Page 2 of Pawns of Fate
Ava had taken the noble world by storm last year when she married York Sharp, the marquess’s youngest son. A commoner from the Imperial City marrying a wealthy countryside aristocrat sounded like the stuff of romance novels to most people. But it was enraging gossip fodder to Albionish high society, especially young, single, noble ladies. How dare a commoner marry one of Albion’s most eligible noble bachelors?
From what Rose heard, besides her chocolate brown hair, petite yet voluptuous figure, and classic beauty, Ava had a boisterous, frank, and outgoing personality, which hindered her ability to blend into the cold world of high society. She wasalso prone to forget or ignore the strict etiquette rules that noble families lived and died by, so she inadvertently insulted quite a few people whenever she attended social events.
Rose needed to calm the situation down. It didn’t matter if it was common knowledge that Ava unintentionally caused trouble at high society parties; the fault would lie with the Robsons. They were hosting the gathering. The Sharp family outranked the Robsons—worse, Onanish, the Sharp’s territory, neighbored Robson territory. Offenses towards the Sharps were not something Rose’s family and the citizens under their rule could afford. They depended heavily on Onanish for trade and access to the large northern cities. If the families started feuding, or worse, warring, everyone would suffer, and the Robsons would most likely lose any kind of military conflict with the Sharps. Their military was much larger, and the Sharp family members were all lightning mages.
Rose shot a glare at her cousin.
“What happened, Luanna?”
“Ava Sharp stepped on Tory’s dress.” Luanna pointed to the whining girl and tried to cover the worry in her voice. “Tory responded by calling her a clumsy cow.”
“What!?”
“She did it on purpose,” Tory retorted, crossing her arms.
“Luanna…” Rose and her cousin exchanged glances. Concern danced across Luanna’s face. Her cousin already understood the gravity of the situation. Even though Tory was the one who launched the insult, it happened at Luanna’s party.
“You shouldn’t have insulted anyone like that,” Rose chidedthe girl, “but especially notLadyAva Sharp. The Robsons and Sharps are neighbors. What will we do if this creates bad blood?”
“I don’t see why it’s your problem, Rose. You’re not Luanna’s older sister, after all. Spats like this happen at coming-of-age parties. You wouldn’t know that since you never had one,” Tory hissed with all the venom a teenager could muster, which Rose thought was quite a lot.
“I may not have had a coming-of-age party, but I have better manners than a child who insults the guests at other people’s celebrations,” Rose snapped. Stress pulled on her temples. Rose massaged her forehead. Tory had crossed a line, but now she had, too.
The other girls all gasped; Rose was creating a scene. Her aunt and uncle would punish her later for ruining Luanna’s party, especially since Tory was from an influential family.
Rose felt a pressing need to run away.
Thankfully, Luanna, in a rare show of maturity, took it upon herself to stop further arguments from her cousin and friend. “I think that we should all—”
She was interrupted by the noisy arrival of the birthday cake.
Praise the gods, Rose thought to herself. She quickly found her way to the crowd’s edge, watching Luanna take center stage as Arnold wheeled the cake to the birthday girl’s tent. The candles sparkled like a rainbow of tiny fireworks. Her uncle must have paid some lucky fire mage a pretty penny for that spell.
After everyone sang the birthday song to Luanna, Rose quietly excused herself and went deeper into the garden,reaching out and feeling the soft petals of the flowers as she went. She needed fresh air and space. Maybe if she disappeared long enough, everyone would forget what happened with Tory, and she could avoid Ghislaine and Luanna.
After walking through the flower hedges for a few minutes, she meandered to her favorite spot in the garden, a small, secluded pond. It was far away from the festivities and would certainly be empty. Rose could regain her composure there. After, she’d head back to see if her aunt had any other tasks for her.
As she rounded the corner of hedges, bringing the water into view, she paused, noticing a young woman sitting on a bench, crying at the pond’s edge. Rose’s shoulders slumped. She’d wanted a few minutes alone. Was that too much to ask?
The girl was clearly a partygoer from her golden gown and curls piled elegantly atop her head. Rose couldn’t tell what family she was from, though.
The young woman looked up at her with chocolate eyes that matched her hair.She’s very pretty, Rose thought. She stood up, the top of her head barely reaching Rose’s nose.
An uncanny feeling tickled Rose’s consciousness as she observed the young lady more closely. Brown eyes and hair. Short with a pretty face. A voluptuous figure and rich attire. This woman was Ava Sharp.
She looked at Rose with tears in her eyes, mumbled some sort of apology, then made to leave.
“Wait!” Rose couldn’t let her walk away without remedying the situation. “You don’t need to leave. I’m not here to forceyou back to the party. I also come to this spot when I’m feeling unwell.”
Ava sat back down on the bench, her tears slowing.
“Do you mind if I sit?” Rose asked. Ava scooted over slightly. Taking that as the girl’s response, Rose cautiously sat beside her.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Rose asked, “Do you want to tell me about it? Misery loves company, after all.”
“Are you just trying to gain influence over the Sharps by being nice to me? You do know who I am, right?” Ava’s voice was surprisingly cold to a would-be friend.
Rose realized that she had made a few assumptions about Ava based solely on the rumors that she had a friendly, boisterous personality. She hadn’t expected Ava to snap, but couldn’t blame her. A few hours at Luanna’s birthday had also put Rose in a poor mood. Ava was trying to find peace and quiet from the party, just like she had been.
