At that moment, Lady Rachel glanced toward their group, and her eyes met Jace’s. They held for a second before Jace looked away. His face flushed. He shouldn’t have been caught staring. When he glanced up after a moment, she still watched him. Ice traveled down his spine, and this time he dropped his gaze to the floor, holding it there as he fought not to fidget. What if she suspected he was a ryrik? It could jeopardize their entire mission. Had his mere presence just endangered everyone? The possibility made him sick.
After several minutes, in which he heard nothing Anne or Rothas said, he risked another glance at Lady Rachel to gauge her mood. Her attention had returned to Anne, but her expression worried him. Only a hint of her earlier smile remained in place, and she seemed to have paled. What it meant, he couldn’t say, but he feared the consequences. If only he could pull Rayad aside and let him know of the possible danger.
At last, Lady Rachel’s smile returned full-strength as she spoke with Anne. “I’ll show you to a room. Once you’re settled in, a servant will show your maid to her room . . .”
“Actually,” Anne cut in smoothly, “I’d prefer her to stay in my room should I need her.”
Jace let out a quiet sigh. The idea of Kyrin alone, especially in the household of a man like Sir Rothas, had given him a moment of panic. Knowing she was with Anne would ease his nerves.
“Then I will have extra bedding brought in for her.” Rachel turned to the security guard near the door. “Elian.”
The man stepped forward.
“See that Lady Anne’s men are looked after and her belongings are brought inside.”
“Yes, my lady.” He spoke in a quiet, almost warm tone of respect.
Comparing the two, Jace found him to be the opposite of Sir Rothas. While both were very capable and potentially formidable men, Elian embodied a distinct humility whereas Rothas oozed arrogance and power. Though both shared dark features, it took little more than a glimpse at their eyes to see the difference—Rothas’s cool, hard, and predatory while Elian’s were a warm, yet perceptive deep brown. The look Elian had given Rothas before suggested he could be an ally… if things didn’t fall apart on their first night here.
They moved to follow him. Falling to the back of the group, Jace glanced over his shoulder at Kyrin, who gave him a brief smile. It was torture to leave her, but he had to believe she would be safe with Anne. As his gaze swung around to the parlor door, it met again with Lady Rachel. She knew something, and he could only hope she wouldn’t share it with her husband.
Outside, Elian instructed servants to bring Anne’s bags inside and the stable boys to bed down the horses. Collecting their things, Jace and the others followed him around the manor and through a side door to the downstairs level. The commotion of voices and activity came from down the hall, and Jace got a strong whiff of savory meat roast.
“The servants’ hall is straight ahead to the right and the kitchen beyond that,” Elian told them. “Supper will be served after Sir Rothas and her ladyship have finished around eight.”
Now he guided them down a long hall to the left, pausing to open two doors. “These will be your rooms for your stay. Should you need anything, ask one of the staff or find me at the guard house.”
“Thank you,” Rayad responded.
Elian gave a short nod and strode away.
Jace glanced into the rooms. They were whitewashed and sparsely furnished with a washstand, wardrobe, and four beds, but they looked clean. Splitting up, Jace, Rayad, Kaden, and Holden took the first room while Aaron, Mick, and Trev occupied the second. Setting his bag down on a bed, Jace turned to Rayad.
“We may have a problem.”
Rayad frowned. “What is that?”
“Lady Rachel.” Jace grimaced. “She may be suspicious of me and think I’m a ryrik. She noticed something when she looked at me.”
Rayad rubbed his beard, thinking. “You’re sure?”
Jace nodded.
“Then we’ll keep you out of sight. If nothing is said at supper, we’ll let Anne know about it and pray it doesn’t become an issue before we can leave.”
Jace released a heavy sigh. If their mission failed because of him… “I’m sorry.”
Rayad shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I’m sure everything will be fine. Their focus will be on Anne anyway.”
“Well, this is quite spacious,” Anne remarked as she and Kyrin took in the sight of the bedroom.
Kyrin gazed at the lovely pale gold walls and dusty pink accents. The large, four-poster bed was dark wood, but had a dreamy, sheer canopy and lush bedspread. “It reminds me of my old room back at Auréa Palace… but less dark.” And less intimidating.
“I suppose I better change if I’m going to be down in time for supper.” Anne rummaged through one of her bags and pulled out a peach-colored satin evening gown. “A bit wrinkled, but it will have to do. Perhaps tomorrow I can have the others pressed.”
She reached back to loosen the laces of her dress, and Kyrin stepped up to help. If she was pretending to be Anne’s maid, she might as well play the part.
“Thank you,” Anne said.
Helping her into her evening gown, Kyrin spoke in a hushed voice. “So, now that we’re here, what’s our plan?”
“Well, I intend to do a little exploring tomorrow. No doubt Sir Rothas has a private office where he keeps all his letters. Hopefully I’ll find it quickly. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary. The man is just as insufferable as I remember. Thank heavens Trask isn’t here or we’d have a duel on our hands.”
Kyrin had to smile, though it faded in a moment. The way Sir Rothas had looked at Anne sent skitters across her skin. She hesitated and swallowed, a little heat rising to her cheeks. “Are you sure you’re safe around him?”
Anne glanced back at her. “Don’t worry. Thanks to my mother, I still outrank him and could cause quite a bit of trouble if I had a mind to. He’s not going to risk his standing with that sort of scandal. We know he’s anything but stupid.”
This did ease Kyrin’s mind.
Once Anne was dressed, Kyrin helped her tidy her hair and cosmetics. Putting on a rather gaudy pair of gold and peach earrings, Anne frowned at her reflection in the dressing table mirror.
“I do hate these things… and the dress.”
Kyrin gave her an odd look, and Anne smirked wryly. “Most of what I brought are birthday gifts from suitors trying too hard to impress me.”
Kyrin laughed and helped her slip on a pair of heeled shoes that she seemed much more comfortable in than Kyrin would be.
“Will you be all right on your own this evening?”
Kyrin straightened. “I’ll be all right.” If she could handle Auréa Palace, she could handle this.
A couple of minutes later, a light knock brought them to the door. Anne opened it to a blonde-haired servant girl, who curtsied deeply.
“Excuse me, my lady, I was sent to inform you that supper is near ready.”
Anne nodded curtly. “Thank you.”
“And I can show your maid down to the servants’ hall if you’d like. Supper’ll be there later.”
Anne glanced back at Kyrin and nodded again. The two of them left the room. Downstairs, Walton met them to show Anne to the dining room, while Kyrin followed the servant girl. Hopefully Jace and the others would be down in the servants’ hall as well. She didn’t want to have to try to socialize with the other servants without them, especially if anyone had questions about Anne.
“I’m Tina, by the way.”
Kyrin looked into the servant girl’s striking green eyes and infectious smile. “Corinne.”
“Have you always worked for Lady Anne?”
“No, not always.” Kyrin paused, and Tina waited for her to elaborate, but she kept silent. The less anyone knew of the situation, the better.
Undeterred, Tina wrinkled her nose. “She’s a bit of a prig, ain’t she?”
Kyrin barely choked back a giggle. That was so not Anne. Ti
na must have taken her silence as disapproval.
“I mean no offense.”
Kyrin shook her head. “She’s actually quite nice when you get to know her.”
“Well, in any case, it must be nice to work in a smaller house like Marl—”
Tina’s mouth snapped shut as a young man strode around the corner ahead of them. His dark blue eyes landed on her first, but then shifted to Kyrin, locking on her boldly. He was certainly no servant, dressed richly as he was. His gaze did not leave her until they had passed each other. A cold shiver raced down Kyrin’s back. He had the same leering look as Sir Rothas. She swallowed, her mouth dry, and looked over at Tina. The girl had her head ducked. When she did look up again, Kyrin read an unsettling discomfort in her eyes, perhaps even fear.
“That’s Sir Rothas’s son,” Tina murmured. “Best stay clear of him.”
Nausea bubbled in Kyrin’s stomach, and she silently reached out to Elôm for security. It was hard enough to be wary of Rothas without having to worry about the threat of his son too.
Down in the servants’ hall, Tina invited Kyrin to sit at one of two long tables. Kyrin did so, rubbing her moist palms across her skirt when Tina joined her. She wasn’t good at small talk. Thankfully, Tina was a talkative sort, and Kyrin managed to say just enough to keep her going and avoid any risky topics.
Sometime later, the chattering Tina’s attention suddenly shifted. “My, he’s a handsome one.”
Kyrin looked over her shoulder and breathed a sigh as her friends entered the room. Tina’s exuberance was starting to give her a headache. Kyrin looked at her again. It was Kaden the girl had her eyes on.
Her face alight with curiosity, Tina asked in a low whisper, “Is he your brother?”
“Yes, Caleb.”
Tina’s admiring gaze returned to Kaden. “Goodness, look at those shoulders. Your father must be huge.”
Kyrin’s throat squeezed, the ache radiating down into her chest. “No, our grandfather,” she murmured, but Tina was no longer listening.
Kyrin breathed in hard, shaken by the mention of her father. After all, he had died on a mission not too unlike this one. Coldness crept into her core with a sudden homesickness for camp and safety, and every part of her that didn’t want to do this cried for escape. But then someone sat down beside her. She looked over into Jace’s eyes. At once, she was comforted and felt safe. He would protect her.
The rest of the evening passed as they congregated in the servants’ hall. Someone always had an interest in their presence. Tina didn’t leave until one of the older maids showed up and scolded her for neglecting her duties. However, she didn’t seem the slightest bit contrite when she sent a wide smile in Kaden’s direction on her way out. He was either oblivious or pointedly ignoring the girl’s interest. Kyrin wasn’t sure which yet.
Suppertime brought the whole staff together, crammed at the tables with their guests. Kyrin was thankful to have Rayad there to handle all the questions.
“So, Marlton,” an older man, the gardener, said. “That’s right near Landale, isn’t it?”
Rayad nodded. He never said anything more than he had to.
“There’s quite a rebellion going on there. The baron’s son turned traitor, isn’t that right?”
“That’s what they say,” Rayad responded casually.
“Word has it your Lady Anne was sweet on him.”
Rayad glanced at him. “It’s Lady Anne’s safety that is my concern, not her personal life.”
The gardener shrugged.
“What do you think of this rebellion?” another man asked. Kyrin didn’t care for him. He was a sneaky sort.
Rayad leveled him with a stern gaze. “Like I said, I’m not much concerned with the affairs of Landale. My job is to protect Lady Anne. That keeps me busy enough.”
No one mentioned Landale again after this.
When the meal ended and the crowd dissipated, Kyrin rose. If only she could stay with Jace and the others, but it was getting late. Anne would be waiting for her, and she didn’t want anyone getting suspicious if she didn’t play her part. Aside from Tina, the staff here seemed very attentive to their duties. Jace rose with her, and they met Rayad and Kaden near the door.
“I should be getting up to Anne’s room. She may be there already.”
Rayad agreed. “It will be interesting for you to find out how supper went.”
“Yes, I’ll let you know about it tomorrow.” She glanced at the table. Tina still lingered there. Kyrin couldn’t help giving her brother a wry look. “In case you haven’t noticed, Tina has quite an eye for you.”
“Oh, I noticed.” He released a longsuffering sigh.
Kyrin gave him a half sympathetic, half amused smile. “Well, goodnight then.”
Rayad and Kaden both said goodnight, and Kyrin turned to Jace. They hadn’t spoken at all since arriving, but the deep shadows in his eyes said he was troubled.
“Be careful,” he told her in a solemn voice.
“I will.” She gave him a quick smile before leaving the hall.
As she climbed the steps back upstairs, she didn’t think much about being alone until the sounds died away behind her. She let the door close and found the main hall dim and quiet. Taking a deep breath, she reined in her imagination. Still, Tina’s words when they had passed Sir Rothas’s son whispered at the back of her mind. She cast another cautious look around before walking on.
Kyrin forced herself to maintain a moderate pace through the hall and up to the second floor, but her steps did quicken the closer she came to Anne’s room. The candlelight peeking under the door was a great relief. After a light knock, she let herself in. Anne sat at the dressing table pulling pins from her hair.
“There you are.” She turned to face Kyrin. “How was it?”
Kyrin shrugged. “There were a lot of questions and curiosity about Landale, but we let Rayad do the talking. He did want me to warn you that Lady Rachel may suspect Jace of being a ryrik. Did she mention anything?”
“No.”
After making certain to lock the door, Kyrin pulled off her cap and ran her fingers through her hair as she sank into the stuffed chair near the bed. What a long day. “How was your evening?”
“All right,” Anne replied. “Lady Rachel is a wonderfully pleasant hostess. She makes up for everything Sir Rothas lacks. I almost feel sorry deceiving her. Their daughter, Elanor, is also very nice. She offered to show me around tomorrow.”
Pulling out the last pin and fluffing her hair, Anne made a face in the mirror. “Their son, James, however, clearly takes after his father. He flirted with me all through supper, never mind that I’m five years older than him.”
Kyrin drew her brows together, Tina’s warning coming back again. She would certainly heed it. “What about the child you mentioned earlier?”
“I don’t know. It was only the two of them, and they were clearly Rothas’s.”
Mulling this over, Kyrin and Anne changed into their nightgowns and finished preparing for bed. Sometime earlier, servants had brought extra bedding to the room. Kyrin picked up a blanket from the pile to construct a bed on the floor, but Anne stopped her.
“Never mind that. This bed could hold three of us.”
Kyrin smiled as Anne pulled down the covers, and they both crawled into bed. For a moment, her mind wandered back to Landale. Meredith would be asleep by now. She and Kyrin always shared a bed. Maybe she would sleep with Lenae tonight instead.
“This reminds me of when my cousins used to visit years ago,” Anne said as they settled in. “We’d stay up until all hours talking and giggling. Mother even had to come in and shush us a few times.”
Kyrin grinned, and Anne continued, “They would tease me just terribly about Trask, or worse, talk about catching his eye themselves.”
They shared a laugh now, and Anne propped herself up on her elbow. “What about you? Anyone interested back at camp?”
Kyrin shrugged against her pillow. “Well, Jeremy s
till likes to hang around as much as he can, but I think he understands that I’m not interested. And now he has Kaden, Marcus, and Liam to contend with.”
“Poor boy,” Anne mused with a laugh. “So that’s it? No one else?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Anne just stared at her for a moment, as if trying to draw something more from her. “Anyone you wish was interested?”
Jace’s face jumped immediately to Kyrin’s mind and a strange feeling of longing fluttered through her chest. She breathed out slowly, and pushed it away. It was a silly thought. Jace didn’t think that way, and she shouldn’t either. Finally, she looked at Anne. “No one who ever would be.”
“I think she’s in love with you.”
Kaden shot Trev a dark look in answer to his amused tone and grin. Though Jace tried, he couldn’t hold back his own amusement, even if it was at Kaden’s expense. He was just glad he wasn’t the one Tina had set her sights on. He wasn’t equipped to handle that awkward situation.
Kaden grumbled under his breath and sat down hard on his bed, where he flopped back against the pillow.
Aaron leaned casually against the doorframe. “She’s quite a talker.”
Kaden scrubbed his hands over his face and released a low groan. “If I have to hide in this room the whole time we’re here, I’ll lose my mind.”
“Not as fast as you would out there.” Aaron gestured over his shoulder, earning a chorus of chuckles.
Grabbing the pillow, Kaden chucked it at him. “A lot of help you are.”
As Aaron bent down for it, Rayad returned to the room from meeting with Anne and Kyrin. The mood changed immediately, and Jace straightened. He needed to know about Kyrin. He hadn’t slept well last night, not knowing for sure if she was safe. How could he protect her if he couldn’t even be on the same floor as her?
“What’s the word?” Aaron asked.
“Rothas’s daughter, Lady Elanor, has offered to show Anne around. Anne hopes to discover Rothas’s office that way. In the meantime, we need to lie low and keep things quiet down here. No drawing unnecessary attention.”
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