Chapter Forty-Nine
FORTY-NINE
ASPETH
“The king’s plan is brilliant,” my father says over dinner. “You’re lucky he stepped in to fix things after you botched them, Aspeth darling. What a ridiculous plan you had.”
I poke at my stew. After the king dismissed us—and sold my father the artifacts I worked so hard to retrieve—we’ve regrouped for an evening meal. Or rather, we’re supposed to be eating, but I don’t have much of an appetite. I can’t get over that my father’s here. I can’t get over that the king was toying with me, when he’d already made plans with Father. He just wanted to see my responses. It sits sourly in my belly, just like the oniony stew. My father didn’t want to stay on guild property, as he feels they spy on holders. So I find myself at the King’s Onion again. The same barmaid is slinging drinks, a sympathetic look on her face when I arrive with my dour, unpleasant father. Father sniffs in distaste at the look of the place, but his attitude changes once I tell him that they have an artifact from the king himself. Artifacts always impress everyone. The stew tastes heavily of onions and meat, and it smells delicious. My stomach, however, is far too tense for me to take more than a bite.
Father has no such issues. He has a bowl of stew in front of him, his second one, and he sips froth from his beer, his manners impeccable despite the sheer amount of food he can put away. Hawk eats just as much as my father, I realize, but Hawk eats nothing save vegetables and grains. My father, however, just likes to eat. And drink. And gamble. He spoons a chunk of meat and shakes his head at me. “Well?”
I glance up, feeling like a chastised child. “I’m sorry?”
“What were you thinking, daughter?”
Ah, yes. I was thinking that someone had to do something to save Honori Hold, but of course I can’t say that to my father. He’ll reach across this table and slap my mouth, and no one will stop him because he’s a holder. I toy with a chunk of carrot in my stew idly. “I thought I could help.”
“It’s lucky for you that we have Liatta to thank,” he grumbles, glancing up. “Ah. Here she comes now.”
The fair Liatta. I’ve never been in the same room as her, because mistresses and daughters don’t mix. We’re kept in very careful circles, and I’m supposed to pretend like I don’t know that my father has a mistress at court. That Liatta is so beautiful she’s slept with the king himself, and that she’s been my father’s paramour for a long while. I’ve never met her, but the woman who glides through the crowd of tables fits my expectations.
She’s beautiful, of course. Well dressed. And from the look in her eyes, sharp. I suppose you need to be all those things to survive at court, and Liatta thrives there. Her brocade dress is sumptuous, her neckline deep enough to show the swells of her breasts just above her tightly cinched corset, and she wears a fashionable little ruff around her neck in lieu of jewelry. Her hair is pulled into multiple knots atop her head, each one covered in a ruby-studded golden net. Her dark eyes are crafty as she flicks her bracelet-encrusted arm, indicating her servant should pull out her seat. The woman attending her does so, brushing off the wooden chair with a napkin and then wiping the table before Liatta sits down gracefully. She has to be at least ten years older than me, but you wouldn’t know it just from looking at her. Liatta makes me feel old and frumpy, with my dirty hair and a freshly cleaned (but extremely plain) dress that Gwenna brought when she’d heard I was going to be released.
“Lady Aspeth,” Liatta says in a rich, careful voice. “It’s lovely to finally meet you.”
Is it? Because it feels awkward to me. I smile, but I genuinely don’t know what to do. Society says that I should ignore her, because she’s a courtesan. But then again, society also says I shouldn’t marry a Taurian. “My father tells me I should thank you,” I blurt, parroting his words. That seems safe. “Have you spoken to the king on my behalf?”
Liatta chuckles. “Not quite.” She nudges her servant, and the woman trots off to get her food and drink. “A great deal has been happening while you have been awaiting your trial.”
I’m puzzled, and I glance to my father.
“Your new husband, the Taurian…” Father pauses and gives me another disapproving look, as if he can’t let a moment pass without reminding me that he’s not happy about Hawk. “He sent a crow with a letter. Said you were in Vastwarren and needed the protection of the family name.”
My eyebrows go up. “He said that?”
Liatta shakes her head. “His missive was incoherent, actually. It was full of rambling about marriage and the guild and danger and magpies.”
“Ah.” He must have been totally lost in the Conquest Moon’s thrall, and yet he still knew to contact my father so Lord Honori could throw his weight around. “And after you received that, you contacted the king?”
They exchange a look. “We happened to be at court already, and I suggested to your father that we needed to reestablish business with the guild anyhow.”
So it wasn’t about me. Yet something about all of this isn’t making sense. “But there’s no money—”
Liatta clears her throat. Father just takes another bite of bread and chews, stubbornly avoiding eye contact with me.
I blink at the two of them, wondering what it is I’m missing.
“The queen is pregnant with her second child,” Liatta says delicately after a long pause. “They are hoping this one is a son.”
I wait for a further explanation, because I’m still not following. I take a bite of stew.
My father finally speaks up, seeing my confusion. “Liatta needs to leave court. So I married her.”
I choke on the stew, spewing it into my napkin. “You what ?”
It’s commonly accepted that a nobleman will have relations with a courtesan, but marrying one…? Marrying one is about as likely as, well, a noble marrying a Taurian. Still, my father has always been such a stickler for propriety. He’s been seeing Liatta for a decade now and has never mentioned marrying her.
“I married her,” Father retorts angrily. “You’re one to talk.”
“I’m not talking.” I cough. “I’m just surprised.”
“The queen doesn’t wish to see me at court any longer.” Liatta gives me a polite smile as I drink some water to soothe my throat. “The king and I had a liaison once, and she feels threatened. I understand that it’s in my best interests to retire to the countryside, so the king offered me a dowry.”
I nod, sipping more water. The queen must really want beautiful Liatta gone if he’s throwing money at her to make it happen.
My father speaks again. “So I married her and had our son legitimized.”
I spew water this time. “You have a son?”
Liatta’s expression is carefully blank, but my father’s is defensive. “Yes, we do. His name is Garoth and the king is his godfather.”
“Oh” is all I manage to choke out.
“He’s seven,” Liatta says.
Oh.
My father has had another child for seven years and no one told me? Everyone at court must have known. The king must have known…which means he was truly just testing me.
“Garoth is the heir now that he’s legitimate,” Father says, and focuses a scowl upon me. “Which is a good thing, because your behavior has been shameless. What were you thinking, Aspeth?”
Again with the “what were you thinking.” I drink more water, trying to keep it down this time, and eye Liatta. Her expression is careful, and she doesn’t touch the stew or wine that her maid sets down in front of her. She’s watching me. Waiting to see how I’m going to take the news that I’ve been deposed from my position as heir.
I suppose I should be angry. Furious. Hurt.
I’m relieved. So damn relieved I want to laugh aloud. Liatta has schemed at court for years and now she’s neatly tangled my father. She will be Lady Honori and her son will be Honori’s heir. He can’t be any worse than my father is, so I don’t have a problem with it. I can stay in Vastwarren…or I can leave.
My future is finally mine.
“I see,” I say carefully. “My congratulations to young Garoth. But I must recommend again, Father, that you acquire more artifacts. I know you said the king sold you my rings—”
“The rings you stole, you mean,” Father corrects with a stern glare. “Such a bad look, Aspeth. I taught you better than that.”
“—but one set of rings is not going to protect the entire hold,” I continue, ignoring him. “More has to be done. The knights have to be paid. The guild has no Honori team. Crops—”
Liatta holds up a beringed hand. “I understand your concerns,” she says, stopping me. “It is a conversation I had with your father prior to our marriage. I am not handing over my fortune simply for him to toss it away. I am in charge now.” Her expression hardens ever so slightly. “I will control Honori’s funds. And I’ve established a team with the guild so we can repair our defenses. It will be expensive, but necessary.”
Father frowns at his new wife. “I really don’t think—”
She turns to him and freezes him with a look. “I’m in charge of the finances, Corin.” Her voice is firm but sweet. “You’ll recall we’ve discussed this extensively. You’ll have an allowance.”
I smother the laughter that threatens to rise from me. I suspect Honori Hold is in excellent hands. Liatta has maneuvered her way about court for so long that she’s going to know just how to handle my father. She’s not going to let him bankrupt the hold and then leave her son with a mess. She’s going to rule with an iron fist. She’s going to put my father on an allowance .
I almost want to be there to see it. Almost.