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"I want you out," Pia spat back.
I just chuckled. "In case you missed it, Lady Ranndor, you are no longer the one to make that call. The baroness is, and she specifically invited us. However, if you want to cause a scene, I'm sure it won't be hard. I can be very loud."
"If you disrupt this party," Pia warned, "I will send a letter of complaint to the High Priest. Know your place, guardian."
"I do," I promised her. "The problem is that you don't."
Then I lifted my glass and took a sip, looking back to the dance floor to see that annoying man holding Yamina a little too close. At this point, it wouldn't shock me at all if Pia had told the man to steal a kiss out there. Well, living with a noble for two years had given me plenty of chances to learn about the stupid traditions they followed, and I was pretty sure there had to be something about brothers.
So the moment Pia stormed off, I headed the other way. Finding Talin wasn't hard. I caught his eye in the main hall. Immediately, he excused himself and headed my way. One of those benefits of our five-fold bond, I was pretty sure. It made it easy to look the right way at the right time, and even easier to know when one of us needed something. So, the moment he reached me, I didn't bother to mess around.
"The man dancing with your sister intends to compromise her. I think your mother set him up for it," I explained.
Talin slapped my shoulder. "Yeah, I got this."
Then he marched straight out onto the dance floor, aiming for his little sister. She was so busy trying to keep distance between herself and her latest suitor that Yamina didn't notice him at first. Not until Talin was only a few steps away.
Because he called out loudly, "Happy birthday, brat!"
"Talin!" Yamina exclaimed, pulling away from the man so she could hug her brother tightly.
Which meant she was going to be ok now. While he was with her, I could take the chance to let everyone else know about what was going on - and to warn them about Pia. Clearly, this party was going to be a lot more work than fun.
Chapter 54
Nariana
Iwas talking to Thiemo when Wraythe paused to whisper in my ear, letting me know the situation we'd just walked into. Thiemo paused, lifting a brow, but then offered Wraythe his hand the first chance he could. Wraythe accepted, patting Thiemo's arm in a much more casual greeting. The guys started talking, so Anver slipped in at my side. I told him about Pia, Yamina, and the nuances at play. So, when Ela claimed me, Anver went off to tell Jamik and Irila.
The problem was that the nobility no longer smiled at me in greeting. As Ela and I wandered through Sandrest, too many people turned their backs to pretend like they hadn't seen us. At one point, I heard someone say, "It's her," and I knew they meant me.
I hadn't been reading the gossip papers, but Ela had. Thiemo had started picking them up with the pastries when he came over for his weekly "business" meetings. I wasn't featured in them as often, but now Maela was the star. She was stealing from the citizens of her barony, using their hard-earned tax money to live a lavish lifestyle while leaving the Temple of Temptation in desperate straits.
None of it was true, but it helped to incite the many labor revolts that had been organized. People didn't care which barony they paid taxes to. They simply hated having a portion of their hard-earned wages taken from them, and the easiest person to blame was the one who chose how much to pay them. The one who had no control over the taxes levied, but who was likely paying the least they could for the most work.
In my opinion, everyone was both right and wrong in this fight. The problem wasn't who was greedy or who was being stolen from. It was about the entire system being broken. I'd assumed it was just our temple, but the older I got, the more I realized that the temples reflected the state of the world around them. Societies had a way of doing that.
But the cold shoulders made it hard for me to blend in at this party. Talin and Wraythe were watching over Yamina. Amerlee and Shalsa were winning over the hearts and minds of everyone they could. Ela stuck by me loyally until Anver told him to go make nice, and then the pair of us found a quiet corner to relax.
"This sucks," I told him.
Anver laughed once. "I don't know, I'm a little impressed with the size of this supposed house."
"It's a residence," I corrected, "and even bigger upstairs. I think you can now see why walking from the stairs to the morning room became hazardous."
"Can you imagine?" Anver asked. "I mean, this place just holds one family?"
I looked down the hall, trying to mentally count the people who lived here. "One family and their staff. I think there are about a dozen people in the kitchen, half a dozen who help the family with dressing and appointments, and then the groundskeepers and such. It's a lot more people than you..."
My words trailed off as I noticed a shadow on the stairs. A tall, lean, sickly looking one. Tath wore wrinkled pants and a shirt that he no longer fit inside. The man had spent a month doing nothing but trying to drown his sorrows, and it seemed that he'd forgotten to eat in the process. He was a shell of his former self, but I knew that if he looked over, this would certainly become a scene.
"That's Tath," I breathed, shifting to the side.
Anver just caught my arm, turning us both a bit while making sure we could still see. "I will put a blade in him, Nari," he warned me. "I also will not allow you to run."
My eyes jumped to Anver's, and in that moment I loved him as much as I ever had. He could've tried to hide me away, allowing me to be the meek and fragile little woman who needed to be protected. Instead, he'd just made it clear that he was willing to stand beside me when I did things my way.
I wasn't sure what way that would be, though. I definitely did not want to ruin Yamina's big day. I refused to cause any more problems for Maela. Pia hated me now, and I had a feeling that would take a while to fade. But thankfully, I never got the chance to figure it out.
