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Refusing to make conversation or share niceties—or get pulled into more revelry—with anyone else along the way, I made my way to the guest wing and into the sanctuary of my locked suite.
Fucking nobles.
Was I so painfully awkward and desperate for friendship and acceptance that I fell for the first lie someone cast my way? Pathetic. I started the tedious task of undressing. Then I took a hot bath and took myself to bed. Alone.
I was a danger to myself and Larkwood with my naivety and gullibility. My stepmother had taught me better than this. I needed to be the steward that my territory and its people deserved. I needed to concentrate on the tournament and nothing else. That way, maybe I'd stay out of the reach of scheming courtiers until I was safely bonded and had a House made up of upstanding, neutrally chosen partners to support me.
Chapter 12
After my run-in with the court vipers, I desperately needed an escape from the palace and everything to do with my position and responsibilities. Of course, I couldn't ditch my guards, but Currant and the others were more than happy to accompany me down to the city for some shopping and apparent gossip gathering, rather than spend all day standing around in the palace like polite statues.
My mood lightened as I moved through the crowds of people. I was always happiest when I was out among the masses, rather than cooped up indoors surrounded by expensive things and stuffy etiquette rules. I bought my guards pastries from a street vendor before we perused every shop along the main thoroughfare. I didn't buy many items—mostly just a few necessities and a couple of small gifts for the king and queen as a thank you for hosting me.
Not that the royals couldn't buy their own things. It was the gesture that was important. I was supposed to be grateful for their interference in my life. For hosting the tournament. And deep down, I was grateful. It was just that I also wanted to run away and hide under a rock somewhere and pretend my whole life wasn't about to change forever.
By the time noon came around, I was starving, despite all the snacks I bought along the way. My feet were starting to hurt, and I knew my guards would welcome a break as well. Unfortunately, most of the popular luncheon spots were overflowing with the extra visitors who were in the capital for the tournament. My small entourage found seats at a communal table in a cafe that I loved to visit whenever I was in Brightfall. I was just about to squeeze in with them like the lowborn scoundrel I was when a big hand touched my shoulder, halting me.
I turned to find Bach gesturing to a small table outside under the cafe awning. It was just barely large enough to accommodate two people, and an abandoned teacup told me he had already claimed the space. He leaned in closer to me to be heard over the chatter that filled the busy cafe. "I saw you through the window. If you'd like, you can join me? I have a spare seat."
I nodded my agreement and tapped Currant on the arm, gesturing toward Bach and his table to indicate where I was going. It was highly unlikely that I was about to be accosted, no matter what the royals thought. As a supposed causerie, I would know things, secrets that the upper class might not want me to know. But generally speaking, those secrets wouldn’t be worth the punishment of assaulting someone in the palace employ. And it seemed especially unlikely in a place this crowded. My head guard nodded and went to trade places with someone else so she could sit facing my table. I rolled my eyes at the paranoia. Honestly. Who would want to hurt me? What would they possibly gain from it? Guarding a gossip was a waste of her time and skills, but Currant was serious about her orders. She deserved a pay raise for her diligence. Even if it grated on my nerves.
I followed Bach to his table, where we settled in and ordered more tea and some sandwiches. I tried not to feel awkward about having lunch with the man, but failed miserably. A bit of sunlight touched the tip of one of his interesting ears, making the thin skin between the flared points almost translucent, painted with a soft blush of purplish color in the hollows where the capillaries were. I wanted to trace the edges of it, explore in a way I hadn't taken time to when we were in that inn together.
"I hope it isn't suspicious for us to eat together?" Bach said over the muted din around us. It was a bit quieter out here in the open air than it had been in the crowded confines of the cafe. "I didn't think of that. I just saw that you were looking for a seat, and…well, I didn't mean to cause you any discomfort, Mistress Rina. Or to pressure you into joining me."
I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm sure people will talk if they realize you're having lunch with a palace sharp ear. But I plan to speak with all the contestants as much as I can throughout the tournament, so the naysayers can just carry on with their naysaying. They aren't going to gain anything from it. The Prize’s identity is well protected, believe me. And both the queen and the Prize want to know as much about her champions as they can." I smiled. "Also, just call me Rina, please. There's no need for formality."
He nodded and picked up his sandwich. Some of the tension lessened, but I really wanted to talk to him about the tournament. I took a bite of my delicious food, considering my words before I spoke.
"Why did your team enter the tournament?" I held up my hand before he could answer. "And please be honest. This isn't a test. My employer simply wants to know all the champions better before the end of this game."
He smiled wryly and nodded in understanding. Probably because there were lots of reasons one might enter a contest like this, and not all of them were some noble, shining thing.
I knew that many of the competitors were here simply for the chance to increase their social standing or improve their lot in life. Some were working-class people, some were second or third sons of wealthy nobles whose only use in their family's eyes was to make an advantageous marriage. There was nothing wrong with that. I just wanted to understand people's motivations so I could get to know the men who may end up being my bonded life partners and co-rulers of Larkwood.
Bach sipped his tea—a bold brew with hints of bergamot that I enjoyed immensely. "Me and my teammates grew up together," he said, glancing at me briefly before gazing off across the street, watching the carriages and foot traffic pass by, accented occasionally by the newest trundling, crystal-powered motor car. "Or, mostly," he amended. "Fife's mother is the steward of Zora, and she and my mother were fast friends long before Fife and I were born, so we knew each other from birth. He was like a little brother to me, even though we're only a year apart." He smiled, and I got the impression that if this Fife person was here, he would object to being called the "little brother."
I didn't know much about her son, but I had met the steward of Zora long ago through my stepmother. I knew she was a good steward, generous, if eccentric. I had only visited the southern territory a few times in my life, but it was a beautiful place, with white sandy beaches and beautiful, towering bluffs of the same light bluish stone that made up parts of the palace here in Astra.
"Mirri came along when I was about…five, I think?" Bach continued, his blue eyes going distant in memory. "His parents took over the barony of one of the smaller border cities in Trireme, and they lived not too far away. He attended the same social functions, and he was always the odd one out because of…some differences from the other boys." Bach shrugged. "And because his parents were new nobles, still on the outskirts of things and trying to find their place in the established social circles."
I studied Bach's strong, square jaw and the way he seemed to clench his teeth for a moment. His deep voice was even and calm, but the memory upset him. I filed that little tidbit of information away in my mind. I was got the impression that Bach was a protector. Someone who couldn't stand by and watch others get hurt. He had shown that on the weapons field. And it was obvious from his tone that he and his friend Fife hadn't been content to stand by and watch the new boy suffer through his loneliness.
I kept silent as I ate, allowing him time to tell his story without interruption, despite all the questions that tumbled through my mind.
"Adder came later," Bach said with a wry smirk tilting up one corner of his chiseled lips. "We were teenagers by then. He was fifteen at the time, and had been orphaned a few years before. He snuck away from the community home where he was placed, and had been on the run for a while. Fortunately for him, he ran into Fife and triggered my friend’s passionate outrage over the whole situation. And Fife made sure his mother got her hands on his new friend."
He grinned at the memory, his blue eyes lighting up with fondness. "Fife's mother is a force of nature. And she is every bit as passionate about the things she believes in as Fife is. She swept Adder up before he even knew what hit him, and he ended up living with them. He spent his free time at my house when he needed to escape all their fussing." He shook his head. "The poor guy lost his parents and then ended up with two new overbearing mothers from two different Houses, plus my father, and a passel of protective siblings. It was a bit of an adjustment for him."
I chuckled at the way he said that. It wasn't difficult to imagine the stoic silver-haired male I had glimpsed at the archery competition as a glowering teenager fending off the people who just wanted to love him.
"Your family sounds wonderful," I said with a smile. "And that's what you're saying, isn't it? That Raven team is a family?"
He nodded and looked down at his plate, fiddling with the crust of his sandwich in a way this noble highborn would probably never do if anyone else was watching. Taking a deep breath, he let it out and straightened, visibly forcing himself to stop fidgeting. "Yes, we are,” he said firmly. “And we'd do anything to protect that family."
He pressed his lips together for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should say more. Then he shook his head. "It's not my place to share the details, especially with someone who lives to collect gossip. But you asked about our motivations for entering this tournament, so I will tell you this. We did it for Mirri."
Chapter 13
