Page 7 of Pawns of Fate
“My brother’s wife is from a family of restaurateurs. Rose was raised in an orphanage. I fail to see the issue with either woman,” Nicholas replied flatly.
He glanced over to his father, internally begging for his support and trying to communicate it with his eyes. His father’s brows furrowed, and his hand drifted back to his beard as he analyzed the possibility of Nicholas marrying Rose instead of Luanna. After a moment of reflection, he smiled.
“Well, there you have it, Hector.” He chuckled. “As Nicholas said, my boys are romantics. They are stubborn, too! Inherited it from me. We’ll sign the contracts if you give us your niece’s hand in marriage to my son.”
Hector wrung his hands together, his face turning an unbecoming shade of red. “Fine. You have a deal.” Hector sighed as he shook hands with Nicholas and his father. “I just hope you know what you’re getting into with that girl.”
The three men exited the room, and the viscount hastily wandered away, harassing a few servants as he went. It pleased Nicholas to see him so irritated at having his plans foiled.
“Nicholas, a word,” his father commanded.
He signaled for Nicholas to step into a quiet tea room, as far from prying eyes and ears as possible.
“Are you really interested in Rose Robson? Or did you play that little game solely to piss off Hector Robson?” his father saidin an annoyed tone as he closed the door to the room.
“I would never play silly games for the sole purpose of pissing off old men, Father.”
His father pinched the bridge of his nose, the light of the sun reflecting on the golden threads in his tunic. “That complicates things. Surely, you’ve realized that we can’t send our militia to the swamps until our business with the Ojoh is cleared up.”
“The star crystal mine is that large? We can’t just send them a few dozen soldiers and be done with it?”
A serpentine voice behind him said, “It’s likely to be the largest star crystal mine in history.”
Nicholas whirled around to see Syzman, his family’s hired shadow mage, standing in the corner of the room, leafing through a book with a bored expression. Tendrils of darkness pooled at his feet, swirling in a pattern most unnatural for shadows. He must have just arrived.
“I didn’t think you were here, Sy. I thought you were on a mission,” Nicholas replied.
“Iwason a mission. Your father asked me to confirm the viscount’s claims, so I spent the past few days exploring those wretched swamps east of here.” Syzman pulled a small stone from his pocket and tossed it at Nicholas. “There are many things in that mud, but this is the most interesting.”
Nicholas had handled star crystals before, but only in school. He wasn’t a talented enough mage to justify carrying one of the valuable stones around. Still, it buzzed in his palm, soaking up a little bit of his lightning-infused mana before he could close off the channel. A stone with purity like this would give the rightmage heaps of extra power. It was worth a small fortune.
“You just picked this up in Hector’s swamp?” Nicholas asked incredulously, watching tiny sparks of lightning dance inside the stone.
Syzman nodded, a fox-like grin painting his face. “That… and other things.” The shadows at his feet wriggled as if they’d turned into worms on a hook. He snapped his fingers and whispered a short command spell. On Syzman’s arm, Nicholas could faintly see the deep purple runes glow, then the shadows around Syzman disappeared.
Nicholas wished that he didn’t find Syzman’s magic so off-putting. The man was one of the Sharp family’s most loyal and competent vassals. But shadow magic was just so unsettling.
His father cleared his throat, then said, “Hector sent me a letter about the mines and your marriage a month ago. I didn’t mention it to you because I thought he was exaggerating the size of the mines. It wasn’t supposed to be worth our time, let alone your marriage.”
“But, through my explorations,” Syzman drawled, “I found that the viscount wasn’t lying. The mines are extensive, running deeply under the whole swamp. Unfortunately, with all of that magical energy comes a host of monsters. They’ve been attracted to that area for centuries, if I’ve read the Robson historical accounts correctly. It’s why these lands close to the castle are free of monster attacks. The monsters are too busy in the swamps.”
“The viscount let you access the Robson historical accounts?” Nicholas questioned.
Syzman raised one shoulder in an effortless shrug.
“What Hector doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” his father interrupted, waving off Nicholas’s concern. “Both families stand to gain considerable wealth from this venture. Enough wealth that I am willing to accept an expendable woman of lower rank as your bride.”
“Rose is a noble,” Nicholas said, surprised at himself for how defensive he sounded. His father’s dismissive treatment annoyed him, even though he had only interacted with her once.
“Yes, but she’s an orphan, and, in terms of titles, the Robsons don’t rank nearly as high as we do. I am concerned that you care this much for a girl you’ve just met. Has York’s romanticism infected you?”
“Why is it a problem to feel affection toward my soon-to-be betrothed?” Nicholas snapped.
“Don’t raise your voice!” his father replied. He exhaled as though it would free him of all stress. “Because the main reason I agreed for you to take a wife is so we can use her as collateral to end this business with the Ojoh and free up our armies to clear out the mines.”
“I’ll marry her just to turn around and trade her away?” Nicholas asked. The rocks in his stomach came back. He wasn’t going to treat Rose any better than her uncle had.
“Yes. It’s what’s best for the family. I don’t know how else to end things quickly and cleanly with those desert-dwelling idiots. The only other option we have is to send Ava. You know that York would lose his mind if we did that. And we need him and his lightning to be fit for battle if we’re going to invade aswamp full of monsters.”
