Chapter 5
I slept fitfully for what was left of that night, my mind fixed on the feel of Adrian’s rough hand and silken lips on my skin. My dreams were abruptly interrupted by the light of the late morning sun spilling into my room. Shera sat quietly nearby, her hands busy with some mending. She perked up when I stirred, rushing to help me wash and dress for the day.
“What’s all the fuss? I can dress myself, for Adulil’s sake.”
Shera beamed and glanced at me in the mirror as she laced up the back of one of my nicer day gowns. “You’ve an invitation waiting, miss.”
I knit my brows and dared to hope, “From whom?”
“Van Dryn House, my lady.” I couldn’t help but smile.
As promised, the letter and its accompanying courier awaited my reply. I cracked the seal and read in an elegant hand:
The evening ended too abruptly, and I fear I have dishonored my word. I beg you to join me and my family this evening, that I might make amends.
-Adrian
I turned to the courier a bit too eagerly. “And what time shall I present myself?”
He bowed crisply in his deep blue livery. “Your presence is requested at the Van Dryn manor at five o’clock this evening. A carriage will be sent for you, and will ensure your safe return at the end of the night.”
An idea crept into my head. “No need, I will secure my own transport, thank you.”
“And what do you propose to do about a chaperone?” my father’s stern voice resounded behind me. He looked less than pleased at the idea of my solo invitation.
The courier bowed deeply and held it this time. “My lord, it is the great honor of House Van Dryn to provide its eldest daughter Natalia to serve as chaperone and compatriot to Miss Elivya for the evening. With the entire family in attendance, my lady will not want for company.”
Father was unsatisfied. “Without a member of her House present? Unacceptable.”
The blue-liveried servant did not flinch, and I suspected these rebukes had been well prepared for in advance. “Of course, my lord. A Lazerin escort to ensure Miss Elivya’s safety would be most welcome. I am certain your guardsmen would find ample accommodation in our humble garrison while they wait out the frivolities of the evening.”
My father glanced at my mother, who had meandered into the room. “Very well,” he relented. “I expect our men to accompany my daughter at all times propriety warrants.” The courier assured as much and took his leave.
“Unprecedented,” my mother murmured, shaking her head.
“I don’t like it,” scowled my father. “That House is full of opportunists and wolves. Who is to say they aren’t trying to compromise her character in the eyes of other suitors? Force us into an alliance?” I balked at his lack of faith in my social faculty but held my tongue.
My mother watched me carefully. “I am confident she will do nothing that could be misconstrued as improper. The Van Dryns have supplied an acceptable chaperone, and it is a family dinner as I understand. Elivya can handle it alone.”
Father swallowed more protests and stalked off into the house. My mother approached me slowly, her voice low. “Your father is right to be concerned. A scandal would ruin your prospects, and this invitation is unconventional at best. We have work to do.”
I spent the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon closeted with her in the study, poring over Van Dryn family history, current Darian events, and brushing up on my social tactics. Determined to send me fully safeguarded into the wolves’ den, she drilled me relentlessly on hypothetical situations and evaluated my responses.
“It’s growing late,” she said finally as the afternoon wore on. Stretching our stiff limbs as we stood, she eyed me. “You will do fine, just keep your wits about you. Mind you don’t overindulge and remember: gossip is dangerous. Leave no reason for any.”
Shera helped me bathe and I selected my gown for the evening. It was one of Sadie’s custom creations, emerald silk falling in generous waves to the floor, the fitted bodice embroidered with vines and leaves. The neckline scooped low above my breasts, modest enough for appearances, but a reminder that I was indeed of age.
What boyishness remained of my youthful frame had given way to the subtle curves of womanhood, and I rejoiced in the late but most welcome arrival of my feminine physique. I daresay I cut a much more sensual figure than I had at my debut two years prior, and the reflection in the mirror was one I did not find entirely displeasing.
When the details had been seen to, I made my way downstairs to the main hall to bid farewell to my parents. Emmett helped me into my green wool cloak, and I stood before my parents with my chin raised and back straight. Silence pervaded the air between us as my mother nodded solemnly to me. I met my father’s grim face and took a deep breath.
“To battle, then?” I asked lightly.
The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, and he nodded. “To battle.”
Outside, the family carriage waited, James in full livery holding the door for me to climb inside. His face was carefully schooled to neutrality, but his eyes glinted with anger. Gabe and Quintin sat astride nearby, dressed smartly in uniform and arms with warm woolen cloaks around their shoulders to ward against the biting chill of the winter evening.
I paused on the snow-dusted stoop to secure my gloves before striding past them toward the stable.
“Miss Elivya?” Gabe called in confusion.
“Where are you going?” James shouted after me.
“To dinner.”
Valor and I slowed to a modest pace as we approached the silvered gates of the Van Dryn manor in the center of the city, Gabe and Quintin close behind, their mounts blowing out their noses. The stately house featured long rows of tall windows and a vast solarium at one end. Sunset cast a warm glow on the white stone walls as we were admitted by the gatehouse and trotted up to the main entrance. A young boy with a shock of black hair looked up at me in confusion.
“Forgive me, miss, I was expecting a carriage! If you wait just a moment, I’ll fetch the mounting block from-” his voice trailed off as I swung down out of the saddle and handed him the reins. Valor eyed the lad with skepticism. I could hear the rattle of my guardsmen’s swords as they dismounted behind me and relinquished their mounts to a second stable boy.
“Please see that he gets a proper hot walk. A few oats as well, if you don’t mind.” I patted my mount’s dappled neck, his breath fogging the chill air. We’d made good time across the noble quarter. Wide-eyed, the boy nodded, and the three of us made our way to the door, which opened promptly from within.
My armsmen were courteously escorted to the servants’ quarters to pass the evening with the Van Dryn guards. After relieving me of my heavy cloak, the straight-backed man I suspected to be the house chamberlain guided me down the hall and opened the door to a spacious parlor. All around the room, silken-haired courtiers lounged on exotic furniture. Animal pelts of beasts I’d never imagined lay draped over couches and scattered as rugs on the floor. Giant cabinets made of a strange striped wood towered along the walls, adorned with carvings more intricate than any I’d seen. There was more, to be sure, but before I could take it all in, an elegant figure appeared before me.
“Miss Elivya, we are so delighted you could join us this evening.” She gathered my hands in hers and squeezed them warmly. “I am Natalia Van Dryn no Vekar. I believe you met my parents at the palace last night.”
As with many others of her House, Natalia was a striking beauty with a slim figure and long lashes. She peered at me from under them as I dredged up a polite response. “I am honored to be invited, my lady. Is your husband in attendance as well?”
“Oliver is home with the children. This evening is just for family.”
I thought it curious that she didn’t consider her own husband and children to belong to that category, but filed it away for later reflection and glanced around the room. My chaperone tugged gently at my hands.
“C
ome, let me introduce you.” We proceeded around the room and I was presented to everyone I’d not met at the King’s dinner party the night before, of which there were many. In all, nearly two dozen Van Dryns were to join us for the evening. It took my full capacity to remember all their names, though I doubt I could recall them now.
I could feel them evaluating me as Natalia repeated the same introduction again and again. Numerous pairs of stormy eyes scanned me, searched my face, judged my posture, my demeanor, listened for hidden tones in my polite responses. A feeling of unease crept into me, and I quickly came to understand why my parents had been so concerned; a den of wolves, indeed, but I would be no one’s prey. I had trained alongside men. I could pin a hare at thirty yards from horseback at a full gallop. I was the heir to my House. I lined my cloaks with wolves’ pelts. With renewed determination, I set myself to task.
Shortly after introductions were made, we were ushered into an adjacent room for dinner. Natalia escorted me to my seat, laying claim to the one beside me. A familiar voice caught my ear and I turned to see Adrian and his father approaching, speaking in low and earnest tones I couldn’t quite make out. As they drew near, their conversation halted and Adrian smiled sweetly at me.
“Miss Elivya.” My name rolled off his lips, sending a chill down my spine. “I wasn’t sure you’d accept my invitation.”
“My parents found it quite unconventional.”
“And you?”
I tilted my head at him, willing myself to restraint. “Intrigued.”
He rounded the table to take his place across from me, at his father’s right hand. I sat at Lady Tasha’s left as the guest of honor.
“Having been the father of a beautiful young daughter, myself,” Lord Yuri commented as he set into our first course, an aromatic soup flavored with strange spices. “I can certainly understand his reluctance. Court is fraught with dangers for a young noblewoman of marrying age.”
Natalia spoke up first, her voice tense. “Father.” An attempt to dissuade him from this path of uncomfortable conversation.
He barreled onward, undiminished. “Surely scandalous gossip is as dangerous to a female heir as an assassin in this city.” Anger flared in my gut, but I had been trained for such baited exchanges.
His wife stiffened beside me. “Yuri,” she warned.
He waved her off and fixed his gaze on me. “I’ve heard the girl is a realist and a progressive. Is that not so?” I froze at my core, wondering how much of my adventures back home had made it into Court gossip.
The room was deadly silent as I considered my response carefully. “A realist, certainly. A progressive?” I shrugged, forcing an air of nonchalance. “Perhaps. It is true, Lazerins do not stand on ceremony, my lord. I hold an unconventional position as heir to my House. Circumstance has ensured that I am no wilting flower.”
The silence stretched and I feared I’d chosen my words poorly until Yuri burst out laughing. Many of the others followed suit, but Adrian simply watched me from behind his glass, amusement glittering in his eyes.
Yuri collected himself, dabbing at his own. “Certainly not, my dear! You’ve an iron spine beneath that silk.” The tension defused, the dinner progressed rather pleasantly from then on. I was engaged in constant conversation, for which I was both grateful and wary. Gratitude for the easy excuse to minimize my consumption of both food and wine, and wariness for the multitude of traps laid by various family members in discourse. I found myself infinitely grateful for my mother’s preparations earlier in the day and acquitted myself well. When the last course had been cleared away, I was relieved for the moment’s respite as we migrated back into the salon.
Natalia took my arm and leaned in to my ear. “Well done,” she grinned slyly, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
The following hour offered little of note. Many of the more senior members of the House retired for the evening. A strange game of colorful stones on a star-shaped board was taught to me through much lively debate and encouragement. After a few matches, I relinquished my place at the table and stood with Natalia and many others to watch instead. It was a deceptively simple, infinitely tactical game, and my companions were very, very good at it. I felt my elegant chaperone take my arm and once again lean in to whisper in confidence.
“I grow bored, shall we go for a walk?”
My first instinct was to refuse. To be apart from the group as the guest of honor would be easily noticed, but the night was growing late and most of my hosts were well into their cups. The focus was on the game, no longer on me. Not wanting to draw attention by initiating a debate over the idea, and deeming it a safe enough gamble, I merely nodded and allowed myself to be led away discreetly.
Natalia took my hand as though we were sisters and guided me through the various hallways and exotically-appointed rooms. She told me of the origins of various pieces, describing the great and terrible beasts from across the sea whose pelts dotted the manor. We meandered through halls of paintings of her forebears, stern faces of men and women on canvas staring their stormy eyes into some unseen horizon.
To my dismay, she led me into the kitchen, where we refilled our glasses and chatted with the scullery maids for a few minutes. When we left to continue our tour of the house, Natalia winked at me. “We needed to be seen together, primarily by the servants. When they talk of your absence, it will be of you and I that they will gossip.” I soon discovered what she meant.
She led me promptly to the solarium, at which I was truly dumbstruck. I’d never seen one so large or ornate. Its vast glass ceiling hovered nearly thirty feet above us, the panes framed by intricate patterns that outlined the stars and moon above.
“The night sky is as sacred to us as your forests are to you.” I spun to see Adrian emerge from a dark corner, ferns brushing his doublet as he stepped into the moonlight.
I turned to Natalia, betrayed. She threw up her hands in a placating gesture. “He means you no harm. Only a moment away from prying eyes.” She retreated from my withering glare toward the entryway.
“You must forgive my sister’s deception, she did it out of love for me.” Adrian watched carefully, gauging my reaction. “I think she is quite fond of you.” I gave him my best impression of my mother’s disapproving scowl. It must have been a poor likeness, because he pressed on, undeterred. “What do you think?” he asked lightly, gesturing to the vast glass oasis. Charming wooden walkways trailed through the solarium, punctuated by larger decks appointed with couches and other small furniture. Around the perimeter grew a plethora of strange plants, though none reached so high as to intrude on the view above. Somewhere, I could hear a fountain splashing. “It is the largest this side of the White Sea.”
“A bit dark. I see no lanterns,” I pointed out.
“This place was built for my great-grandmother by her husband. She was a renowned captain and spent many years at sea. When she finally gave up her command to raise her children, she grew melancholy. The sea was her first and truest love. In the summers, she could be content at our family’s hold beside the shore in Daria, but in the winters….” His boots barely made a sound as he slowly crossed the planks toward me. “Litheria is far from the coast. She haunted this house like a specter, spending hours outside in the courtyard staring up at the sky. No one could dissuade her, despite the cold.
One year, she caught a terrible chill and nearly died. Her husband, who loved her the way she loved the sea, could not bear the thought of losing her, so he had this place built,” he gestured around him, “so she could gaze at the stars to her heart’s content.” He looked up at the vast, ornate ceiling. “I’m told it nearly bankrupted us.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand, why the night sky?”
He pointed to the intricate patterns framing the glass panes. “It’s our map. Every star cluster is a landmark, with the Aduline Star as our constant. On the open sea, we have no other way to navigate.”
“Could you not just use the sun?”
The question betrayed my ignorance, and I regretted it the moment it slipped from my lips. To his credit, he didn’t laugh at me. “In the daytime, we do. But the sun is only with us half the time, and the sea never sleeps.”
Embarrassed, I fell silent and was thankful the dim lighting hid the flush on my cheeks.
“Why did you come tonight?” His voice took on an unfamiliar, uncalculated tone. Candor flickered across his face, unschooled and a bit uncertain. It set me off-balance.
“I was curious,” I admitted, attempting to recover some semblance of dignity. “I suppose I wanted to know you, to see for myself.”
“And?”
I quirked my brow. “We’ve barely met.”
“Would you like to?” His mischievous smirk returned and he took another step toward me, halting mere inches away.
“Like to what?”
“Get to know me,” he murmured in his silken voice.
I was tempted to retreat, but I dared not show any weakness. Instead, I held my ground and his gaze, maintaining my skeptical mien. “Is that not what we’re doing now?”
His hand brushed my bare forearm. “Would you or not?”
I considered him, all attempts at composure slipping as my blood pounded in my ears. “Yes.”
His eyes drifted past me and I heard Natalia’s slippered footsteps approaching. “Can you get out of your manor unseen?”
I knit my brow at him, suspicion stirring. “What are you-”
“No, no, nothing like that,” he countered, shaking his head impatiently. “Can you manage it or not?”
Caution gave me pause as I quickly calculated the risks of his offer. Such a clandestine meeting would provide prime gossip, should we be discovered. Not only that, but I hardly knew this Adrian Van Dryn, and though his demeanor suggested a certain regard, I had learned early on to be cautious of men.
This one, though, this one made me weak. Despite all my training, all the alarms ringing in my mind, I couldn’t help but make the blatantly foolish choice. “I can.”
A Crown of Lilies Page 9