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The doors to the Green room are wide open, cigar smoke circling the ceiling where quiet fans slice through the evidence of my brother's excess.
He's standing, his back to me, surveying two other men as they play billiards. A third man is by the fireplace, eyebrows lifting as he sees me enter the room. He stands with a woman, her silk dress shorter than is appropriate for this time of day. She leans away from the fireplace, eyes widening at the sight of me.
"Ben," I say by way of greeting, and all four of the guests bow or curtsey to greet me.
My brother turns, drink in one hand, his hair unruly and longer than when I last saw him. His smile is broad, although how long that will last depends on how pleased he is at my intention to ruin Mason's plans.
"Noah," he exclaims and crosses the room, wrapping me up in a hug that would squash a bear. It used to choke the air out of my lungs, but I'm not a boy anymore. I hug him back, the slap of his hand on my shoulder sharp and well-missed. "Your appearance could not come at a better time," he murmurs into my ear. When I pull away, he gestures to the men playing pool, and the two other courtiers by the fireplace.
"You've met Brighton, haven't you? And Boston. And by the fire, that's—"
"Dallas, of course, and—" I haven't met the woman standing next to Dallas, but she gives me a simpering sort of smile, and glides along the floor to me, offering her hand.
"Lady Emilia," she says, casting a glance up at me from under deeply lengthened lashes. They're crass and coarse. Ruby had tried them for a few months, and then had given them up. When they started to fall off, they gave a lady the appearance that she had spiders crawling along her eyelids. Mildly horrifying.
"A pleasure," I say, before glancing over at my brother. "And Mason?"
"Our duke takes his pleasure in Tahoe. Madeline and her keeper returned today, before you," Benedict replies. "So it's just us, masters of our own universe before Mason decides to grace us with his presence again." I can't miss the bitter hint of violencein Ben's tone. While there's no love lost between the two of them, I'm not in the mood to tolerate it anymore. I give him a sharp look, and he pauses, popping an eyebrow at the slight scowl on my face. "What?" He demands.
I clear my throat and look for one of the footmen, standing by the bar. He immediately turns and begins preparing one of my favorite drinks.
"So, Lady Emilia," I say, stepping up to her again. She's drifted back toward the billiard table, but I see her spine stiffen as soon as I speak. She turns, fluttering her eyelashes at me again. Is she setting herself at me? That would be stupid. My goals are to see Ruby settled, dispatch of Mason's little side-piece before he can do the wrong thing, and solve the rift between my older brothers.
I have no time for women.
"You've been traveling for some time, haven't you, Lord Noah?" She asks, lifting her hand slowly as if she wants to place it on my inner forearm. It's too familiar of a move for me to accept it though, especially from someone like her. I step back.
"Can I cut in?" I ask Boston, who nods and hands me the pool cue. He might outrank me, in the grand scheme of things, but this is our land and a lord is always king on his own estate. Here I only bow and scrape for the King, and he's not likely to set foot on California soil for some time, if ever.
The East keeps to itself, and the West stays free.
Lady Emilia looks disappointed as I take over from Boston, chasing the balls around the table with the white, while Benedict watches me closely.
"Our youngest brother likes to travel. I'd almost say that he prefers the world out there to his own birthplace," Ben says of me, a smirk on his face when I glance at him.
"I was busy doing what brothers do. I was showing off our sister, a task neither you nor Mason have spared the time for," I remind him, and Lady Emilia titters,honest to fucking god titters,and I'm tempted to beat her over the head with my pool cue. Who laughs like that? Idiots do.
Benedict rolls his eyes and leans against the pool table as the accompanying men wander over to the bar, where the footman is preparing them another round of drinks. They all sense this a long time conversation that's been waiting in the wings, between brothers. Best to make haste and scatter.
Smart of them.
Lady Emilia doesn't, because she's short a few pegs between the ears. But Benedict doesn't even look at her, so I decide to give her exactly the same amount of attention that he does.
As in, none.
"I have been tasked with bigger arrangements," Benedict says, moving close to me, pitching his voice down. "You've been dragging Ruby across the world; she must be exhausted."
"She needed to go," I say, my gaze searching his for some hint that he understands the seriousness of Ruby's needs. Our sister is precious, a jewel not only in name, but unlike the three of us, she is truly good.
She is the one good thing to ever come out of our line until Maddie, both born of this soil and blood but somehow not twisted like us. And someone nearly wrecked her, destroyed her.I'll never let it happen again. She must be the center of our universe until I can be sure that my best friend, my sister, my twin, is whole enough that I can trust her not to crumble and dissolve into dust and smoke at first chance.
"You said in your letters."
"Which you never returned."
His gaze slides away, and there's guilt in them, like he knows he's neglected us.
"You handled it," he says, voice gruff with feeling.
