35. Thirty Five - Uncertainty
Thirty Five - Uncertainty
Edric
Ana spins through the door, closing it with a quick snap and then presses her forehead to the wood letting out a low sigh.
“I’m sorry I’m late.” She turns to me, flopping back against the door. “I wanted to be early and make a good impression, but my mother…”
Her mother has tightened her grip since she saw us together in town and Ana has faced the brunt of it while I have only had to suffer cold glares and sneering glances thus far.
I will take the insults. Ana has echoed Misses Scoggins’ assurance that it’s not the worst she could do to me.
“You are not late. You are right on time.”
And she would have been, no matter when she had arrived. Kirra can wait.
Viggo on the other hand…
He comes into the room as if her presence summoned him.
“Hello you beautiful creature.” Viggo picks her up, kissing her as if he plans to ignore Kirra’s presence altogether and keep her up here until sunrise. But I know better.
He kisses her to sooth her nerves—and his.
I don’t blame him.
Ana’s fingers go to his hair and for a moment, I think I might need to break them apart, but she twists her hands and pulls Viggo away from her. “You have company. We can’t be rude.”
He grumbles, but lets her go and I hold out her dress.
“Misses Scoggins had it delivered here. She thought your mother would ask too many questions.”
“She certainly would have.” Ana’s fingers play over the apricot fabric and her eyes light. “You added some things.”
“Nothing offensive, I hope.”
“Not at all.”
She slips her sleeves free and pulls her hair around so Viggo can undo her current lacings.
I see his jaw flex when he leaves her undergarments in place and sweeps her day dress over the chair beside the dressing table.
He adjusts his own clothing while I help her into the dress and I lean down, whispering as quietly as I can. “Fair warning: Kirra has concerns.”
“Any good sister would.”
I kiss the crook of her neck and finish up the last of the lacings, sending her to Viggo.
He bundles her hair up into an arrangement that would likely shock the Queen, but is fairly common among vampire circles. The full column of Ana’s neck is exposed. In the mirror, Ana can’t see the shadowy marks on her skin... the ghosts of bites long since healed. But Kirra will.
Viggo has made his choice and I am glad he has.
“The one thing you should know about my sister,” he says, stroking her skin, “Is that she has spent a little too much time living with the Queen.”
Ana looks up at him, brows quirked. “What does that mean?”
“She likes theatrics and set dressing. When we go downstairs, she may be in costume and this may turn into a performance for her.”
“What kind of a costume?”
Viggo winces, and I say, “Her dress might cost more than the whole of the manor house.”
“That seems like a waste.”
“It is.” Viggo twists a curl that has tumbled from her pins. “But, if you think of it as armor, it’ll make more sense.”
“Meeting me is going into battle?” Her smile is soft. Her words meant to ease some of Viggo’s tension.
When they don’t work, she takes his hand. “You said she was going to like me.”
“She is.” I go to her other side and look at Viggo. “And even if she doesn’t. It changes nothing between the three of us.”
Viggo nods, but the worry still lives in the crease between his brows.
“I’ll go down first and make sure Blicks hasn’t distracted her by trading war stories.”
Viggo thanks me with a nod, and I kiss Ana’s forehead before I go.
The ground floor is quiet, but I know she’s there before I step through the door.
Kirra waits, standing at the fireplace.
Her dress has been made to hold perches for three owls on her shoulders, and they sit there now, heads swiveling backward to look at me.
The judgment in their enormous eyes leaves me feeling more unsettled than I would like.
“He told her you’d be dressed for battle.”
Kirra turns to me, but unlike her owls, she has to move her whole body to manage it in the monstrosity she’s chosen. Except... as soon as she faces me, she steps down and the cape-like structure she had worn is now just a perch. But her dress is no less grandiose.
“My brother knows me well.” She smiles at me and then reaches up to stroke one of her birds. “Tell me... is this a battle I can win?”
“No.” I hope not.
She smiles, her fangs catching in the light. “Then I look forward to meeting my strongest opponent to date.”
Her smile falters a little and she looks me dead in the eyes. “I’ve gone to war, Edric. I’ve faced death a hundred times. And I know you will understand me when I tell you that none of that compares to the terror of watching a little boy fight for his life against something I couldn’t save him from.”
“I do understand.”
“And do you understand why she can’t be the one?”
“I understand your fears. I hold them too. But they do not outweigh the possibilities being with her offers.”
Taking a deep breath, Kirra stands taller. She doesn’t argue with me, she steps back to her costume and turns her attention to her owls.
She’s scared.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t too.
“By the time your visit is through, I hope you’ll have more faith in all of us.”