Page 3 of The Consort's Curse
Ser Prendian made a sound that indicated he did. A novelty? As in, different from Lord Stefan’s usual companions? The clenching in my chest had to be my instincts telling me I wouldn’t enjoy full comprehension of his meaning.
The Lord Chancellor looked back at me and our eyes caught. The nauseating tightness moved down into my belly, sending bile up to burn in my throat.
That same unfeeling gaze he’d turned on me had rested on my father and uncle as they died under the headsman’s axe all those years ago, as their blood ran down through the cracks in the scaffold boards to muddy the dirt beneath. The Lord Chancellor had stood by the late and little lamented Duke Treviso’s side during his descent into paranoid madness, and he’d kept his own family safe while so many, including mine, were destroyed.
The Lord Chancellor remained apparently oblivious, or perhaps merely deeply indifferent, to my hatred, gazing at me thoughtfully at his leisure.
At last he addressed me directly, saying, “Whatever your limitations, you will please Lord Stefan in every way, I hope.” Hope? No, “hope” meant optimism and pleasurable anticipation. This had the ring of a threat. “Prendian, leave us. Don’t allow me to be disturbed before I ring.”
Ser Prendian obeyed without a word—although he did contribute one of his obnoxious sniffs. He opened a door opposite the one that led to the courtyard, and the sudden rush of sounds of voices and movement struck me like a blow.
A whole throng of people, the court! Did any of them know my family? Would anyone assist me if I ran out the study door, asserted my noble birth and title, demanded an audience with the potentially less terrifying Duke Lucian, took matters into my own hands?
Almost certainly not. The way I looked right now, they wouldn’t believe me. I wavered long enough that Ser Prendian shut the door behind him, and silence fell once again.
“My secretary is highly efficient, and I trust his loyalty,” his lordship said. “But there are some discussions that ought to remain within a family, and since you are shortly to join mine, we ought to see eye to eye, don’t you think?”
He paused, clearly expecting a reply. I had to force down the lump of anger in my throat to be able to speak.
“Yes, my lord,” I said tightly. Too tightly to sound natural. If my father hadn’t fallen afoul of Duke Treviso’s mania, and I’d come to manhood at court in sophisticated society rather than on a distant island weeding vegetables while wearing a brown sack, perhaps I’d have had the skills to properly handle a man like Lord Chancellor Ettori.
Or perhaps not. But now I’d never know. And the man before me bore part of the blame, an irony I really didn’t appreciate.
He hummed thoughtfully, nodded, and sighed. “I understand how you must feel. Remi? Is that what you prefer to be called?”
No, in fact, I’d have preferred open hostility to being spoken to like a child, but I’d have to choke on both. My father’s blood, still vividly crimson in my mind’s eye after so many years…this man had no scruples. And during the journey, I’d had plenty of time to consider all the ways he could prove it. Yes, Duke Lucian wouldn’t countenance murder—but he had to find out about it to condemn it! Lord Ettori could make me disappearwithout more effort than a few words and a sad smile.So tragic, to fall overboard on the journey home to his own wedding…My mother would guess the truth, but no one else would bother to ask any more questions. Ser Prendian wouldn’t do more than sniff as he gave the Lord Chancellor’s orders.
The abbot’s stern advice rang in my head:You will do as you’re told, and you will keep your wits about you, and there’s nothing else for it.
“As you please, my lord,” I forced out at last. “My full name is somewhat cumbersome.”
Lord Ettori smiled, possibly intending to look friendly. He failed. “Unsuitable for one of your youth and attractions, certainly. Very well, Remi. I do understand that this is sudden. And that you must be wondering why I’ve chosen you as a consort for my son, and why I’ve taken on the responsibility of doing so on his behalf at all, given that he’s not a callow lad just out of the schoolroom.”
That understated it greatly. Abbot Junius had informed me that Lord Stefan was a good ten years my senior, an accomplished and well-traveled diplomat, and known for his sophistication and taste.
“The fact is, he’s been too busy and too intent on doing his duty to Calatria to take the time to think of his own needs,” the Lord Chancellor went on. “I wish to help him by providing him with a consort who will please him, support him, and give him a sanctuary from the busy, ambitious world of politics.”
Abbot Junius had also hinted that Lord Stefan spent at least as much time enjoying the intimate company of a succession of experienced companions as “doing his duty to Calatria.” Had that not been thinking of his own needs? Which meant the Lord Chancellor’s assessment of his son’s needs differed rather strikingly from Lord Stefan’s own.
“You see,” the Lord Chancellor said, lowering his voice to a confidential, would-be soothing pitch that set all my teeth on edge, “I’m sorry to say that my son hasn’t always behaved properly. Some of his habits would seem quite shocking to decent people, especially to one who’s spent his life devoted to holy Ennolu’s will, and so I won’t go into the details of that. But the main point is that his travels have kept him far from home, and his mother and I both wish for him to settle down. Take his place here in the capital as one of Calatria’s eminent men, as his talents fit him to do. With my guidance, I’m sure that you can help lead him down a better path. Once you’re married you can come to me any time you need counsel. We’ll be very good friends, Remi.”
Any time I needed counsel?
Instructions, he meant.
Gods. He hadn’t brought me back to Calatria to please his son, but to seduce and manipulate him. What if Lord Stefan didn’t want this marriage any more than I did? He’d hate me for being an instrument of his father’s control.
And if I tried to argue, to defy either one of them, let alone both… I’d be ground to powder between two powerful men who were clearly at odds in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
The Lord Chancellor’s smile would’ve chilled a shark’s blood. “I can see that you have reservations. Ethical scruples, perhaps. Very admirable, Remi. Praiseworthy, even. But as I now have the honor to advise you as a father would, I feel we can speak openly.”
He paused long enough that he clearly expected a response.As a father would. He dared to speak of taking my father’s place!
I managed a stiff nod.
“Hmm. I’ll look for more family feeling than that in the future, Remi.”
“I beg your pardon, my lord,” I bit out. “You’re right that the journey was long. I’m not myself. I’m nothing but grateful for your concern for me.”
