Page 14 of Chasing the Night
“She has that effect every time she opens her mouth.” He grinned before stopping in front of the sofa and giving the table a nudge. It was left further away than I had bumped it, but straight enough that someone might think it belonged there.
We sank onto the sofa and I drew my legs, instinctively curling my feet and limb towards myself and the soft cloud of furniture beneath me. I still couldn’t believe it was mine to sleep on regularly. I sighed and realized they were both staring at me with smiles that matched my own.
“I told you, you belonged here.” Ender winked.
I still couldn’t get over him. He was a doctor, but he looked like a carefree spirited young man. A capable but young warrior. A gentle soul with seductive green eyes.
“This is home now, girl.” Reverie sighed.
“Everyone keeps calling me a girl. I’m a woman. I become majority with winter’s first kiss,” I babbled. The words failed me when I caught Ender’s eyes dropping to my mouth when I named the date.
“Appropriate timing,” he cooed.
I grew so warm in the cheeks and neck that I was left with my head down to hide it.
“That’s right! The season celebrations will be incomparable if Isabella knows it’s your time,” Reverie excitedly anticipated. Ender laughed at her innocent train of thought and gazed toward the fire again.
“Isabella is beautiful and very gracious. I hope I can repay her somehow.” I stopped mid-sentence, absorbing what she had said about the city’s festival. Had she meant that I would somehow be the center point of such an event? “I’m only an adopted—”
“We all are,” Ender admitted over a throaty laugh. “Did you really think… “He held his side and studied me skeptically.
“You thought Messiah and I came from the same Momma and Pappy?” Reverie asked as if it were the cutest thing in the world.
Ender shivered, repulsed by her choice of paternal labels. “We really have to work on your peasant speak.”
“Peasant speak!” Her eyes nearly jumped from their sockets. “You crawled your hiney straight out of them Forest Wild Swamps. Don’t you dare talk down my way of speaking!” She looked like a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed squirrel having a temper tantrum.
“I was born in the swamps. It’s true, but at least I wasn’t purchased from the Iron Inlet,” he flung back.
I sucked in air so fast I choked and tried to buffer things. “I’m just ecstatic to have been invited.”
“Mind, Lady Chalice… just because one is invited, they shouldn’t assume it means they will stay,” a voice called from the doorway. It was Ender’s twin, the man from Blazian’s winery that had called Reverie a lush.
My heart momentarily leapt from my chest and goosebumps covered my arms.
“Honestly, Demetri. Do you ever spread anything besides doom and apprehension?” Reverie narrowed her eyes and gathered the guys up. “Get some rest, girl. Aella will be here in a few hours to collect you.”
***
True to her word, the door to my chamber opened just as the dawn was breaking. Aella said nothing, merely stared across the room at me until I started moving. She shook her head and scoffed before shutting the door.
Being under her gaze gnawed at me. I had only learned her name last night. What could I possibly had done to have offended her?
There wasn’t time to stew on it, I had to get dressed. An act that only dampened my mood further. I still hadn’t purchased any material, and there was no way I could walk alongside those type of people in the frilly dress I had. Even my leather one was shabby by their standards. I wrangled my way through the nerves and quickly wiggled my way into a dress I found in the wardrobe nearby.
I started to sneak about, hesitantly opening the door against a squeak so I wouldn’t wake anyone. It proved to be for nothing. Out in the hall, the sound of servants and muffled speech assured me that at least half the Villa was alive and moving.
“Be quick about it,” Aella mumbled. The woman tossed her head every time she addressed me, so I made a point not to talk.
The morning air was crisp and cool. It left a thick layer of fog through the lower residential area that swallowed Aella if I didn’t keep a brisk pace. On either side, we could hear the people trying to open their shops. The banging of windows and whistled tunes seemed eerie in the white-out conditions.
I was certain we were almost to the bridge, when suddenly she whirled around to face me. I nearly collided with her. A quick backstep left me dancing on the top of someone’s shoes. I flailed trying to balance myself, and a heavy hand claimed my arm.
“Have a care, girl,” a deep smooth tone instructed. The fog broke, revealing the tall man with long, twisted dark hair behind me. His somber hazel eyes seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. A breath later I recalled him. He was the man I had bumped into on the dock, before things had gotten messy.
“Chalice of Rochambeau, meet Atticus Krypt, head of House Krypt and father to us all,” Messiah formally introduced.
Atticus emerged from behind Aella. Tall and slender, his face carried the evidence of several decades’ worth of stress. Despite his rich immaculate clothing, the deep stress lines around his eyes and haggard cheeks made him appear dangerous and dismal.