in the Upper Lines.
“A walk sounds nice.” I picked up the stolt, which was sleeping like it was dead, and placed it gently on the chair I’d just vacated. I poked it a little to ensure it was breathing, but it just pawed at the air, rolling onto its back. Its mouth opened, with its tiny tongue rolling out.
I wasn’t sure if that made it look more or less alive, but I figured if it was breathing, that was good enough.
Hayle was doing a very good job of pretending he wasn’t watching Avalon, but Vox wasn’t even trying. His gaze was burning hot against my skin, promising retribution if I did anything that made Avalon remotely unhappy. I couldn’t imagine what I would do to upset her, but I lifted my chin at him, acknowledging the threat.
Seemingly happy, he went back to listening to whatever Hayle was pretending to talk about. Lierick was in the corner talking to his cousin, who seemed to disappear and reappear like a specter in the night.
We were silent as we walked down the winding paths, through the large gardens that made up the center of the Taeme estate. “Hayle said there was a swing down here somewhere. I’m trying to imagine Hayle doing anything as gentle as swinging, and it just doesn’t seem natural.”
