Chapter Thirteen

Having a meal with the Duke and Duchess wasn't an odd occurrence in and of itself. Rather, it was the urgency with which the butler had requested our presence that had Ryia, and I exchange worried glances throughout the start of the meal. I pushed my salad around with a fork; too anxious to eat but too awkward not to busy myself with something.

Had he really been bothered by the picnic, he'd have called us away the second he found out about it; he wasn't above disrupting an event and embarrassing his daughter as long as it went along with his agenda. Even if he hadn't pulled us away early, he'd have worn an angry glare to dinner that would've tipped me off. But there wasn't as much as a frown line in sight. The fact that he was calm, eating in silence with the rest of us, terrified me.

It wasn't until my uneaten salad was cleared by a servant and replaced by the decadent main course that Ryia's father finally spoke, breaking the tension. "As you know, I will be leaving for the trade conference tomorrow," he announced, folding his arms onto the table, "and you two will be joining me."

Ryia's hand slipped, her knife screeching across the ceramic plate. She briefly glanced at me, her unease a mere flash before she turned to her father, clearing her throat.

"What will our roles be there?" Ryia asked pointedly. Both of us knew better than to be anything but skeptical of the news. Her father wouldn't do something so unprecedented as this without reason, and whatever reason he had would not have our best interests in mind.

Her father flinched, seemingly offended at her lack of enthusiasm. "You seem to have some issue with this." His question was a challenge. My eyes darted around the room, trying not to involve myself. Who knew that ceiling tiles could be so captivating?

"No, I am quite happy to attend. I'm just surprised. I thought only heirs could attend, and seeing as that is my cousin's role." She corrected her tone to the cheery one he'd expected. Her fake smile was the most convincing I'd ever seen. Only her fingers fidgeting with the cloth napkin on her lap gave her away.

"Ryelin will be joining me as is usual as well. I believe that this experience will be beneficial to you regardless of whether you attend individual meetings or not. You need to familiarize yourself with the biggest families from this empire, and this will allow you to spend uninterrupted time with them."

And with Sawyer.

Ryia accepted his answer with a silent nod of agreement.

We finished dinner in relative silence, the only other exchange being the duke requesting for me to stay behind once again.

"Would you like to explain why the young Alterio lord was on my estate today?" So he had taken issue with the picnic. Part of me was surprised he waited this long to mention it.

"After the events of the ball, Ryia has had a rather high opinion of him," I said slowly, giving myself time to craft an acceptable response, "the more time she spends with him in a neutral setting, the more she will realize that he is not the fantasy of a noble man that she thought. She will have no choice but to compare him to the power that is the crown prince."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed, your grace. Additionally, it is best to quash any perceived notions of bad blood between the families. If it becomes a forbidden romance to her, she will only want it even more." Nothing I said was a lie, but my speech must have looked stiff and forced; he still looked wary at my explanation.

The duke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, letting my words settle in. "Very well then. Her immature emotions escape me, so I trust you know better than I do. But, during this trip, it is imperative that my daughter spends as much time with his highness as possible. I assume you will not disappoint me in making that happen."

"I will not," I lied through my teeth. My expression remained neutral as I was once again making rather rude gestures in my mind.

"Actually, I already have some plans on how to taint the Alterios' image during this conference."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, resting my head against my hand as I leaned forward, "is it anything I can assist with?" He gave me a pointed look, and I quickly leaned back to keep from looking overly interested.

"I plan to feed false information regarding–"

A knock at the door grabbed the duke's attention.

False information regarding what? Regarding WHAT!?

I clenched my fists under the table to keep myself from throwing them in the air in frustration. First Lawrence, now whoever this was. Why did people here always have such poor timing?

At the duke's beckon, a young man stepped through the doors. He wore a patterned, rust-colored overcoat, made from fine fabric, and the gold hilt of a sword glinted at his side.

"Your grace," he said, stepping toward the duke with a bow. With his turned away from me, the only distinguishable feature was his cropped hair, the same shade of brown as Ryia's.

"Ryelin," the duke said, getting up to greet him, "how was your travel?"

"A slight weather delay," Ryelin said, nodding a brief acknowledgment in my direction, "I apologize if my late arrival interrupted your meeting."

"Not at all," the duke said with a hearty laugh.

Lies I grumbled under my breath. His arrival had interrupted arguably the most important part of our conversation, at least in my opinion. I grumbled in my head, not sure how I'd get the duke to elaborate on his plans any further.

With his hands behind his back, Ryelin fully turned his attention toward me. He gave me a slow once over, a look that I reciprocated, though with much less interest. Seeing him now, it was clear that his resemblance to Ryia didn't stop at the hair. Everything from their slim noses to the curve of their lips was strikingly similar. The only noticeable difference was their eyes; while hers were a warm honey that radiated light, his were onyx black that seemed to absorb it instead.

Seeing Ryelin's interest, the duke formally introduced me. "This is Lady June Everette. She is your cousin's lady-in-waiting. I don't believe you've formally met."

"I don't believe we have," he echoed the duke with a nod, "it's a pleasure."

"The same to you," I said, smiling to hide any trace of annoyance in my voice. Was this introduction absolutely necessary right now?

The duke's eyes slid between us again, and what I assumed was his version of a smile passed over his face. "She, along with Ryia, will be joining us at the conference."

"I'm glad to hear that," he turned his head towards the duke with an appreciative nod, "it seems you were in the middle of an important conversation, so I will take me leave­–"

"We were just about to finish our conversation anyways." No, we very much weren't about to finish it! "So, why don't you walk her back to her room? Get better acquainted before the trip."

As the resident matchmaker, I felt qualified to say that the duke needed to up his game; subtly wasn't his strong suit. I blinked away my frustration and nodded politely. It would be easier to go along with it than to try and argue my way back into a conversation with Ryia's father.

❧

I reused the phrase That's amazing about twenty times on the walk back; my lips pressed thinner and thinner with each repetition. My pleasantness was only an overcompensation for my irritation; what kind of bad karma did I have for such an important conversation to be replaced by this? By the time we stood in front of the door to Ryia and I's adjoining rooms, he'd boasted about himself in almost every way possible.

"I look forward to spending more time with you during the trip," he said as he leaned his arm against the doorframe, looking down at me with drowsy eyes.

"Well, goodnight," I said abruptly, dodging under his arm and slamming the door as I fled into the sitting room. I leaned against the door and slid down it, groaning in exhaustion. If the summer heat hadn't tired me out enough, entertaining Ryelin's interest had.

"Was Ryelin bothering you?" Ryia frowned, popping her head up over the back of the couch and startling me. "Don't worry. I'm sure that Oliver will chase him off as soon as we get there; you just need to survive the carriage ride over."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as they shot daggers at her. I had a feeling I'd be saying it's not like that till I was blue in the face.

"Nothing, nothing," she said, smiling as she shook her head. I'd always pictured her as an innocent sweetheart, but I didn't mind this more playful side of her. She had a characteristic charm in her smile that meant I could never get annoyed with her, no matter how much she pestered or teased me.

I rolled my eyes as I walked over to the couch, plopping down quickly enough that the cushion shifted, knocking her off balance.

❧

By the time we'd finally reached the mansion, I was so relieved to finally be out of that damned carriage that I could've kissed the solid ground. It had been the longest five days of my life; I was ready to curse out whoever decided that the northernmost mansion possible was the best place to hold this conference. Between Ryia's bored humming, Ryelin's conversations that felt like pulling teeth, my motion sickness, and the fact that the only stops were for the bathroom or food, the bumpy ride over was the closest I'd ever gotten to being tortured.

The muggy weather hit me like a brick wall as I stumbled out of the carriage. If the ride hadn't frizzed up my wavy hair, this humidity would have. I dredged down the gravel path that lead to the building we'd be staying in for the next week.

It was a far cry from the ornate mansions I'd seen in the capital city, more of a rustic manor whose dark stone walls crawled with ivy and moss. Nestled deep within the northern forests, only a small yew bush maze separated the mansion from the boundless, towering spruce trees and the ferns that poked out from their needled beds.

Its rustic charm was only enhanced as we stepped into the dining hall. Candles sat in iron sconces, nestled in the spaces between the dark green banners that covered most of the exposed stone walls. Long, dark wood tables stretched from wall to wall, looking bare without any table clothes or flower arrangements. The clang of metal utensils and cups slowed to a halt as Ryia and I followed behind her father. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for her appearance to silence a room.

In the sea of onlookers, there was only one person whose attention I wanted to catch. When our eyes met across the dining hall, and his dropped jaw bloomed in a proud grin, I couldn't contain the smug expression I'd been holding back.

Find me after dinner I mouthed to him. He nodded in agreement before turning back and talking with the men around him. My eyes stayed on him for a moment longer; even from a distance, I could see that more than just candlelight glowed in his eyes. He was genuinely excited to see me, in a way not many had ever been, and I was admittedly excited to see him too. I'd never know how we'd managed to become close friends so quickly, but I had no complaints.

We found our seats at the end of the table, right next to the emperor and crown prince. I shouldn't have been surprised that the seats saved for us were right next to Sawyer; I was at least at a bit of a diagonal, but poor Ryia was seated directly across from him. The only saving grace for the whole thing was that Sawyer had put on enough of a show at the Solstice Ball that few whispers and side eyes were exchanged as we sat down. That, or they had gotten all their gawking out of their systems when we first arrived.

❧

After a quick wash and change of clothes, I wandered the darkened halls until I found a small library to settle down in. The doors creaked enough when I opened them that I knew it had been ages since anyone set foot in here; it was the perfect secluded spot to sit and talk without fear of being interrupted or overheard.

I stepped in and scanned the barely lit room. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined three of the walls, and the fourth had a large, lit fireplace underneath a stone mantle and an oiling-painted landscape. Across from the fireplace was a large red couch adorned with gold throw pillows and a matching chair; with just a glance, I could tell that both would swallow me whole the second I sat in them.

I scoured the bookshelves until I found something mildly interesting, some drama novel, and melted into the velvet couch. The fire illuminated the pages just enough to read as I waited. While we hadn't picked a meeting spot, I doubted it would take Oliver long to find me. That was if he managed to pull away from the lively conversation he'd been a part of when I left the dining room.

The doors creaked open, announcing a new visitor, and I looked up from my book with a presumptuous smile.

"I thought I'd find you here."