Chapter 156 - Lady Edevane

Chapter 156: 156 - Lady Edevane

"I haven’t seen Lady Edevane in the capital for years."

Adrien did not turn. The two elves stood only a few paces behind him, speaking quietly enough that they plainly had no intention of joining his table, while Amelia kept her attention on Selene across the hall.

The second noble lowered his glass before answering.

"Neither have I. She used to spend months here when she was younger. Selene brought her regularly, and for a time she studied with several of the palace tutors."

"I remember. Vael never cared much for court life, but his granddaughter was around often enough that most of the older families still know her."

Their conversation wandered elsewhere after that, leaving Adrien with a piece of Amelia’s life she had never had much reason to explain. He glanced at her, then swept the hall again, paying far closer attention than before.

The difference stood out once he looked for it. Older nobles greeted Amelia with familiarity, officials addressed her by name, and several people stopped to ask after Vael or her parents.

None of them treated her like a princess. Nobody offered the deep bows reserved for the royal family or stepped out of her path, and the respect ran quieter than that, built on the Edevane name and years of acquaintance rather than a title.

When the latest conversation ended, Adrien leaned slightly closer.

"I heard two nobles behind us talking about you. They said you spent months at a time in the capital when you were younger and studied with palace tutors. You never mentioned that part."

Amelia looked toward the pair he meant.

"I didn’t think it was especially important. My mother spent a lot of time here when I was young, and I usually came with her. The palace already had tutors for the royal children and a few other families, so I studied with them for several years."

"That explains why you know this place as well as you do. Yesterday you were walking through the castle like you still lived here."

"For a while, I almost did. Not continuously, but enough that I knew which corridors connected and which staircases were faster. A lot of the people working here now were still children themselves."

Adrien surveyed the hall once more. Amelia had seemed at ease in Elyndor because the city had known her since childhood, and Sylvarin was a different case, though not by nearly the margin he had assumed.

"How closely are the Edevanes actually connected to the royal family? You told me yesterday the blood connection was distant, but people here seem to treat your family as more important than that."

"The blood connection is distant. My mother’s side branches away from the royal line several generations ago, so it exists, but it doesn’t give me any meaningful claim or position. Most of the attention comes from my grandfather."

She paused while an attendant replaced the water at their table, then went on once he withdrew.

"Vael has known this family for a very long time. He has advised different kings and fought for Sylvamir when the kingdom needed him, even though Elyndor remained independent. People remember that. My mother is his daughter, and I’m his granddaughter, so the name carries some of that whether I want it to or not."

Before Adrien could press further, an elderly woman approached their table with a younger elf beside her. Amelia rose at once, recognition crossing her face before the woman had introduced herself.

"Lady Meriel. It’s been a long time."

"It has. The last time I saw you, you were still arguing with Master Theron about whether healing theory counted as useful mathematics."

Amelia smiled faintly. "I remember. I spent more time in the medical wing than anywhere else back then."

Meriel introduced herself to Adrien as one of Amelia’s former tutors, and the conversation that followed opened another window onto her childhood. Amelia had studied healing, languages, history and court etiquette here, though most of her appetite had already turned toward medicine.

After the woman left, Adrien waited until Amelia had taken her chair again.

"You really left out quite a lot when you said you spent some time in the capital."

"I told you the truth. It simply never came up in enough detail for me to explain all of it."

That was fair enough. Adrien had plenty from his own childhood he had never thought to mention, because it had seemed ordinary until somebody asked.

A few minutes later, another question occurred to him.

"With your family this well known, did anyone ever try to arrange a marriage for you?"

Amelia showed no surprise at all. She took a moment before answering, picking her words with care.

"There were discussions, but nothing formal ever reached me. A few families thought a connection to Edevane would be useful, and the distant royal blood made the idea more attractive to some of them."

"What happened after that?"

"My grandfather made it clear very early that nobody was going to negotiate my future without involving me. I wasn’t interested, and my parents agreed with him, so none of those conversations went very far."

Adrien nodded. That sounded exactly like Vael, and it accounted for how evenly Amelia spoke about the whole business.

Cordelia appeared later with Lucien a few steps behind. She discussed two families that had arrived late with Amelia, then turned toward Adrien.

"How are you finding the banquet? You’ve had people around you almost constantly since Laurent’s speech."

"It’s been useful. I knew Amelia had connections here, but I didn’t realize how many people had known her since she was young."

"She spent enough time here that most of the older families remember her. Some of them haven’t seen her in years, though, so you’ll probably hear the same stories more than once tonight."

They talked for several minutes before Cordelia caught sight of members of House Aerwyn across the hall and excused herself to greet them. Lucien went with her, leaving Adrien and Amelia at the table while the room gradually rearranged itself around them.

The musicians changed pieces near the western wall, and servants began clearing more space from the center of the hall. Dinner was giving way to the later part of the evening, and couples had already begun drifting toward the open floor.

Amelia watched them for a while, then rose from her chair and turned toward him with one hand held out.

"Don’t pretend nobody ever taught you how to do this."