“This isn’t what it looks like,” Melissa said.
Emily lost control and started to giggle, inanely. Melissa looked torn between anger that she was being laughed at and relief, maybe because Emily hadn’t screamed for her great-grandmother, or even her grandfather. Markus stepped up behind Melissa and rested an arm on her shoulder, protectively. He genuinely cared for her, Emily realized, even though they had only just met. But then, they did have a great deal in common.
“If it isn’t what it looks like,” Emily managed to say, finally, “what is it?”
Markus and Melissa exchanged glances, as if they were uncertain what to say. Emily found herself giggling again, even though she suspected that both families would be outraged if they found out. Markus and Melissa were the respective heirs of their families, the people who would eventually inherit control of their wealth and influence. To have them making out with each other would be horrifying. They could be homosexuals, without any inclination to produce children, and their families would be less outraged.
“We started talking,” Markus said. He’d managed to gather himself while Emily giggled. “You know, just after we were talking. And then we kept talking. And then...”
“We started kissing,” Melissa said. She rubbed her lips. “And everything went on from there.”
Emily shook her head, slowly. “I assume your families don’t know?”
“No,” Markus said. He paused. “Are you going to tell them?”
Emily hesitated. She didn’t like Melissa, but she liked Markus. Head Boy of Mountaintop or not, he had offered her good advice, even if she hadn’t taken it. And besides, if she did tell, it would almost certainly lead to a fight between the two families in her castle. Hundreds of people would be caught in the middle, including herself, and be killed. Or suffer a fate worse than death.
“I won’t, as long as you two are discreet,” she said. Quickly, she erected another set of wards around the library. “Do you realize just how much trouble you could get into if you are caught?”
“I don’t care,” Markus said. “If they kick me out of the family...it would be worth it.”
“The Matriarch has already ruined my life,” Melissa said bitterly. Her hand was resting on Markus’s arm. “Why should I care what she wants?”
Emily sighed, inwardly. She distrusted strong emotion, with reason. Were Markus and Melissa truly in love...or had mutual disgust with their relatives, and perhaps their prospective partners, driven them into a relationship? It was hard to blame Melissa for wanting to spite Fulvia, not after meeting Gaius, but Emily wasn’t blind to the potential for disaster. What would happen if — when — the families found out?
“Because she could make your lives miserable,” Emily said. “Or get a great many people killed.”
She looked from one to the other, thinking hard. “What are you going to do when they do find out?”
“Tell them that we love each other,” Markus said. “And dare them to kick us out.”
He sighed. “I can make a living on my own, if necessary,” he added. “Melissa can join me after she finishes her schooling.”
Is that genuine feeling, Emily thought, or romantic claptrap?
“And we could unite the houses, once again,” Melissa offered. “We’re the heirs. A great many arrangements would have to be discarded if they kicked one of us out, let alone both of us. They might find it easier to accept that we were married and reunite the families.”
Emily had her doubts. By now, whatever had caused the original split, there were far too many differences between the two families for them to reunite easily. It would be like expecting Britain and the United States to reunify in 1805, even with the threat of Napoleon breathing down their necks. Neither one would fit easily into the other’s system.
And plenty of people on both sides who would object to the reunification, Emily thought, coldly. What would happen to Fulvia and her counterparts if the two families become one?
“It would end the feud,” Markus said. “I was raised to hate the Ashworths, Emily. I was told that they...”
“Ate babies for breakfast,” Emily said, sharply.
“And more, much more,” Markus said. “Eating babies was about the least of it. But Melissa isn’t a monster.”
Emily eyed him for a long moment. “How long were you thinking of ways to end the feud?”
“Ever since my grandfather was killed,” Markus said. “He was lured into a challenge he couldn’t win by an Ashworth, who was killed in turn by one of my family. If the feud hadn’t existed, he might still be alive today.”
And so you asked me about Melissa, Emily thought, grimly. And that raises the question of just how sincere your feelings are towards her. Do you want her for herself, or because marrying her would give you the clout to end the feud?
She shivered. It wasn’t a question she dared ask.
“I was told worse about the Ashfalls,” Melissa said, quietly. “But Markus isn’t a monster, either.”
“His brother is a little brat,” Emily said, tartly. “You’d better be damned careful he doesn’t realize what you’re doing.”
“I heard,” Markus said. “My father was less than pleased about him, if that’s any consolation.”
“Not much,” Emily said. She needed time to think, to process everything. “Picking on people who are defenseless isn’t something to be encouraged.”
“My father corrected him,” Markus said. “But we will be careful not to let him anywhere near us.”
“I never had siblings,” Emily said, “but Imaiqah says that she rarely had true privacy from her family.”
“Imaiqah grew up in a very poor household with only a handful of rooms,” Melissa said, sharply. “We both had plenty of room to hide from our siblings.”
Markus sat on the sofa, pulling Melissa to sit next to him. “Emily...please, will you keep this to yourself?”
“I thought I said I wouldn’t tell your families,” Emily said, as she sat facing them. There was something about the way they leaned together that suggested their feelings were genuine, despite the potential disaster looming in the future. “But I want you to do something in exchange.”
Melissa eyed her. “Emily, I know we haven’t been friends, but...”
Emily held up a hand. Tempting as it was to extort a price from Melissa in exchange for her silence, she had something else in mind.
“You’re both magicians,” she said, “so you have the ability to...enjoy yourselves without lasting consequences. But...your families are not going to be amused when they find out, and they will, eventually. I want you to come up with a plan to handle it when they do.”
She sucked in a breath. Magicians could enjoy themselves — it crossed her mind that she had no idea if Melissa had had any prior relationships at Whitehall — but she had a feeling that Markus and Melissa had crossed one of the few lines. Even if the relationship didn’t last the summer, it would still return to haunt them if anyone found out. And would it last? They might discover, once the thrill of making out in secret faded, that they had little in common. Or they might be kicked out of their families and break up under the stress of living as independent magicians...
“And I don’t think faking your own deaths would work,” she added, remembering Romeo and Juliet. She’d always thought that Romeo and Juliet were idiots who’d allowed love to blind them to the significance of their actions. It hadn’t been until she’d entered the Nameless World that she’d grasped some of the forces driving them. “There are spells to check if someone is actually dead, or faking it.”
“We could just run away,” Melissa suggested. “Leave a note behind and make our escape.”
“And where,” Emily asked, “would you go?”
She thought about it, briefly. Markus was a qualified magician, but all of his papers said he was Markus Ashfall. Finding work without them would be tricky, although there was so much demand for trained magicians that it was likely some people wouldn�
��t look too closely if Markus offered to work for them. Zed had told her, after all, that a person who could brew Manaskol reliably could practically write their own ticket. But what if the two families colluded to deny them a place to live?
“I don’t know,” Melissa said. She looked down at the carpet, then up at Markus, her eyes shining. “But at least we would be together.”
Emily was tempted, sorely tempted, to simply order them to leave the castle. They could walk down to the Faire the following morning, and vanish. A couple of steps through a portal could have them halfway around the world before anyone noticed they were gone...and yet, she didn’t want to tell them to leave. If they actually did manage to reunite their families, one of the major problems keeping the Allied Lands from working closely together would fade away. But was the game worth the risk?
She sighed. Poker had become a fad at Whitehall, but she’d never liked it. Students gambled, and found themselves running into debt. Thankfully, the tutors had imposed limits on just how much could be gambled, yet there were still problems. Aloha had told her, privately, that she wished she’d never devised the first set of accepted rules. And here, Melissa and Markus — and Emily — were playing poker for the highest possible set of stakes.
“I think you’re being idiots,” she said, finally. “You could push your families into actually fighting each other, right here and right now. And you could get a lot of people killed.”
“But we love each other,” Markus said.
Emily winced. Alassa and Jade loved each other...and that might end badly, too. And now there was Melissa and Markus.
“I wish you both the very best of luck,” she said, shortly. “But I still think you’re being idiots.”
Melissa half-rose, then stopped and settled back down. “What would you do in our place?”
Emily hesitated. Perhaps, once upon a time, she would have liked the idea of a grand romance, but she had known it would never come. All the romantic stories she’d read had always glossed over the truth, that grand passion came at a price, that Mr. Right would change as time went by. She’d never been one to have strong emotions...
...And yet, she practically envied both couples.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. Alassa had pointed out, cold-bloodedly, that Jade posed no threat to either Emily or Alassa herself. But what if Alassa had fallen for one of the princes? Or maybe even one of the barons? She would have to choose between her love, with all the risk of political disaster, or choosing a husband for political reasons. “Be careful, please.”
She looked up as the wards around the library tingled. “I think someone is trying to come inside, right now.”
Melissa paled as she sensed the magic. “Gaius!”
Markus leapt to his feet. “Is there another way out of here?”
“Behind the bookcase,” Emily said. She stood, tapping the bookcase in just the right place, opening a passageway she knew led to an empty room. “I suppose you want me to distract Gaius? If it is Gaius?”
“Yes, please,” Melissa said, as she rose. She sounded nervous, despite her magic. But then, Gaius enjoyed the support of her great-grandmother. “And thank you.”
Emily sighed, cursing herself under her breath as she closed the bookcase behind them. Just what had she managed to get herself into now?
You could just abandon them, her thoughts offered. And then she realized the implications of her knowledge. But now that you know, they’ll blame you for not telling them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“OH,” GAIUS SAID, AS HE OPENED the door. “I thought you were Melissa.”
“I don’t look anything like her,” Emily said, waspishly. She held up a book she’d picked from the shelves, randomly. “I came in here to read, not to be disturbed.”
“Legends of Honor,” Gaius said, reading the title. “I think most of those stories were made up.”
“Most stories tend to be embellished along the way,” Emily said. She sat down, placing the book on her lap. “Can I help you?”
Gaius sighed. “Can you help me find Melissa?”
“I still can’t alter the wards to track individual people,” Emily said, knowing she was prevaricating and not particularly caring. “The castle was never designed to have proper wards.”
“Fundamentals of Wardcraft says you’re wrong,” Gaius said. “You would just need to place a couple of dozen anchorstones throughout the castle, then retune the wards to resonate through the stones.”
“My financial balance says I can’t afford it,” Emily said. Anchorstones were expensive, at least the ones that supported permanent wards. “And besides, I don’t know if I will be staying here.”
“I see,” Gaius said. “I apologize for disturbing you, Lady Emily.”
He turned towards the door. “Wait,” Emily said. “Can we talk?”
Gaius turned back to her. “What do we have to talk about?”
Good question, Emily thought. Gaius still had the strange vibe of being torn between declaring himself a master and admitting that he was a slave. It was odd...and, perhaps, she would have felt sorry for him if she hadn’t known he’d tried to push himself on Melissa. But he might be able to answer a question for her.
“I wanted to hear your thoughts on the feud,” she said. “Why do you think it started?”
Gaius sat down, facing her. “I was told that there were two twin brothers who were both in line to become Patriarch,” he said. “One of them was a thoughtful, reflective type; the other a violent berserker. The berserker attempted to kill the other brother, one day, only to discover that the thoughtful brother was the stronger magician. And then he fled, taking some of his allies with him, to found House Ashfall.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “And is that true?”
“It is what I was told,” Gaius said. “The Matriarch discourages questions about the past.”
Somehow, Emily wasn’t surprised. Fulvia was perhaps the only person still alive who actually knew the truth. The story might well be nothing more than propaganda, without any seed of truth at all; indeed, it made little sense. There was no such thing as magical twins, a berserker magician would probably be killed by his own magic...and besides, why would so many people follow a berserker? Gaius really ought to know those facts. He’d known about magic for longer than Emily had been alive.
“I see,” she said. The whole story shouldn’t hold up for a moment. “And what does she say when you ask?”
“People normally get cursed,” Gaius said. “They learn to keep their mouths shut pretty quickly.”
Emily frowned. “What’s your relation to House Ashworth?”
Gaius looked oddly relieved at the question. “House Arlene has been closely allied with House Ashworth for decades,” he said. “I spent many happy hours with the children of House Ashworth.”
“That must have been fun,” Emily said, doubtfully. “How did you get engaged to Melissa?”
“My father and the Matriarch made the contract,” Gaius said. “It is my honor to wed the Ashworth Heir.”
Emily met his eyes. “Why you?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Why you?” Emily repeated. “Why did the Matriarch settle on you?”
“She thought I would be a good husband and father, I assume,” Gaius said. “The Matriarch was very keen that we should start producing children at once. She assured me that Melissa would welcome my advances. But she seems to spend most of her time away from me.”
Emily shivered. There was a plaintive note to his voice, mixed with a sense of entitlement that worried her. Gaius seemed to think that merely signing the contact made Melissa his, without regard for her feelings. The formal wedding was just a formality, as far as he was concerned; they were already linked together. But it was clear that Melissa was far from happy with the arrangement.
Of course it’s clear, she reminded herself. You caught her practically having sex with Markus!
“Her grandfather tells me I should p
ress my case,” Gaius said. “But it only seems to make her more resistant.”
“Her grandfather is a man,” Emily snapped. “I don’t think he understands women very well.”
“Her grandfather had five children, three of them girls,” Gaius countered.
“It isn’t the same,” Emily said. “Melissa is a living, breathing person. She cannot give her heart to you because of what is said in the contract.”
“She should,” Gaius said.
Emily glowered at him. “Did you try to court her?”
Gaius blinked. “That would have been presumptuous.”
Men, Emily thought. Part of her wondered why she was bothering to try to explain. Gaius wouldn’t understand a word she said. He’d been raised to consider children like himself commodities to be exchanged on the marriage market. He had no objection to being sold to House Ashworth and he had no idea why Melissa was objecting. But it was different for women.
“Melissa is a young woman, like me,” Emily said. “Can I offer you some advice?”
Gaius nodded, curtly.
“The contract doesn’t matter,” Emily said. “What matters, right now, is how she feels about being told she has to marry you. She has lost control of one of the most vital aspects of her life. And you, rather than trying to prove yourself to be a good husband, have been pushing her away from you.”
Gaius leaned forward. “I will be a good husband,” he said. “I can give her children.”
Emily sighed, inwardly. Did Gaius think his only role was to be a stud bull? But then, it was quite possible. Alassa might have to worry about her husband usurping her power, but Melissa wouldn’t have such a problem. The magical families judged by strength of magic, not gender. Gaius would be expected to father children, but not to lead the House...
Which might be what Fulvia wants, Emily thought, in a moment of insight. Balbus was a non-entity when his mother was there, while his oldest son had died when Melissa was very young. Gaius might be able to claim the title of Patriarch, but he would never be able to wield power. And if she picked Gaius specifically...
Love's Labor's Won (Schooled in Magic Book 6) Page 24