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“No one? How come? It is such a large hall. It’s a shame for it to go to waste.”
Sal shrugged. “Ava used to live here. So the master never let anyone near here.”
Ava?The name sounded familiar, but she didn’t think she’d heard it from Verity.
“Enough blabbering,” Garric growled through his teeth.
“What?” Sal threw him a confused gaze.
“Master wouldn’t want you gobbing about everything.”
The corridor ended, and they stepped onto a staircase landing. Eloise twirled, looking around. It was too dark to see clearly, but it was evident that the mansion was a lot bigger than she thought. She moved down the stairs with the guards still flanking her.
“Who is Ava?” she asked Sal, ignoring Garric’s disapproving mien.
Sal looked at Garric over Eloise’s head and shrugged. “Everyone else lives on the first or ground floors of the house,” he said, ignoring Eloise’s question.
The intentional change of subject didn’t go unnoticed by Eloise, but she decided not to insist, at least not yet. “This is a big house,” she said.
Sal nodded. “Rumor says the master won it from some toff in a wager when he was young. But nobody knows where he got it from, truly. Some say he killed the owners to keep the place.”
Goosebumps crept up Eloise’s arms. How could Sal so casually discuss murder? Was Hades so ruthless as to kill people for their things?
“Others say he made a deal with the devil,” Sal said, and Eloise expelled a breath of relief.Just hearsay, then.
Besides, if he were this ruthless, why did he not kill her then? Why keep her protected?
Perhaps he was afraid of the wrath of her brother.
Hades did not seem like a person easily succumbing to fear, but the idea that he feared her brother gave Eloise comfort.
She kept moving slowly down the dark steps when she heard laughter and cursing. A line of light appeared to her right.
Finally, more people. She’d almost started to believe the bandits and harlots of this place were a rumor, too.
She hurried down the rest of the way and turned into a dimly lit, vast room. It was bare, like most of the mansion, except for a few long dining tables. People were drinking, laughing, and singing around the tables, the ale flowing into their mugs. It looked like a celebration.
Eloise raised a brow and then looked at her guards. Had her poor guards missed the festivities because of her?
Foul language flowed between the bawdy songs, and Eloise grimaced. Perhaps she would have been better off missing the festivities, also. In the next moment, Verity sprung to her feet and ran toward her.
“You’re here! How come you are here?” She took Eloise by her upper arms and twirled her around.
The foul smell of alcohol and bad breath hit Eloise, and she suppressed her nausea. “Hades allowed me to roam the house.”
“Splendid, splendid! Come, eat with us!” Verity tugged on Eloise’s arm, and the latter reluctantly joined her friend.
They sat between two burly men, who were eating with their hands, arguing about something and regurgitating loudly. Eloise’s appetite quickly vanished at the sights and sounds. She didn’t want to seem rude, so she took a piece of bread and chewed reluctantly.
A mug of ale landed in front of her with a loud smack. “Here,” Sal said. “Have some of that.”
Eloise wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t a fan of alcohol. She might have a glass of wine on rare occasions but never ale.
Verity mimicked the action. “Right! Ale is all we have. We are not allowed strong spirits on the premises,” she said with a shrug. “And if gin is found on someone, they’re immediately kicked out. Hades’ rules. No drinking spirits inside the house. No rutting outside of the private chambers. Wouldn’t know why.”
Eloise let out a nervous chuckle. Well, she was glad for the rule, especially the latter. She did not fancy walking around the house and seeing anything she’d rather not see. As it was, the atmosphere in the house was not the most pleasant one. None of the men and women around her seemed to know anything about manners. A few wenches were sitting on men’s laps and cooing into their ears. The overall stench around the table was not a pleasant one either.
“How many people live here?” Eloise leaned closer to Verity and asked over the racket of laughter.
