Page 30 of Ashborne Phoenix

“Good morning, my lady Grace,” she said, drawing my name out in the slightest hiss. “What a pleasure to finally speak with you.”

Friends and Enemies

~ GRACE ~

‘She’s here,’ I sent Voski as I sank into a slow curtsey, as elegant and pretty as I could make it. “The pleasure is mine, of course, my lady,” I said demurely.

‘I’ll stay close,’ Voski returned nervously. ‘Send if you need me.’

‘Don’t be nervous. This is the part I understand,’ I reassured him, though I wasn’t nearly as confident as the words made it sound. I opened a hand toward the chairs in the center of the sitting room, near the fire. “Would you join me? We can ring for tea.”

“I’ll be needing something far stronger than tea,” the Lady Ashford commented dryly as she turned and swept past me toward the plushest of the chairs.

“Oh? Please tell me what you wish for. I’d be happy to call the servants to—”

“They’re instructed to leave us to speak,” the woman said, settling herself, then folding her hands in her lap and looking at me pointedly.

I obediently sank into the closest corner of the couch, where our knees were only inches apart, and waited.

When she didn’t speak immediately, I remembered Voski’s warning that she used silence to make people nervous, and I smiled brightly. “It is a great honor to meet you, my lady. Vane has spoken of you with such—”

“Don’t lie to me, girl. I know how he speaks of me. Our relationship is complicated. Combative. And frankly, none of your business.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I knew my role here. Slavering devotion. Eagerness to please. Timid nervousness if unpleasant subjects were raised.

I remained in my seat, staring straight at her, and didn’t speak again. Her expression didn’t change, but when she did finally speak, she looked down to pluck at her skirts. “There is a great deal I’d like to know about you, Grace. But I believe we will have time to… learn each other. What I need right now is your swift, unhindered responses to a few questions. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Excellent. Firstly, who do you wish to marry?”

“Oh, Vane, my lady. He is—”

“Just the answers, dear. We can gush later.”

I closed my mouth and nodded, doing my best to keep my expression only slightly nervous, as if eager to gain her approval.

“Tell me what you know of the Cruors?”

I blinked. “Very little. Only that Vane is in charge, and—”

“Oh, is that what he told you?”

I frowned. “He didn’t have to say it. It is obvious to anyone who observes his power. I saw it in him before… before we came here.”

“Saw what?”

I smiled and let my gaze grow distant. “His strength. His… abilities. They can be quite terrifying, of course, but more often, they thrill me. And even those who don’t know the Cruors follow him. I was charged by my parents to find a powerful husband, and I have,” I said with a nod to her, as if it were a compliment. “Men are afraid of him. Women yearn for him. Which I understand, of course,” I added hastily.

The Lady Ashford’s eyes narrowed. “What did you know of him when the two of you met?”

“Nothing but that he is handsome, and dashing and—”

“Oh dear Lord, girl, drop the act. I know Breckon found you with the dragons. And you fought. I know you’re resourceful. My son takes no interest in vapid jewels. I have no doubt you are enamored, but there is no time for games. If I’m to help the two of you—and increase his power—I cannot stumble into any nasty surprises.”

“What nasty—”

“Breckon tells me you’re pregnant—or at least, he believes so. Vane seems to think so, also. Who is the father?”