“They do not!” I cut in.
Heads swiveled from the other table at my humiliated outburst.
Vallan strode to the table, recognizing a face, and frowned at one of the pretty young women there who looked to be around twenty summers old.
“Condolences for your partner, girl,” he grunted, crossing his arms. “Don’t believe everything you hear about Ethera.”
My eyes widened.Zefyra, Ethera’s lover. That’s her? She’s a Chained Sister?My desire quickly took second fiddle behind my anger as I recalled how callously Vallan had slain that interfolk girl from the mines, and promptly used her as a scapegoat to steal the very silver he then delivered to the Chained Sisters.
It’s evil,I thought,the lengths these vampires will go to not feel anything. All for the sake of rebellion and resistance.
I still didn’t know whom or what they were resisting, and I felt it was high time I learned.
The girl Zefyra stood from her chair. She came up to Vallan’s chest. Her big dewy eyes sparkled on her heart-shaped face, and she sniffled. But that didn’t stop her from throwing her arms around Vallan’s giant frame, which made the vampire go rigid at the tender embrace.
“I know what you did for her,” Zefrya mumbled, closing her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. “Ethera was a Trueheart to the last, my lord. She’s in a better place. You’ve provided the Sisters with what we need. Her sacrifice was not in vain.”
“It was not,” Vallan grunted, his voice sounding strangely thick. He cleared his throat and separated from the girl. “Cordea will be in contact with you over the coming weeks.”
Zefyra bobbed her head.
Spirits and deities, I thought, mortified.SheknowsVallan killed her? And is thanking him for it?! What kind of twisted people have I chanced upon?
I recalled what Vallan had said about Ethera’s blood illness, which I had simply thought was an excuse to atone for her death at the time. But if Ethera’s own lover was accepting and showing grace toward Vallan then what right did I have to be angry on her behalf?
These were people with relationships and lives long before I showed up. I couldn’t act self-righteous or pretend I understood what was happening in Olhav. I was the new one here, the stranger, and it would take time for me to “acclimate,” as Skar had put it.
“You’re headed back?” Skar asked Vallan, who nodded. “Find the cub, will you? Still got half a night left.”
“Where’s he run off to now?”
“His mind tells me one thing but I believe his heart says another,” Skartovius answered in his usual vagueness.
Vallan exited down the hall, his boots and towering size drawing everyone’s attention.
Hearing him and Skartovius briefly talk about Garroway got my blood rising again. The seriousness of my life fell on my shoulders, replacing the fun I’d been having with Jinneth.
I put a hand on Jinneth’s knuckles across the table, patting her hand with a small smile. “I hope I see you again, Jin.”
She winked. “Oh, you will, Sephy. You always will.”
I stood from the table and joined Skar and Keffa. Their conversation stopped. They turned to me as one, eyebrows raised like I was a child interrupting her parents.
“It’s time, Skar,” I said, tightening my hands, preparing for rejection.
He feigned ignorance. “Time, little temptress?”
“I deserve to know who tried to kill me and Garro in Nuhav.”
“Kill you?” He huffed. “I doubt that.”
“You wouldn’t be doubting me if you’d seen how close their blades were to my flesh.”
“Maim, perhaps.” Shrewdness overtook his features and he slowly pulled at his narrow chin, studying me. “Yes, I suppose you do deserve it, since you’re part of our little organization now. I must warn, you may not like what you hear.”
Skartovius took me upstairs to a hallway filled with doors that opened into bedrooms. Keffa followed us, which I was oddly thankful for since I was a little worried about being alone with Lord Ashfen in a bedroom.
Not worried about what Skartovius might try to do, but because of whatImight be unable to stop myself from doing. Also, it wasn’t exactly appropriate to tell the lady of the manor she was unwelcome in her own home.
