Page 26 of Daughter of the Ninth Line: Part Two

He pointed down, down, down. Third, Fourth, Fifth were all in one family. My great-grandfather had a bastard, also a daughter, who was Sixth. My aunt, who’d died when she was twelve from the fever, would be the Seventh. My sister was Eighth.

Lastly, Hayle pointed to my name. “Avalon Halhed, Ninth Daughter of the Ninth Line.” He looked at me like I was suddenly meant to sprout another head and start breathing fire or something.

“It means nothing, Hayle. She’d obviously lost her grasp on reality.” Even as I said the words, something niggled in my chest. “Thank you for researching this. It’s more than I’ve ever known about my Line. But it means nothing to me.”

I stood and moved away from the table before he said anything else, backing toward the door of the library. Past the hounds. Past the Librarian, who was looking at me with a blank face behind thick glasses.

“Avalon!” Hayle called, and I paused. “I think it means something.”

I fled the room before he could say anything else that would alter my life.

The Ninth. The Ninth. The Ninth.

Sixteen

Vox

Iwas looking for Avalon’s face in the crowd, even as I half-listened to Shay’s updates. Apparently, much of a nothingness had occurred while I was away—the same jockeying for power, just on a different day. We walked back from the docks, and the others who’d been on the ferry with me gave us a wide berth. I had a small dome of silence around us, because Boellium had eyes and ears everywhere.

Taeme and those damn hounds raced in front of us, and I scowled at his retreating back. I hated the derision in his expression when he looked at my father, but worse than that, I hated the pity in his eyes when he looked at me and compared our relationships with our respective paternal figures.

Feodore Vylan ruled with absolute authority; his family was no exception. I was to be seen and not heard, especially as the spare Heir. Here, at Boellium, I had the semblance of control, even if it was just in this tiny microcosm. Taeme and I were not equals anywhere, but least of all here. I didn’t need or want his pity, even if I did slightly envy the way his father looked at him with pride.

Pathetic.

“Are you even listening to me right now, or should I just go and shout my update at the sea? Maybe the mermaids will give a fuck what I have to say,” Shay grumbled.

I tightened my lips, giving her an apologetic nudge with my shoulder. “Sorry, Shay. I know you took care of business while I was away. I have absolute faith you could organize this rabble like a General in the Dawn Army, with or without my presence.” It was entirely true. “The Conclave is playing on my mind. It was called because of the drought over in the West of Ebrus. The Eleventh and Twelfth Lines are going to face mass starvation if something isn’t done, and my father wasn’t interested in my opinion on the matter.”

My back still ached from the air-lashes he’d given me for talking out of turn. I was a figurehead, and that was the box I should stay in. It didn’t help that my brother didn’t give a damn about anyone but himself and his own power, much like Father. All of Ebrus could starve, as long as they took the knee before us as they died.

Shay gritted her teeth. “He would rather they were gone. In fact, I’m fairly sure he’d be content if everyone below the Sixth no longer existed.” Her voice was pitched low, so even if my privacy dome fell, people would struggle to hear her words. Because what she said was inflammatory at best, treasonous at worst. “What was the Conclave’s verdict?”

I snorted. We were a false democracy, and once my father declared it not their problem, the spineless Barons had been all too happy to wash their hands of the whole problem.

“They’re on their own. I overheard Baron Taeme conversing with the Tenth Line to send aid, though, so perhaps they’ll circumvent the Conclave altogether.”

Shay raised a brow. “Will you tell your father?” Working outside the Conclave was frowned upon.

“And stray outside my predetermined role of seen and not heard? No. My father made my role clear before the banquet—it’s to be an example of his virility and not much more. The humanitarian efforts of the Third Line are outside my purview.” Frowning hard, my cousin checked me over, patting me down until I moved away. “What are youdoing?”

“Checking for atalthat might have stolen all your common sense.” We both knew there was no talisman that could do that. She was just ribbing me.

I shooed her hands away. “I care about the people of Ebrus, Shay. That’s not a new thing.”

“But defying your father is,” she hissed. “It’s the girl, isn’t it?”

I kept my face blank. “What girl?”

The droll look she gave me was perfectly Shay. “You know who. Does your sudden interest in the welfare of the Lower Lines have something to do with Avalon Halhed, who happens to be an Heir of the Ninth Line, as well as have great boobs?”

Now it was my turn to frown. “Don’t look at her boobs.”

“Why? Do you have a vested interest in her chest?”

I ignored her completely as we stepped into the atrium, feeling satisfied as people scurried away. I wanted to find Avalon and not get dragged down into social bullshit. I just had to drop my bags in my rooms, then I’d head down to see if she was in her dorm, or perhaps the dining hall.

“She missed you, you know.” Shay sounded way too smug, like she knew that would make me stop and give up the pretense.

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