Page 19 of Only in Moonlight
I rubbed my face. This might take longer than I’d thought.
“Why are you looking at me like I just pissed in your teacup?” she asked, mouth full.
“Rule one of formal dining: never start eating before your host.”
She glanced at my untouched plate. “Even if they’re sitting on their ass doing nothing?”
“Yes.” I repressed a sigh. “It’s rude of a host to keep guests waiting, but even ruder for the guests to start without them.”
“Huh.”
“And may I direct your attention to the cutlery on either side of your plate? It’s there for a reason.” My stomach sank as a horrible thought occurred to me. “Have you ever used cutlery?”
“Nope.” She popped a berry into her mouth from atop a tart. “Stole an entire fancy set once, though. Got enough money from selling it to buy a fur cloak and enough food for half the winter.”
“Just… try.”
She awkwardly picked up the knife and fork. I moved to correct her grip, and she flinched.
Coldness spread through me, but I couldn’t fault her reaction. Unlike everyone who thought they knew me, she’d glimpsed who I really was. She hadn’t seen the worst. She didn’t know what lines I would cross, how ruthless I could be, but she was smart to fear me. My appetite vanished, and despite the delicious scents wafting up from the table, my stomach felt leaden.
I didn’t want her to feel comfortable around me. That might make her think she could betray me without consequences, while fear would keep her in line. I should be pleased with her reaction. Iwaspleased.
“Hold it like this.”
I moved her fingers, and some of the tension left her body when I drew away from her. Then she attacked a second quiche with her fork and knife like she needed to kill it before it ran off her plate.
“Slower,” I said. “And not so harshly. Watch.”
I demonstrated. She watched me for a long minute and then tried again.
“Better.”
For the next several minutes, we ate in silence. Emmeline studied me, mimicking my movements, and improved more rapidly than I’d expected. Presumably, she was used to watching people and copying their body language to impersonate them with her abilities.
“So why do you want the Selenanum Jewel?” she asked.
“Selenian. And that’s none of your concern.”
She gulped down tea. “Is it magical?”
I picked up my teacup and modeled a dainty sip. “Its magic faded long ago.”
She picked up the teacup again, imitating me. “So it used to do something important?”
“Queen Diamanda, our first queen, used it to make the moon habitable. When she first gathered the survivors of nine destroyed courts, there was no plant life, animals—not even air. She transformed the entire moon, but the effort burnt out the jewel’s magic and drained her life. The royal ball is in celebration of her feast day.”
Emmeline peered at me over her teacup. “I can’t see you wanting it for the money. You’re obviously rich enough. Are you a collector or something?”
“You don’t need to know my reasons. You just need to steal it for me.”
“Fine.” She painstakingly cut into a sausage. “Tell me about the ball, then? Best place for me to corner the princess? Any specific time you want me to strike?”
“We’ll discuss it later. Right now, just focus on holding your fork and knife correctly.”
She scowled, and the rest of breakfast passed in silence.
The seamstress arrived shortly after and took Emmeline’s measurements. She had a dress available that wasn’t a perfect fit but would allow Emmeline to wear something more than achemise, and she left with a promise of dazzling custom gowns soon.
