I glanced over towards Great Lady Hana. She watched us play with narrowed eyes.
His eyes flickered over to her as well. Their eyes met, and he waved to her. She waved back with a bright smile. He turned back to me and said, “I’m not going to marry her.”
I choked on my surprise. “I never thought you would.”
He laughed sharply. “Your relief is all over your face.” He brushed a stray hair from my face. “My uncle declined their offer. They are not nearly powerful enough for Danhad to align ourselves with.”
I did not deny it. “I see,” I said and tried to hide my pleased smile.
“He will choose for me, in the end, and I’ve always known that.”
My stomach dropped, but I tried to keep my expression neutral. Whom Adair married was none of my concern. “That makes sense.”
He leaned in close, and I could feel his warm breath fan across my cheek. “If it were my right to choose, I think it would be a woman like you that I would wed,” he whispered.
Crimson flooded my cheeks, and I could not meet his eyes.
He laughed again and declared, “Check.”
Shrugging off my embarrassment, I stared at the board in shock. “That was a dirty trick!”
He leaned across the table once more and whispered in my ear, “Who said it was a trick? I would like to marry a girl like you, Maea.”
I did not think it was possible, but it felt as if my skin flushed all over my entire body.
Adair laughed again, louder yet, and drew a suspicious eye from Sabine. I smiled back at her, and she returned to chatting with the ladies Thelron. He jested, I knew. I was no one, most certainly not a bride for a future king. Deep down, however, I liked the idea as much as I hated to admit it and as silly as I was being.
He stood and offered me his hand, which I took hesitantly, all too aware of the eyes on me around the room. A servant in royal livery manifested at his shoulder, and Adair bent his head down to him. I could hear the urgency in the servant’s tone but could not decipher the words. I did note the emblem on his breast was different from the usual royal livery. There was still the silver tree but encircled, like the pins I had seen the men around Adair wearing.
“I’m sorry, Maea, something has come up, and I must cut our afternoon short.” He bowed and then hurried out of the room.
I glanced up after he left. The man stared past me and towards Earvin, who stared back, arms crossed over his chest. He noticed me watching, smiled, and nodded his head in acknowledgement. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a shadow hovering over his shoulder, but when I blinked, it disappeared.
Chapter Twelve
Two days after seeing Jon in the Hall of Entertainment, I received a request to read his dreams. Damara surprised me by agreeing. Seeing as he was a friend of Adair’s, I saw no harm in the assignment and went in the spirit of a simple afternoon to take my mind off things. His servants greeted Earvin and me at the door.
“Milady’s man can wait in the servants’ quarters,” the elderly man in green and orange livery directed Earvin.
He stood beside me without budging.
“It is only Sir Sixton. There is no danger here,” I said to Earvin. For whatever reason, I had grown fond of his silent presence. I was uncertain of where his allegiances lay, but I knew he would protect me regardless.
He nodded and agreed to follow the servant out. A maid stepped forward.
“This way, my lady.” She showed me to a reception area. A pair of couches framed a conversation area near arched windows facing out onto the garden. I stepped up to the windows and glanced out into the garden below. A fountain burbled nearby, and a bent gardener pulled stray tufts of grass from a bed of posies. The air smelt damp from a sprinkling of rain earlier in the day, and I inhaled the loamy scent of earth.
“Lady Maea, thank you for joining me.”
Startled, I fumbled and caught my balance on the edge of the windowsill. He rushed forward and steadied me with a hand on my lower back.
The action was unexpected, but I covered my confusion by stepping back to bow. On his breast, a silver square chain of office hung about his neck. “Your grace?” I said, recognizing the chain.
He fingered the chain at his neck, and a pleased smile tugged at his lip. “And secretary of the privy to the prince-heir.”
I raised a brow without thinking. “You have risen far from the young man brawling with Count Braun in the Hall of Entertainment.”
He laughed. “You were there that day? Yes, I suppose I have.”
He watched me with a predatory gleam in his eye that made me uneasy. I shifted from foot to foot and turned back to the garden to avoid his piercing gaze. I began to regret taking on this assignment. It never occurred to me that one of Adair’s companions might consider me as anything other than a diviner. But alone as we were, and he a young man and I a young woman, it had never occurred to me until then that I may have put myself in a compromising position. I cursed myself for declining Damara’s offer to join me today.
“You’ve been given splendid quarters. I envy your view,” I said, hoping to take the tension away.
The gray clouds rolled back, revealing a glorious blue sky. He joined me at the window, and his sleeve brushed up against me. I stepped away to leave the proper distance between us, lest he get the wrong idea about my purpose here. He grabbed my upper arm, and I flinched. I thought about screaming but decided to give him a chance before jumping to rash conclusions. I tilted my head up to him.
“I have been given fine accommodations, but it’s missing something. Don’t you agree?” He reached forward as if to brush my cheek, but I jerked out of his grip and stumbled back.
“Your grace, I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Don’t be coy with me, Maea.” He strode towards me, running his hand along the windowsill.
His familiarity discomfited me, and I tried to back up further but ran into a table. Its contents rattled, and I lurched forward to prevent a vase from falling onto the ground. I relaxed my features as to not give anything away. If he did not suspect my fear, perhaps I could sneak away. He seemed to sense my thoughts, however, because he rushed forward, pinning me to the wall, one arm on either side of me.
My heart pounded in my ears, but I miraculously maintained a calm façade. “Your grace, perhaps you would like to explain yourself.”
“Straight to the point, then, Maea.” He said my name with a twist of his mouth. “I must say, I do enjoy your forward manner.”
I raised a defiant brow as if to urge him to continue. I would have laughed had I not been terrified as to what his intentions were. “You have me pinned here, and you call me forward?” I could have bit my tongue for my foolishness.
He laughed. “Yes. You, an unmarried woman, parade yourself about as a diviner, slipping into men’s chamber to perform readings and interpret their visions. Or so you say. I know what you are, I know what game your lady plays at, and I have a proposition for you.”
He was more canny than I had originally taken him for. I thought him interested in more carnal acts, but at the mention of Damara, he had my interest piqued. I would not be cowed, however, and said, “If you are insinuating I am some sort of harlot, you are mistaken, and I shall be leaving.” I attempted to duck beneath his arms, but he blocked me by grabbing my wrist. I twisted around to meet his dark gaze. “Let me go, or I will scream.”
“I don’t think so. Besides, your guard is preoccupied. He won’t hear you scream, not until you’ve heard me out.”
I glanced toward the doors through which Earvin had disappeared. Would he harm Earvin just to get to me? I had not seen Earvin fight, though I assumed he was capable. I ventured a scream just in case Duke Sixton was bluffing. “Ear—” He clamped a hand over my mouth, and I screamed despite it. I clawed at his arm, but he only pulled me close into his chest, limiting the capacity of my lungs.
“Calm yourself, you idiot girl. I am trying to propose a mutually beneficial allianc
e!” he whispered in a hiss in my ear.
I swung my leg, and my foot found his inseam. He doubled over and dropped me. I ran from him and headed for the door. I was preparing to swing it open when he gasped out, “I’m asking you to marry me!”
I had the knob in my hand. I paused and turned slowly, unsure if I had heard him correctly. “Marry me?” I repeated.
He groaned as he rose to a knee. “Yes, I am proposing an alliance through marriage. I know what Damara is after, and I have connections, useful connections.”
He did not know I was not privy to Damara’s plans. He would have been better to go to her directly, and thank the Goddess he had not. However, it was a perfect opportunity to get information.
“What sort of connections? You’re taking a huge bargaining chip off the table by requesting my hand,” I bluffed, unsure how useful I really was to Damara’s plot.
He regained his composure but leaned heavily on the back of a couch. “You think rather highly of yourself, or perhaps you don’t know her plans?”
“I know enough to know you’re bluffing.”
He approached me once more but cautiously this time. I kept one hand on the door, and the other reached for a candlestick on a nearby table just in case he tried anything funny.
“You’ve got fire. I’ll give you that.” He eyed me up and down.
I turned my body away from him in an attempt to block his unwelcome view. I grasped the candlestick and brandished it at him in warning. “Any wanton behavior and I promise this will not end in your favor.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve seen me fight. Do you really think you can win?”
The candlestick drooped in my grasp, but I did not stand down. I gathered my courage and jabbed the candlestick in his direction. “Tell me who they are, your connections.”
“The Order of the Oak.”
I tried not to show my confusion on my face. His finger brushed the pin on his lapel, an encircled tree.
I thought of all the men around Adair, the servant in the Hall of Entertainment, all of them wore the same emblem. What did it mean, the Order of the Oak?
“And how exactly can you expect the Order to help us?”
He scoffed. “As of right now they are at odds with your lady’s goals, but money talks, and I have that in spades.”
That meant if Damara was working to put Layton on the throne, the Order was loyal to the crown and the current line of succession. Why would Duke Sixton be willing to betray them? To betray Adair? I thought they were friends. I recalled the tension between the two of them in the Hall of Entertainment. Perhaps they were not as close as I had initially thought.
“Are you sure they can be so easily swayed?” I doubted his intentions; it could be a trap.
“Do you really know the game you’re playing, Maea?”
I squared my shoulders, hoping I appeared more imposing and less like a mad woman with a candlestick. “I’m the one asking questions!” I stabbed him with it, and he took a step back.
“Present the arrangement to Damara, and then I’ll tell you everything I know.” He leaned in towards me, and I flattened against the door. The smooth wood was cool against the palms of my hands. “Make your decision quick, I am known to be mercurial, and perhaps someone else will take my fancy.”
I frowned. Could Jon’s allegiances be bought? How trustworthy was he? Would telling Damara about his proposition betray Adair? I did not want to tell Damara, but this was a rare opportunity to get information.
If I did help him make an alliance with Damara, perhaps I could avoid an unwanted engagement and gain valuable information. One point stuck with me, however.
“Why me?” I could not help but ask.
“Because you are the key.” The movement of his lips did not match his words.
I blinked hard. “I beg your pardon?”
“I said: you have beneficial connections, Adair and the princess.”
There was something in the way he spoke about her, like a caress, like desire.
My hackles rose. “You want to use me to get to Sabine?”
He laughed. “I do not need your help, but yes, something like that, you could say.”
I brandished the candlestick once more. “I will not trick Sabine for you!”
“Don’t worry about your friend’s honor. Bastard sons, regardless of elevation, don’t make matches for royalty.” For a moment he dropped his guard, and I saw the real man beneath. I would have felt bad for him if he were not attempting to force me into a loveless marriage for the sake of politics.
“That was not the only reason I chose you. I need a woman who will look the other way while I dally, as I shall do for you with your prince.”
My cheeks flushed at the insinuation. “I am not dallying with the prince.”
He shrugged. “Mayhap not, but I know the prince. I know how he works, and they all end up the same. It’s merely the chase for him, and I’m guessing you’re the greatest hunt of all.”
“It’s not like that between him and me. He’s helping me regain—” I clamped my mouth shut. Jon was not one to be trusted. I had almost said too much, and I am sure my secrets would be bought at a high price.
He smiled, and it made my stomach sink. “Even diviner’s keep secrets, I see. Think on my offer. You won’t get a better one, I guarantee you.” He leaned in further and gently took the candlestick from my hand. He brushed his fingertips across my cheek, and I shuddered.
In my ear he whispered, “I promise to be gentle.”
I shoved him away and stormed out of the chambers. His laughter followed me out. I was fuming, and I did not even think to go back for Earvin. My vision narrowed, and I saw nothing but red. How dare he play with me. I am a diviner! I deserve respect. I decided the information was not worth the risk.
Wrapped up in my anger, I did not notice the man until I collided with him. I stumbled backwards, and a hand reached out to keep me from falling. I mumbled an apology and attempted to pass.
His sonorous voice echoed through me, halting my escape. “What ails you, diviner?”
Startled from my anger, I looked up into the wizened face of the man in crimson robes. “Pardon me?”
“Eyes liken to plucked violets and ebony rippling over a face carved from pale marble; the mark of her chosen. You are a diviner, are you not?”
“Do you… know me?” His voice and eyes were mesmerizing. I stared into them, and they seemed to shift colors.
The harder I tried to focus on them, the more they fluctuated. A steady thrumming filled my ears, and everything else in the world fell away but him and me.
He nodded. “I knew you from the moment I saw you in the Hall. It has been nearly a century since I have gazed upon your kind.”
“How—you can’t be more than sixty.”
He gave me an enigmatic smile. “Strange for one who sees through the curtains of time to question. But, ah—” He lifted the necklace away from my neck and rubbed a thumb across the stone. I looked down into the stone and saw my own face reflected and something more in its depths, a masked face. He knew about the necklace, perhaps he knew also a way to break its spell on me.
Before I had a chance to ask him, however, Lord Malchor, Johai’s grandfather, strode over to us.
“There you are,” he said to the man. His eyes came upon me, and they widened a measure.
“My lord.” I bowed and thought to slip away before he engaged me in conversation. “Excuse me. I must be leaving.”
I took a few steps before the ambassador called out to me. “Wait!”
I turned on my heel. If I had been a brasher woman, I would have ignored his pleas, but he was an ally of Damara, and I could not risk word getting back to her.
“My lord?” I said.
The ambassador looked at the man, who watched the two of us with a placid expression, his hands folded in front of him. He turned his hard gaze upon me. “You are a dream reader, are you not?”
“Yes, I am
.”
“I would have use of your service,” he said in a clipped tone. He looked away from me as he spoke.
“You would need to make a request through my lady Damara.”
“No!” he shouted, and for the first time he looked me fully in the face. Dark circles lined his eyes, and I had the impression he had not slept well for some time.
“I do not want this condition to be common knowledge. I will pay you well for your discretion in this matter.”
His need was apparent, and I could not deny him. “I will do as you request.”
He relaxed his shoulders. “I would have your help at your earliest convenience.”
I glanced back in the direction of Duke Sixton’s appointed rooms. Damara would not be expecting me back for some time, though Earvin would most likely be looking for me soon. I decided I did not care, this I would do because I had decided to. At least I could perform a reading.
“If my lord wishes, I am available now.”
He eyed me for a moment as if expecting some trick. He looked over to his companion for confirmation. The second man shrugged. “Follow me, then.”
He turned and strode down the hall, and I had to lengthen my paces to keep up with him. We entered a part of the palace I had not had the chance to explore but recognized as the housing for foreign dignitaries and those of the merchant class lucky enough to have a place at the palace. He threw open the doors to his appointed rooms, and once inside, he barked sharp orders to his servants.
“What needs done, diviner?” He turned to me with a snarl curling his lip.
“I need a quiet place to read your dreams and a place to burn some herbs.”
“See to it!” he snapped at a servant, who cowered and ran to do his bidding.
A place was prepared, and Lord Malchor lay down on the ground. I kneeled beside him once the fire had been prepared. I slipped into the dreaming place. It had become easier with each reading. His vision came hard and fast, and I had little time to prepare.
Two boys played in a garden. The taller of the two ran through a winding maze of hedges the height of a full-grown man. He reached a fork in the maze and waited for the younger boy to catch up. He tilted his head back, and the blue sky reflected in his brown eyes. The second boy called out as he reached the first. Their voices silenced, and I could not decipher their exchange. The first boy pointed upwards towards the fluffy clouds and a V-shaped flock of birds cutting across the sky.
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