Page 93 of Song of the Shadow Prince
“He did not say, my lady.” Maeve motioned to the door.
Lifting the skirt of my dress, I hurried out of the bedroom and followed her down the hall, then along the walkways of the outdoor courtyard that led to the grand hall. Each time I walked through the courtyard, I marveled at how all the rooms were connected by outdoor walkways and courtyards. It was avery interesting concept, but according to Maeve, many of the residences were designed this way.
When we reached the grand hall, the servants standing outside announced my name. I entered and saw Lord Zacharia waiting for me at the front of the room, sitting at the head chair.
“Father,” I called out. “You were looking for me?” I peered over my shoulder and noticed Maeve hadn’t followed me inside.Shit.
“Hm, yes. Come, have a seat.” He motioned to the seat opposite him.
When I sat down and he poured me a cup of tea, I fought to hide my grimace. That shit tasted so nasty. I was more of a coffee girl, but there was no coffee in this world. Which was a damn shame. If only I’d brought some coffee beans with me, I would have rocked these people’s world.
“Thank you,” I muttered without reaching for the teacup. Under the pretense of waiting for it to cool, I demurely folded my hands in my lap.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been very busy lately, although you haven’t been associating with the ladies you normally meet with. What have you been doing?” he asked carefully without looking at me.
I cleared my throat. “I’ve been painting,” I casually offered. “With all due respect, Father, I no longer find gossiping with the Northern District ladies enjoyable.”
He froze with his teacup midway to his mouth and peered over at me in surprise. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” I said calmly. “I’ve been splitting my time between the Art Academy and the beach house. I’ve also ventured to the Southern District, where the culture is more dynamic.” I blended the truth with a bit of lies. Mainly because if he was asking, it was because he already knew something. I had to carefully choose my words, but I couldn’t outright lie to him.
“Ever since your accident, you’ve changed, Arya. I just don’t know whether it’s a good or a bad thing.” He sipped his tea. “That brings me to why I called you in here. One of the court ministers visited me today in the palace. He mentioned seeing you at The Gilded Serpent.” Zacharia let the sentence hang, almost as if waiting for me to fill in the blank. Except I was pretty sure he already knew. The thing was, I’d been to The Gilded Serpent twice. Which time was he talking about?
I calmly lowered my gaze to my teacup and reached for it, lifting it to my lips and taking a sip. It was gross, but I congratulated myself when I didn’t grimace as I swallowed it. I stared Lord Zacharia in the eyes and smiled. “Yes. It’s true.”
He fisted his hands as if he was ready to flip over the table like an angry wrestler, which made me remember that Lady Arya had a temper of her own. Besides that, her father spoiled her rotten. I would use that to my advantage.
I haughtily raised a brow. “Is there a problem?”
His nostrils flared and his jaw ticked as he controlled his breathing with great effort. “Arya. You are unwed. You are a lady. How can you go to such establishments alone?”
Alonewas the keyword. Now I just needed to pull more information out of him to know which time he was talking about.
I shrugged. “I heard the women there are beautiful. I wanted to see for myself.” My tone was casual, as if it was no big deal. I looked down at my nails and started to pick at them, feigning boredom.
He huffed out in anger. “They saw you go into a private room, Arya. How do I explain that to others? People talk. Your reputation is on the line!”
Ah, so he was talking about the second time I went to the brothel. His ministers were a nosy bunch.
I shrugged. “It’s not like I had much of a reputation to begin with.”
He gasped. “Your virtue was never in doubt!”
I peered over at him, wondering if he really believed that or he was just that stupid. From what I heard, Arya was fucking the second prince. She had no virtue to speak of.
Red bloomed on Zacharia’s cheeks. “You know what our financial situation is like, Arya. I have no money to pay off this minister to keep him quiet! It won’t be long before news of your activities are made public!” he said angrily.
My mouth fell open. “You mean to tell me this minister is blackmailing you?”
He scoffed. “How do you think the world works, Arya? You cannot be so naïve! I thoughtyou, of all people, were smart enough to know that!”
I was. But I was still shocked. “How much is he asking for?” I asked softly.
Lord Zacharia frowned. “A hundred thousand gold coins.”
I nodded and took another sip of my tea. The damn beverage was growing on me. “Tell me where to send the money and I’ll handle it.”
His eyes widened. “Arya, how will you get this money?”
