Page 144 of Unrivaled
He stopped halfway to the scabbards, frowning at me.“You’re in recovery, though.”
I nodded, shrugged.“I’m feeling recovered.”His expression remained impassive, and I sighed.“I can take it, Chay.We’ll go slow.”
His throat bobbed as he tossed the skin of water back to Isolde.Mayhap there was something unusual in the water.I listened for his voice to croak as mine had done, but he said nothing, just rubbing one hand quickly across his jaw and taking a deep breath.
Satisfied I had a training partner, I set down my cup and settled back into the flow.
My morning meetings were all trade deals.With the reduction in tariffs for things ratified in my province at this time, I was kept busy finalizing the things I’d been working on over the past few moons, and I wasn’t the only one.Sandra had centralized those who had the most administration talks related to trade not by profit or importance but by volume.Our efficiency was, I felt, quite impressive.
It did make noting what tariffs were owed simpler, too.
The foot traffic past the door to my meeting room was slow but constant, with folks wandering past to sneak a peek at me and plenty more glancing in to see if they could slip in between my booked meetings.Sandra ran the room the way her father would’ve run a parade ground.It left me with nothing to do but offer the occasional smile or respectful nod..
Servants brought me food at some point, so I put down the Dayquill spelled by my Inker mage, no doubt busy making copies of notarized agreements as her assistants filed the documents away.I was standing to eat the bowl of roast vegetables and still-warm meat when movement by the door made me glance over.
Luca smiled at the bowl in my hand.“You’ve been busy.”
I waved him in, not missing the disapproval Isolde gave him as he closed the door behind himself.“How’s your morning?”
“Excellent.Having everyone gathered like this makes completing arrangements much more straightforward.”He wandered over, his velvet doublet neat as a pin, a lock of his hair falling forward over one eye until he absently tucked behind his ear.“Your Inker is earning her pay today.I didn’t think to check if she’d survived—I should’ve brought ours along all the same.She’s got a queue almost as big as yours.”My expression must’ve showed the spurt of guilt that made the food turn to stone in my belly.His expression softened.“They’re happy to wait, Audrey, and if they aren’t, they’re free to return later.Take a moment to eat.”
I reached for the half-formed wonderings I’d had this morning about the man before me.He just leaned against the stone beside the window, watching the comings and goings in the bailey.
The quiet had always been easy to share with him.Stirring it felt akin to asking for trouble.
You’re a kraken.Elnyta’s words were caught and carried by the bees humming in my mind.They bounced into each other in their haste to return to the hive.“Thanking you for apologizing, yesterday.”
He looked surprised.“For what?”
My heart softened dangerously, but I sat with that sensation.“For being an ass about the perfume.”
“Oh.”The surprise vanished.“’Twas only fair.No thanks needed—quite the opposite.”
Mayhap that was true, and I was rewarding him too quickly for too little.“I’ve started to think about what will happen once my father returns,” I said, on a whim.
His expression didn’t change.His gaze staying locked to mine.“You feel things will change?”
“I do.”I wasn’t going into it any more than that.I didn’t trust Luca well enough to see if he could use that sword at his waist.“He isn’t going to be happy with me, and nor will those who support him.”
In the past, he would’ve talked of protection, of managing everything for me.Now, he said, “You knew that, going in.”
The words stung a little.Yes, I knew it.Yes, I’d done what I’d felt I had to.Mayhap I should’ve held the candle closer rather than expose my light to so many.But Luca didn’t really know my full plan.I didn’t need him to.Moreover, no matter how much I’d warmed to him, I didn’twanthim to.
“If it comes to it, will I have your support?”I asked him.“Not against my father, but those who stand behind him.”
Agreement would’ve been given quickly in the past—a thoughtless agreement worth the time spent on it.Now he stood before me, his face devoid of expression.I lifted some roast squash to my mouth.He watched it vanish behind my lips.
“You don’t mean the army,” he said.I nodded confirmation in case it was a question rather than the statement it appeared to be.“From our class, Audrey, your father’s supporters are few and far between.Consider instead those who are apathetic, who will come along for a good show, cheer for whomever they think will win, and care only for themselves.They’re the majority, and, as such, they hold sway—though they don’t know it.”
The idea shifted something deep inside of me.It made perfect sense.It’s what I’d seen at play in La’Angi after the plague.Those with something at stake or big hearts were happy to take action, even if thatactionwas simply to do the job tasked to them.It was the self-interested, powerful but not too powerful, pockets where I’d faced resistance.
“I can’t promise I can help much there until your father’s power base is unsettled.”He glanced over toward Isolde, as ifshewould ever betray us.“The others you need to consider,” he added, dropping his voice a little, “aren’t your father’s allies, but his competitors.”
“He doesn’t have them.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up as if I’d said something funny.“You’d be surprised at how many think they could do his job, and better.”
If that was all it took to be a competitor… “Most of them won’t be true threats.”
