“We don’t know their names.” I chewed on my thumbnail. “Mother wants me to dine with each male individually so that we can get to know one another. She meant for those trials to start tonight.”
Isolde choked. “You’re going out with Ennis tonight.”
“We aren’t going out.” I slapped her on the back. “I’m giving him a tour.”
Coughing, she laughed through her watering eyes. “I’ve never heard it called that before.”
“Oh, ha ha.” I stuck up my nose. “Please stop before you ruin the notion of sex for me entirely.”
“The notion.” She snorted. “More like the motion. I’m sure Ennis would show you his moves.”
Heat scalded my neck. “Ennis won’t be teaching me anything.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She offered the half-eaten tray. “He’s taught you to lie. That’s something.”
“He didn’t teach me to lie.” I narrowed my eyes at her, daring her to dispute the fault as hers.
“I embellish the truth.” She sulked. “The fact remains you didn’t tell your mother about him.”
“What would I have said?” Nothing would have dissuaded her. “I don’t even know why I agreed to show him around. He was manipulating me, and we all knew it. I ought to cancel before tonight.”
“You know why you agreed.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “You like him.”
“I saw him for five minutes and spoke to him even less.” I sniffed. “He called us silly girls.”
“Males are like that when you steal their toys.” She laughed. “He changed his tune, didn’t he?”
“Once he realized I was the maven’s daughter.” I picked at the food left on the tray.
She was quiet for a moment. Since her mouth was empty, she must have been thinking.
“Huh.” She snagged a sliver of cheese with her bite marks already in it. “You’re right.”
“If I wanted a male who was interested in my title, I would attend Mother’s dinner tonight.”
“He was interested in you.” She turned serious. “You were lucky I was there to protect you.”
“You were the reason I was there in the first place.” I stole the last bit of cheese from her.
“Thank me later.” She snatched the snack from my fingers. “Oh! Name your firstborn after me.”
“Um, no.” I gave up and returned the tray to her. “The second world can’t handle two Isoldes.”
“I see your point.” She mused, “I wouldn’t want to saddle a child with such lofty expectations.”
“Or a governess with such a rascal,” I muttered.
“Hmph.” She walked ahead of me. “Governesses adore me.”
I felt reasonably certain when I said, “You didn’t have a one.”
She scowled over her shoulder. “If I’d had a governess, she would have adored me.”
“Adored the day you got married and she retired.” The ache in my heart redoubled.
Dull as my prospects were, Isolde’s were grimmer. I had no right to complain when she kept her fears private. She must know her birthday meant a huge shift in her fortune, yet the topic was closed.
Her spirits fell. “If only I were a man, then we could marry each other.”
“There I must disagree.” I went to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “Knowing all I do now about your sexual preferences, I’m afraid I could never satisfy you.” I kissed her soundly on the lips. “It would break my heart to see you with another, so it’s best that I admire you from afar.”
“Ah. So you do have a perversion.” Her eyes glinted with mischief. “You like to watch.”
“Yes,” I played along. “You’ve discovered my sinful little secret. Nothing excites me more.”
“I will have to remember that.”
My soul shriveled on the spot. I kept my back to Ennis so I could pretend he wasn’t there or that he hadn’t heard my admission. If he had, surely he didn’t understand the context of our conversation.
Warm breath hit the base of my neck. Warmer lips brushed my ear and left me trembling.
“Your cheeks are red,” he whispered. “Is that because you told the truth or because you didn’t?”
I swatted him aside while mortification screwed my eyes shut. “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”
He captured my hand and held it against his cheek. “I never claimed to be otherwise.”
“Since you’re here, I can tell you to your face.” I glanced back at him. “I will not—”
He angled his head just so, brushed his lips over mine and filled my mouth with his tongue.
A stunned moment later, I slapped the smug grin off his face.
Isolde’s wide eyes must have mirrored my own. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and set out for the privacy of the tailor’s shop before committing another sin by strangling him in view of everyone.
Or worse, kissing him back.
Chapter 3
Isolde ran to keep pace with me. There was an annoying hop in her step. “Well.”
I kept marching toward the tailor’s. “Well what?”
“That was unexpected.” She tucked the empty tray under her arm. “He kissed you.”
“I know,” I snapped. “I was there. So was every other person in the courtyard.”
She laughed wickedly. “Does it bother you more that he kissed you or that everyone saw it?”
“If Mother finds out—which she will eventually—she will stick me with a chaperone.”
“Ugh.” Isolde made a face. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
I stomped harder with every step. “Why would he do that?”
“Males are simple creatures,” she confided. “Your comment aroused the wrong end of him.”
“The wrong end?” I choked. “Is there a right one?”
“Small as they might be, some males do have brains.” She tapped her forehead. “He could have engaged you in a discussion of what you fancy instead of deciding trial and error was the way to go.”
“That is a conversation best saved for my future husband.” As if I would put desire into words.
“What has talking ever solved between males and females? We don’t speak the same language.”
That might have been the single finest point in any argument she had ever made.
“He knows who I am.” My fists balled. “How dare he kiss me in so public a place?”
She shrugged. “He’s Theridiidae. They might have different views on casual relationships.”
“We don’t have a relationship, casual or otherwise.” I pulled up short. “His clan is no excuse.”
“Don’t snap at me.” She stopped to see what caught my eye. “I’m on your side.”
“This isn’t happening.” Through the window of my favorite tailor’s shop, I spied my mother. On her arm rested a swath of pearlescent silk. Across her shoulder rested a length of elegant beaded lace. “Bridal silk.” The world lurched under my feet. “Mother is choosing fabrics for my wedding gown.”
Isolde’s low whistle commiserated with me. She jerked my arm so hard my shoulder popped.
“Hurry before she sees you.” She guided me toward the square where we could hide among our peers. “Why does she get the final say? Can’t your father stop this? Surely he would understand.”
I dropped onto a stone bench and bruised my tailbone. “Leave him out of this.”
“He’s the only one who stands up to your mother,” she pressed. “He will make her see reason.”
“You don’t understand.” I twirled the ring on my finger. “Father is not himself.”
She sank down next to me. “What do you mean?”
“You remember him as the valiant war hero, the protector of Erania, and he was those things.” I hid the tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “But he was injured during a battle last spring. His mind is… He is gone. All that remains is a husk of a male who slightly resembles the father he once was.”
Fat tears made Isolde’s eyes glassy. “I didn’t
know.”
“I didn’t want to talk about it.” I clasped her hand. “But I should have told you. I’m sorry.”
“Their life threads?” she asked.
“They’re tied,” I confirmed. “If he dies…Mother will too.”
“May the gods be merciful.” She covered her mouth. “No wonder she wants you married.”
“I’m afraid.” I let her pull me into her arms. “I don’t want to rule. Not yet.”
“He survived this long. There’s no reason to think his health will suddenly decline.” She stroked my hair. “You know how your mother is. She worries. Don’t make more of her timing than there is.”
I sniffled. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Though deep in my heart, dread swelled. Mother did not overreact. She evaluated and prepared.
Isolde hugged me tighter. “I guess this means you have decisions to make.”
“What choices do I have?” I wiped my cheeks dry.
“For one,” she said, “whether you’re going to meet Ennis tonight.”
“No.” That was too easy.
“For another, whether you want to spy on your mother’s dinner guests with me tonight.”
I righted myself. “I don’t feel up for company.”
“Oh, they won’t know we’re there.” She rubbed her hands together. “We’ll use the peepholes.”
Mother’s and my private quarters in the city and in the nest were lousy with secret rooms, doors and tunnels. They were intended for escape routes should Erania’s defenses ever be compromised.
Since we were children, Isolde and I had used them for less honorable purposes.
I let her enthusiasm sweep me away. “Can we see the dining hall from there?”
The peepholes she meant were drilled through the wall into a hallway across the way.
“What we can’t see, we’ll hear.” She ribbed me. “Come on. You haven’t been naughty in ages.”
Not since a half hour ago when I let Ennis kiss me and survive to spread tales of his conquest.
I eyed her warily. “Your memory is shorter than mine.”
“Pah.” She waved her hand. “Naughty is an action, not a reaction. The kiss doesn’t count.”
“Do you think the suitor she’s so anxious to introduce me to will be there even if I’m not?”
She rolled her shoulders. “He has to eat.”
“Good point.” I took a deep breath and stood. “All right. Let’s do it.”
“We should stop by the kitchen first.” Isolde patted her abdomen. “We need supplies.”
“How can you still be hungry?” Her gut was a bottomless pit.
“We’ve been over this before.” She swatted my rear with the tray. “Being in such a frigid clime tricks my body into believing it must store as much food as possible for the unbearably long winter.”
“Uh huh.” I poked her flat stomach. “I don’t think your plan is working.”
“I have not succeeded yet.” She raised a finger. “Never let it be said it was for lack of trying.”
Shaking my head, I left her stuck in her pose and retraced our steps to the kitchen.
I kept an eye out for Ennis, and was uncertain whether I was piqued or relieved not to spot him.
Night came, and I felt not the slightest twinge of remorse at breaking my word to Ennis.
Isolde and I sat on a quilt in a stretch of private tunnel. The peepholes were just over our heads.
For now, we ate the meal the cooks had been so generous to prepare without comment.
Where Isolde was concerned, few were brave enough to ask questions.
She cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”
I took a sip of wine. “Sounds like males laughing.”
Isolde went to her knees and pressed an eye to a cutout. “Well, well.”
“What is it?”
She patted the wall beside her. “See for yourself.”
I moved into position and took a moment to orient myself. The dining hall was the long room in front of us. The holes were in the wall at the back of the hall across from a pair of arched side doors.
Not three feet from my eye stood Mother wearing a sweeping formal gown in glittering gold. To her right Padraig, a Theridiidae male who was head of the guards, sipped from a goblet. Beside him, Ennis swirled the rich red liquid in his cup and nodded politely as Mother and Padraig shared stories.
I thumped my forehead against the wall. “What is Ennis doing there?”
“If Padraig is his uncle,” she reasoned, “the maven likely wanted to welcome him properly.”
“You’re right.” I paused, sinking back onto the quilt. “Padraig is a good friend of Father’s.”
“See? Nothing to worry about.” Isolde went back to her snooping. “It’s not like she heard Ennis had been spotted by the entire clan kissing her young, impressionable and very eligible daughter. Or that she demanded he be brought before her for inspection. Oh. Or punishment. That’s more likely.”
“Not helping, Isolde.”
Her lips curved at the corners.
I strained my ears. “I don’t hear anything now.”
“You can’t from here.” She pointed down the hall. “There’s a nook there that catches sound.”
I studied her profile. “How is it you know this place better than I do?”
“I have no lessons to occupy my time. What did you think I do all day?”
I answered honestly, “I pictured you either in the kitchen, by the kitchen or near the kitchen.”
“Well, I was stuffing my ears, not my face.” She scrunched up her face. “Something like that.”
“Do tell.” Now I was curious. “Did you hear anything interesting?”
“Other than learning one of the guards has a thing for black stockings, not really.” She frowned. “I can tell you who’s diddling whom, dinner a week in advance and who eats the fruit of their nostrils.”
I set down my glass. “Thanks you for that summation.”
“I figure one day I’m bound to witness some excitement.” She winked. “Or blackmail fodder.”
“Lovely.” I nudged her leg with my foot. “Now we come to the truth of the matter.”
Isolde set her fists on her hips and stared down her nose at me. “Not all of us were born wealthy as you are. Some of us must sweat and toil to make our way through this cold, hard world.”
I crossed my arms. “Because pressing your eye against a hole is such hard work?”
“Hours spent hunched over the hole, forced to bear witness to all sorts of vile behavior.”
I tapped my fingers against my elbows. “So vile you scamper in here daily to do your job?”
“It’s a difficult task, but someone must do it. Now shush.” She stood. “They’re moving.”
I kept my seat while she hustled toward a particular spot marked on the floor with chalk.
The ability to eat without Isolde plucking food from my fingers tempted me to prepare a plate.
The next time I glanced at her, she was nibbling her bottom lip. Then her spine stiffened.
“Is something the matter?”
She put a finger to her lips then waved me forward.
To calm her waving arms, I relented and approached. When I stepped beside her, the rush of dinner conversation filled my ears. Silverware scraped, a throat was cleared, more wine was poured.
“…if Reine feels better tomorrow then perhaps…”
That was Padraig.
“Ah to be young and foolish again…”
I scowled. That was Mother.
“I’m sure Reine is a lovely girl but…”
“But what?” I muttered.
Isolde clamped a hand over my mouth. “Shh.”
The rest of their conversation was as dull as any I had ever sat through. For all our skulking and whispering about, if we waited for the end of the meal, we might as well have dressed for the dinner.
Deciding I had had enough, I left Isolde to her snooping
and gathered my things.
After so much confinement, I itched for fresh air and decided a walk would do me good. During the brief summer, Erania held decadent night markets. It was so bitterly cold the rest of the year that most outside trade occurred during the window of those months. That meant long hours and all sorts of exotic clans visited, bringing their rare produce. Innovative merchandise moved through the stalls.
It was a heady time to wander through the streets when they teemed with infinite possibility, and wander I did, until I found a promising stall. I lifted a violet scarf to inspect gems sewn onto its hem.
“How much?” a familiar, masculine voice rose past my shoulder.
The vendor startled when he noticed me. “For her, no charge.”
“I can’t take it without paying.” I started to replace it.
“Here.” Ennis tossed a coin and the vendor snagged it out of the air. “That ought to cover it.”
The vendor grinned. “Enjoy your night.”
With a sigh, I faced Ennis. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“No.” He took the scarf and looped it behind my neck, under my hair. “I wanted to.”
I earned a nasty burn across my nape when I yanked it free. I held it out to him, but he refused to accept it so I tossed it at him. “Do you always do what you want regardless of how it affects others?”
He plucked it from the air before a breeze captured it and brought the fabric to his nose, inhaling my scent. He made a hungry sound in his throat. “I have what you might call poor impulse control.”
I eased a step back. “I noticed when you kissed me.”
“Did you notice?” He took a generous step closer.
I planted my feet. “It’s hard not to notice a stranger’s tongue shoved down my throat.”
One more step put him dangerously close to me. “I can learn tact. Here. Let me practice.”
I let him duck his head, let his lips brush mine. While he took advantage of me, I took advantage of his inattention. Twisting my ring, I spun the stone until a stout needle protruded from its center. Then I punched Ennis hard in the stomach, which made his wicked moans taper into ragged gasping.
Another twist tucked away the needle. “My father is Theridiidae, as I’m sure you know. He had this ring made for me on my twelfth birthday and it’s his venom setting you on fire from the inside.”
Araneae Nation: The Complete Collection Page 3