Page 103 of Unrivaled
“Nine percent,” Audrey said through her teeth.“I was going to walk away, but he reminded me he could get Starshine wine for La’Rea’s cellars and, damn it, Luca, I’m already in debt with the cost to repair and extend the tourney grounds.After the plague?—”
“He said that, did he?”he asked, mildly, sipping nonchalantly before setting the wine down.
Once again he started to sway his leg.It jiggled irritatingly in my peripheral.A very small part of me wished the Butcher would just materialize.It would almost be worth dealing with him and the complication of Audrey’s plans to see the brown smear Luca would leave on the desk.
The sea breeze wasn’t enough to lift the curls that lay against my neck.I’d be wishing it was soon, but this early in the season the warmth of the late afternoon was fine.I set aside the sewing and stood, stretching.
“Would he not have bought Starshine wine to re-sell?”Audrey asked, tiredly.“Or would La’Rea not have been interested?”
“Rusoe—of La’Rea?—always buys Starshine liquor through Bertrand.So do we.”
The back-and-forth made a headache start behind my eyes.When it was Audrey, it was fine.When it was Luca?
I went and looked out the window, letting my eyes skim across the city.I watched a guardsman I knew only as Red press his thumb against one side of his nose and send snot shooting out the other side down from the wall where he was perched.Further across, a familiar figure stepped out of the barracks.Chay glanced up toward the tower, but from his position, and the angle of the afternoon sun, I knew he wouldn’t see me, so I didn’t bother lift a hand.With his hair freshly trimmed and his beard removed, he looked like every other La’Angi Blackguard.
Except he wasn’t.
Lucky for him, really.
I watched him cut across to the stables before movement drew my attention back to the room.Luca spread his hand over a scroll that kept trying to curl in on itself.He was leaning over Audrey to do so.They were reading together, looking equally thoughtful.
I cleared my throat loudly, making Luca glance up.There was none of the guilt I expected to see, the childish sheepishness he’d shown so frequently, just mild annoyance at my interruption before he turned his attention back to the document Audrey had worked so hard on.I considered walking past and giving him a nudge.He’d tumble to the ground so easily.
“You’ve done well,” he said absently to Audrey.“I wish I’d been here to help.”
“I’ve been swindled,” Audrey disagreed.“I know it.You don’t need to protect me.”
“Well,” he straightened, looking down at her.“They know you’ve vulnerable.They would’ve been going for the throat.Here.”He spun a page, pointed at one line.“Drinnickhasagreed to go back to increase his rates swiftly—in only two years, you’ll be back to your pre-plague rates, and in three you’ll be better off, if you can maintain supply.”
“I fought hard for that,” she said fervently.
A smile touched the corner of his mouth and the line of her shoulders softened.I looked away, uncomfortable with the echoes of grief in the cavernous wound behind my ribs.Don’t do it, child,I wanted to whisper to the wind, my heart aching for her.He isn’t worth it.His dreams are just shackles.But she didn’t need me to tell her that.
She’d figure it out in time.
“I do wish I’d been here,” he said, quietly.
In the bailey, Chay returned from the darkness of the stables.He took the steps to the eastern door two at a time.I turned around to see Audrey lost in her columns and Luca waiting expectantly.
“Well, you weren’t,” I said, brightly.“Oh, look, isn’t it getting late?”
Luca sent me what he probably thought was a charming smile.“I’m glad that you’re here, Isolde,” he said, but didn’t move except to pick up a book Audrey set aside.“I know you put Audrey’s wellbeing above all else.I respect that.”
Oh, he had no idea.I shot her a dark look as his eyes dropped to the page.She didn’t seem to notice, shuffling a paper aside and double-checking something against a ledger.
“This is interesting,” he mused, aloud, looking at the page she’d marked.“The figures you’ve got here seem sound.And you tell me you feel out of your depth, dear?”
The only one out of his depth was the man who thought he was the fountain of all intelligence, smiling so patronizingly at Audrey.
Chay entered without fanfare, taking in the scene with no surprise.His gaze lingered on the wine glasses for a moment.
“Are we attending your standing late afternoon appointment, my lady?”he asked.
“You need to go out again?”Luca frowned.“You’ve had such a long day already.”
Thatmade her spine stiffen.“I have,” she agreed.“And yet, there’s more to it.Are you leaving tonight?”
“I am,” he said.“Could this appointment perhaps wait?I haven’t finished looking over the drafted requests you’ve arranged for the tourney.I won’t be able to make it back until then.”
