Page 26 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
She’d found the central parlor the duke mentioned; it was a spacious and empty room caught between stairwells and salons. Contained, with thick, windowless walls, it proved the perfect place to work with the children.
Nes circled the room as the twins, in the center, focused on a sustaining exercise. With the chaos from two candles, they created usable pens. Their type of magic was tricky to work with: They could make an imitation of anything they imagined, but they had toimagineit precisely in order to do so.
To test their proficiency, they would be writing letters to their parents before releasing their magic. As Nes looped the room a second time, she noticed the outlines on the walls, and imprints on the floor: great squares and rectangles where paintings and tapestries once hung, and marks where furniture legs engraved divots in the carpet over time.
How thoughtful... perhaps.He either had everything removed for their safety, or to protect his possessions. Rubbing her temples, she pictured those flying blades winging around the palace ballroom with all its priceless artifacts.
“We should thank your uncle for his thoughtfulness in preparing this room for us,” she addressed the twins.
“Can we do itnow?” Ataht asked, bouncing up and down, ready to scrap his lesson and get on with the day.
“We can’t. He’s busy with work at the moment.”
“He’salwaysbusy with work.” Della sulked. “He never has time to play with us like you do, Miss Kiappa.”
Nes bit back a smile, not wanting to tell the twins that her “playing with them” was definitely a part of her workday. “I understand it’s difficult. I am certain he loves you very much. But when you grow up, you’ll find there’salwayswork to be done.”
The children grumbled that, if that was the case, they never wanted togrow up.
“My little hellions.” The duke’s voice tumbled through the unfurnished room. He stood in the west doorway, a platter in his hands and a wolfhound at his side. This one, Nes had learned, was named Lellin, after the goddess of death, and she seemed to stay inside most of the time in her dotage. He had two others she’d met, an Enoth and a Vites. Big boys. Jumpy.
What a theme. Perhaps he has an Appia, a Demir, maybe an Ahninia, multiple Fates?
“Uncle Kas!” Hurling themselves across the room, the twins hopped, trying to glimpse what he carried on his chest-level tray.
“Are you being good pupils for Miss Kiappa?” His question was directed at the prince and princess, but Lord Kahoth eyed Nes as he spoke, clearly checking to ensure the kids hadn’t sapped the life from her, being cooped up inside and all.
“We are, we are!” Della assured him.
“Want to see what we can do?” Ataht asked, already tugging his uncle’s arm.
The duke eyed Nesrina warily.
“Let’s make it a brief demonstration,” she chimed in, hoping to manage the twins’ expectations. Their uncle had better places to be.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he began, capturing the children’s attention as he lowered the platter for them.
“Cookies!”
“You show me what you can do, and I’ll share my snack with you.”
Nesrina highly doubted he planned to eat a dozen treats himself, but still, she was surprised by his kind gesture.Did he hear them lamenting his absence?They certainly did it a lot.
Della and Ataht demonstrated their pens, and he humored them by asking questions about their magic. Ataht’s gigantic quill was the brightest unnatural green Nes had ever seen. Della crafted a glowing purple pen of spiraled glass.
Satisfied with the attention and desserts garnered from their elusive uncle, the children trotted off to enjoy their treat and give Lellin pets.
“Would you like one?” His long arm was extended, a miniature-looking cookie pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
She shrugged, thanked him, and reached up to take the treat, which he, for some reason, retracted. The way he kept eyeing her made her wonder if she had something on her face.Ink, perhaps?She tried to snatch the cookie from his hand again.
“Hmm.” He feigned thinking—dramatically. “On second thought, maybe I should eat this...”
She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled free. As she was about to pull her hand back, he passed it to her, long fingers brushing warmly against hers.
“Lord Kahoth,” she began. It was as good a moment as any. She kept her voice low, so the twins wouldn’t hear what she was about to ask. He cocked his head in a move that reminded her of their second battle at the dinner with the royal family. “I know you’re a busy man, But—” She stood on her tiptoes and beckoned him closer as she whispered, “If you were able to, say, take breakfast with the children, I think it would mean quite a lot to them.”
He lifted a brow and stepped back.
