Chapter 62: Jealousy

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Jealousy

The Duke’s Castle

The Duke, Lord Sebas of House Sonar, stood with his eyes on the city below, the so-called capital. More precisely, on the manor he had gifted to Lord Allan.

He turned away and walked slowly to his chair. Five men waited before it, one of them the agent who had pulled Allan out of danger in the nick of time.

"So he refused to come here?"

The agent bowed, his eyes unsteady. "Yes, my lord. Forgive me. I couldn’t bring him."

Sebas ignored him. "You four. Go back over what you told me. The cultists are gathering every adventurer they can find?"

They bowed together. "Yes, my lord."

The Duke waved a hand, and the men filed out. All but the agent, who was seized by two large, muscular men and dragged away, crying out for help.

Sebas opened his ledger. His eyes kept returning to one entry.

By the door, a subordinate who had stood through three readings of the same pages finally risked a comment. Sebas raised a hand, and the man stopped before a word left his mouth.

He had known the man for twenty years and could have told you what he would say before he said it. Even his silences were easy to read. At their last meeting, Sebas had taken one for agreement.

Allan was another matter. No matter how he turned it over, Sebas couldn’t bring himself to accept the man. He couldn’t predict him at all. Every report said what Allan had done, and not one said why.

He kept trying to call it luck, but too much had fallen neatly into place. A plan didn’t fit either, not with so many loose ends. Luck he could wait out, and a plan he could counter. This, he had no idea what to do with.

As Sebas saw it, killing the baron was the obvious answer, and it would cause more trouble than it solved.

At last he closed the ledger and let the man speak.

"Mmhhh..." The man cleared his throat, aware that every word would count. "My lord, what are your orders regarding the baron? Should we execute him for disobeying orders?"

Silence.

The Duke said nothing. He turned his head slowly toward his right-hand man, and his disappointment needed no words.

"Larry."

"Yes, my lord."

"Do you think you’ll be replaced? Does this man, the one I’m watching, make you feel threatened?"

Larry gulped. "No, my lord. I trust you, and you trust me. I would never dare..."

"There’s a chance."

"My lord?"

"There’s a chance you will be replaced," Sebas said again. "Would you like to know why?"

Larry nodded.

"Oakwood has risen faster than any house in a generation. He’s cleared out his rivals as easily as picking cotton. The Emberwinds, the Russells, even Harmony, a baron’s house that was on the verge of indictment. Don’t you think I should keep a man like that around instead of you?"

"B-but, my lord, he has no loyalty to you. He’s already got his hands dirty with that whore, the Countess."

"Which is why you’re going to give this letter to the Viscount." Sebas tossed a wrapped letter across the desk, its seal hidden.

He would let Allan live and hand him a problem he couldn’t walk away from. The Viscount would read the letter and have no choice but to answer, and Allan, in turn, would have to answer the Viscount. For once, the Duke would know exactly what Allan was responding to, and he could watch what he did about it.

***

The Countess’s chair still smelled of her perfume when the four women came into the temporary house. Allan looked up to find them just inside the door.

Lira crossed the room first and knelt beside him. She didn’t ask how he was. She laid two fingers against the edge of the bandage at his ribs and went still.

She flipped the loose end over. "That’s not my knot. Flat, tucked twice. I don’t tie it that way."

Seris had wandered over to the table, where two cups sat and only one had been touched. She sniffed the other and set it back down.

"She poured for you and never touched her own. I’d guess she wanted a reason to stay close to the couch."

Amelia, he noticed, had planted herself between him and the door, and she showed no sign of moving.

"My father worked with the Countess’s husband for years, Allan. He saw what she did once the man was dead. While the rest of us were still arguing over who should do what, she was already doing it. By the time anyone caught up, there was nothing left to fight over."

"That’s rumor," Allan said. "What... why are you bringing this up now?"

"My father paid to have that part checked. It held up."

Bela kept her eyes on the bandage while the others argued, waving off every healer and priest within reach.

Allan shifted to look at them, and the movement tore something loose under the wrapping, a sharp, burning tug along his ribs. He hissed through his teeth. Lira pressed her palm flat over the bandage and held him still.

With her hand pinning him in place and everyone talking at once, his head had started to throb. He’d wanted a warm welcome. What he’d gotten was a barrage of questions and a pile of information he never asked for.

"Why do you even know all this?"

"That’s how nobility works, Allan. We keep tabs on each other and blackmail each other for support. You wouldn’t know that, because you’re still naive. All you think about is your next adventure, or earning money."

Allan was quiet for a while. He couldn’t tell whether she was upset, but he needed to settle this quickly. Otherwise it would only get messier.

"Protection," he said at last. "She came here for protection."

"Huh?"

"You heard right. Protection, mostly. Money, if I wanted it, and a seat at her table." He rubbed his face. "She said she was in no hurry for my answer."

"She won’t wait," Amelia said. "By the time you reach her door, she’ll have people saying you’ve already agreed."

"Then I’d better have an answer ready. I’m going to see her."

Amelia didn’t budge. "Fine. I’m coming with you."

"Your father’s name is on half the papers she’d have to sign." He kept his eyes on her. "If you walk in with me, she gets to decide what that means before I do. And I won’t learn a thing if I go in already afraid of her."

Amelia didn’t smile. She studied him for a long moment, then gave a single tight nod and went into the next room, easing the door shut behind her.

Seris stepped closer. "She’s just frightened."

"I know."

"It’s easier for her to be angry at you than at her father. I’d do the same, honestly."

"I know. I’d rather she took it out on me." He sank back against the cushion.

Lira rewrapped the bandage and tied it off the way she always did. It lay snug and even along his ribs, with nothing digging in.

"I hope you didn’t let those little skirt-wearing healers touch my bandages," she muttered.

The healers standing off to the side promptly clapped their hands over their thighs, their faces turning pink.

Allan flicked her forehead, hard enough to sting and soft enough that it wouldn’t linger.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Haaaa, yes, I’m fine. Doing well, thanks for asking. And you? How have you been?" he said, dripping with sarcasm.

Lira huffed, her temper cooling. "Sorry..." She slid an arm around him, slowly, careful of his back. "How have you been? Did you miss me? Miss us?"

Allan smiled and hugged her back. "Very much."

Bela had finished rebandaging his back, which freed Seris to hug him from behind. Warm arms on both sides of him. It felt like relief.

"I missed this," he said. "A lot."

Amelia had been peeking through the door, and she couldn’t stand it any longer. She ran at him.

"I missed you too, you know." She hugged him gently, reaching over Seris and Lira.

Allan kissed her forehead. "I know. I’m sorry too. I made you all wait."

They talked and smiled and laughed through the rest of the day, until night arrived. Seris stood at the edge of the curtain, watching the street below.

"I’m sure I saw him. He was there at dusk, and he still hasn’t sat down or spoken to anyone."

Allan joined her and peeked out. "Don’t worry about it. Probably one of the Duke’s spies. Or just some cultist."

"Could be. I can’t tell yet," Seris said.

Lira’s eyes had gone dark, her sight sweeping through the whole mansion and everything outside. "Whoever it is, they aren’t hiding. I think they want us to know they’re there, but I can’t be sure."

"Someone who expects us to stay put?" Seris said.

Allan closed his eyes, wondering whether he should go and look for himself. Then, suddenly...

Knock, knock...