45. Forty-Five - An Empty Threat
Forty-Five - An Empty Threat
Edric
I listen to Viggo and Kirra bicker from the other room as she gets her things in order and he tries to shoo her through Dorrian faster than she’s willing to go.
When Blicks handed me the letter written in a familiar script, I had excused myself. Kirra irritates her brother in a cajoling way. There is love there that shows through in one way or another.
My father, however…
I’d rather keep Viggo in a good mood for as long as I can.
It’s been years since his last letter, so I can only guess what this one will contain along with the seemingly obligatory comment about my mother and her new family. He’s gotten even worse in the fifty years since she made his “abandonment” official…
I slice through the seal and flatten the paper as I start reading.
Edric
it says, no niceties, just the name we share.
Aeler has informed me you are failing in your duties.
I snort and almost don’t read the rest of the missive.
I scan through it as quickly as I can between rolling my eyes. He’s concerned that I am sullying his name. He doesn’t want to believe his son could be capable of the negligence Aeler has relayed to him.
There is, of course, another subtle dig at my mother after that.
He threatens to come to teach me how to do my job properly so as to not embarrass him the next time he is called before the Queen.
I fold the letter and take a deep breath so I don’t laugh at the ridiculous threat. One of the—many—reasons my mother left him was his unwillingness to leave his home in the city when she wished to live on a sprawling country estate.
I have often wondered if she sought out a centaur lover solely for the purpose of being sure they would wish to live on the edge of the wilds as well.
Leaving his home in the city is such a rare occurrence, it reads as a hollow threat.
Beyond that unwillingness to abandon the paved streets and marble edifices, my father couldn’t distinguish between a spruce and a sycamore in the middle of spring.
The missive I write back is just as long and just as vaguely detailed. I don’t mention Viggo or Ana. The man doesn’t actually care about my life. I don’t need to bring him into it.
By the time I set the seal to paper, Viggo comes to me, dropping onto the settee like he’s just waged a battle—I’m not sure he won—and letting out a sound of pure irritation.
“Every time she’s here I feel like I’m a little boy again.”
“It will pass. It always does.”
He gives me a look that tells me he doesn’t believe me and then his eyes narrow on the parchment in my hand.
“What is that?”
“A reply to an actually odious member of the family.”
Viggo pulls a face and plucks an apricot from the bowl on the low table, pressing it to his nose and inhaling the fruit’s scent. “I should ask Kirra to start putting whispers in the Queen’s ear… have her send him off to the far northern reaches where he would truly have to leave us alone.”
“He would beg her for any other punishment. He hates snow.” But perhaps he could attend Aeler in his guardianship, since the two of them are so quick to exchange concerns.
I leave Viggo grumbling at his apricot and take the letter to Blicks.
He looks it over with a scowl. “Should I deliver it with Dorrian’s help? Or would you like the normal postal delay.”
“There is no rush. You know how he is.”
“Indeed.”
Blicks had worked for my father—begrudgingly—for years. He left with my mother, and once her household was settled and the war was over, he’d come to “deal with our uncouth ways.”
“Will you be staying in tonight? Now that Mistress Kirra has abandoned us?” I shake my head. “It’s a full moon. I’ve been informed there are berries to gather.”
“Very good. I will deliver this to the post before the end of the day.”
I look at the clock and grimace. There are hours yet until dark and I can only visit Ana while she works so often before I start to become a nuisance. So I turn back to Viggo and close the door behind me when I cross into the room.