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“I’m fine.”
“I wouldn’t be.”
Lila looked away. “Isabel mentioned seeing Simon.”
“Did she blush terribly?” Chef snickered, letting the subject drop. “The girl needs to get out and find herself a man instead of a boy. I tell her all the time. Go out, meet someone. She’s a starved little bunny.”
“Babysit for her, then.”
“I offer all the time, but I think I’ll need to dangle the carrot first. A very big carrot with a very manly man attached to it.” She dangled her rolling pin between her legs and cut her eyes to it. “Very manly.”
“You’re nothing if not subtle.”
“Subtlety is boring.” Chef laughed. “Everything went fine with Simon, by the way. I picked him up at the winery, and he and his sister had dinner together in her room. They even celebrated his visit with a nice, long walk around the compound.”
“That’s good.” Lila nodded, a bit sad that she wouldn’t get to see Simon.
But he’d likely hate her as well.
“That admin of yours…Sergeant Jenkins? He called last night. Told me Simon has been enrolled at Sturluson’s. He’ll start in a few days. They’re still hammering out the details. Poor kid will have to repeat most of his senior year, but what can you do?”
Lila nodded. Sturluson’s School for Young Men was a lowborn boarding school two hundred and fifty kilometers away. It was the best that Lila could hope for, though. The school trained boys from elite lowborn families, families like the Parks, who struggled to attain highborn status. Likely the young man working the door at LeBeau’s had attended Sturluson’s.
Her mother flatly refused to draw on her connections to get Simon back into his old highborn boarding school, the same school Pax had attended until Trevor’s death.
She’d even been annoyed that Lila had dared to ask.
“I’m taking him to Randolph General this afternoon to get his physical and medical clearance,” Chef said.
“Good, take Alex along if she wants to go.”
As if summoned, the slave entered the room, eyes widening at the sight of Lila. She turned and walked right back out of the kitchen.
Two sightings in one day. That was a record.
“Alex,” Lila called out.
“Ms. Wilson,” her old friend corrected her, straightening her skirt. Only her eyes revealed the depth of her hatred. She managed to school the rest of her face into blankness.
“Ms. Wilson. I’m attending an emergency High Council meeting tonight. Your mother and brother will be on the agenda. I can sneak you in as my attendant if you wish. It only seems right to give you an opportunity to attend.”
Lila hoped she’d say no. She couldn’t imagine the torture of watching the group of matrons and heirs condemn members of her family to death, a death Alex clearly didn’t believe they deserved, a death she could not accept, a death she could do absolutely nothing to prevent.
Alex stood straighter, resolved, and Lila’s heart plummeted to the kitchen floor. “I’ll go. The Wilson family does not wilt.” With that, she marched from the room.
Lila sighed and tugged at the top of her gloves.
“That girl needs to grow up,” Chef said. “Her mother bankrupted her entire family and has treated her like crap for years. Her brother turned out even worse in the end. It boggles my mind how she can hate you for all that now. She’ll come to her senses eventually.”
“Before or after our hair turns gray?”
“You’re a convenient target for her anger right now, but she’s not an heir any longer. Her attitude has no place in the great house. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it.”
“I just asked Isabel if she’s mentioned wanting to move to another compound. I won’t do it unless it’s her choice.”
Chef worked the dough on the counter. “You are a master of this house and of the compound, Lila. If you let her behavior slide for too long, the other workborn will notice. It won’t end well. You have to make a decision before your mother makes one for you.”
Chapter 6
