I shook my head, feeling suddenly sheepish. “I just added some embroidery to it.”
“I love it,” she said. “You’ll have to do one for me. It made it look completely different.”
“I will.”
The door opened again, Sorcha and her husband, Zarios, entering. Her arm was hooked in his, the two looking radiantly happy. The joy looked good on my sister, though the jealousy I felt about it hadn’t quite gone away.
“Sorry we’re late,” Zarios said. “There was a tree down in the path.”
Sorcha hummed. “The horse was too scared to hop over it. Zarios had to pick it up and fling it out of the way.”
“The horse, or the log?” I asked.
Sorcha held back a laugh while Sybil rolled her eyes.
“The log,” Zarios said, like I hadn’t imposed an absurd question.
“That must have been heavy,” Sybil commented.
He shrugged. “A bit.”
Moons, he was large, and imposing.
He was perfect for my sister.
“Where’s Mother?” Sorcha asked, also noting her absence.
“She had a last minute meeting,” Mama said, pursing her lips. She hated when one of us wasn’t in attendance for family dinner. “She’ll be here when she’s done.”
We all sat in our usual spots, Mama at the head, with an empty chair, Sybil to the right, Sorcha—and now Zarios—to the left, and me next to Sybil, who always felt like my babysitter. Holland stood back against the wall with all the other guards once we started. My mothers had asked him to come sit on multiple occasions, but he always turned them down.
Dishes clanked between us as things were passed around. This quiet, peaceful part of the evening was always my favorite.
Conversation started, mostly around Sorcha. Since she wasn’t here anymore, there was much more for her to discuss. And though everyone tried not to treat these dinners as work, the fact that a marital alliance had been formed when Sorcha and Zarios got married couldn’t be overlooked.
Sybil and Zarios were in the middle of discussing… something about trade, when the doors opened and Mother walked through. Her mouth was pressed in a hard line, making it obvious that the meeting didn’t go well.
Mama sensed it instantly, and seemed to let go of whatever anger she had about her missing attendance earlier.
She still went over to hug Sorcha and sat down alongside her partner, whose hand she squeezed very tightly.
Really bad meeting then.
“Anything of note?” Sybil asked.
Mother licked her lips, taking a sip of wine before answering.
“I was speaking with Count Todley of Brieshire,” she said.
Brieshire… why did that name sound so familiar?
“I thought we weren’t meant to correspond with them until tomorrow?”
The heat on my head told me my Mother was staring at me. Was there something on my face?
“We were,” she confirmed. “But it seems both of his sons went to the Thurndra Estate last night.”
My eyes shot wide, sudden memories flooding back. I took my own long sip of wine.
