Chapter 5 #2
“Titled ‘From Skies to Seas’ and painted by the late Stefan Starnward, the piece embodies Candora’s long-held tradition of knowing each piece of the whole has its purpose, from the depths to the heavens.
” The auctioneer slips the silk cloth from the front of the painting to reveal…
what might be the most boring landscape painting I’ve ever seen.
It’s nothing but a few hills on a generic coastline.
The colors are muted, the lines blurred, and it’s the sort of painting that, despite my complete lack of artistic talent, I would be convinced I could paint after having one too many glasses of wine.
“We will begin the bidding at ten thousand euros.”
That’s higher than any of the final bids so far, and my heart beats faster when two men immediately raise their bid cards, like they’ve been waiting for this.
I can’t fathom anyone spending that much money to hang something with that much gray in their drawing room, and the price keeps climbing.
A few others express interest through half-hearted or curious bids, but mostly it’s the two men who started the bid, barely looking at each other as they keep the auctioneer busy with each new bid.
They both look bored, like the process is only a formality and they already know how things will end.
I don’t recognize one of them and can’t place how I know the other, but my gut says there’s something happening here beyond a love of mediocre art.
Before I can overthink it, I lift my bid card high. “Eighteen thousand.”
The auctioneer pauses at the sound of my voice, like he’s surprised someone new has joined this far into the game, but his hesitation is brief. After a blink or two, he calls my bid and carries on.
Dozens of eyes shift in my direction. I’ve never felt so exposed or vulnerable, and only in part because this dress does not allow for a concealed pistol. Doing my best to ignore the crowd’s gazes, I watch the other two bidders, who keep going up against each other with lazy lifts of their cards.
Across the room, Blackmere narrows his eyes at me. His expression isn’t angry, but neither is he happy.
I bid again, even though the current bid is far outside my RIA budget, and Blackmere’s jaw clenches. I’m on to something.
“Storme,” Virek says, his tone low. “What are you doing?”
“Following a hunch,” I mutter back, not moving my lips.
“We do not put stock into hunches, Storme!”
My two opponents stare at me for a long time, the unfamiliar one frowning in confusion while the other looks nervous.
They both seem to debate whether they’ll keep going, making my heart rise into my throat.
Then they look at each other—just a brief glance—and the nervous one lifts his card to counter my bid.
Thank the heavens and skies. What if I’d won? Virek would kill me. But with the way the two men are staring at me, my bid did what I wanted it to and put me in the middle of something I’m not a part of.
“We have twenty-two thousand euros,” the auctioneer says without the vigor he had before. He looks at me, then to the confused man. “Will you give me twenty-five, sir?”
I curse myself for not knowing who either man is; in all my months of studying, how are there nobles I don’t at least know the names of? I shouldn’t be this unprepared.
“Twenty-five from the young woman in the back?” the auctioneer tries, looking right at me along with everyone else in the room.
It takes a lot of willpower to avoid shrinking under their gazes. Instead, I keep my chin high and my expression calm.
“Don’t even think about it,” Virek warns. He doesn’t need to. I have the attention I was hoping for.
When I shake my head, the auctioneer opens his mouth to declare the winner.
“I’ll give you thirty,” a cool voice says behind me.
Gasping, I spin to stare at Hex where he leans against the wall next to the painting I was looking at when he arrived. “What?” I hiss at him.
His head is still down, eyes hidden beneath that ridiculous cap, and he ignores me.
“Thirty thousand euros,” he says louder, though the crowd has gone silent so the volume is hardly necessary.
He tilts his chin up just enough for it to look like a taunt.
Daring his fellow noble to make the jump to outbid him.
The auctioneer doesn’t bother calling out another bid. Like me, he stares at the other bidder and waits to see what he’ll do.
The bidder narrows his eyes, likely trying to figure out who has gotten in the way of his plan, but Hex’s face is still mostly hidden.
I doubt anyone could guess the prince’s identity based on his clothing alone.
He’s wearing a hoodie, after all. The other bidder’s hand holding the bid card twitches, but I have a feeling he won’t bid against Hex.
Not when curiosity overpowers any other emotions on his face.
His eyes jump from the prince to me, and then he looks at the auctioneer and shakes his head.
“And the item is sold!” the auctioneer says, making a few people jump. “To our winner…” He trails off, waiting for Hex to identify himself.
Of course, Hex does so in the most arrogant way, simply removing his cap and smirking as the people nearest us gasp in surprise.
“Sold to His Royal Highness for thirty thousand euros,” the auctioneer finishes breathlessly. “Thank you for your generosity toward a noble cause, Your Highness.”
“Happy to be a part of something bigger than myself,” Hex drawls.
If it weren’t a near-treasonous offense, I would slap the prince for spending money we don’t have. Yes, the RIA is funded by the crown, but we had a budget. One we technically weren’t supposed to use if we could help it. And he blew right past that boundary without asking permission to act.
Is this his strange way of getting revenge for our university days?
“Storme,” Virek says darkly, likely speaking just to me since Hex doesn’t seem to have heard the growled name.
“I know,” I mutter, the words weak.
“You said you could keep him in line.”
Before I can argue that no one can control Hex Alverra, a staff member approaches Hex and bows her head as she holds out a tablet to get his information for the purchase.
“Send the bill to the royal accountant,” he says without taking the tablet. That’s worse than spending the RIA’s money! What will the House of Commons think when the yearly audit goes out and— “I’ll inform him to take the money from my personal account, but it may take him a few days.”
My thoughts grow still, and I stare at the prince for a long moment, not sure if I heard him right.
“Did the prince just spend thirty thousand from his own account?” Virek asks, clearly as surprised as I am.
“Apparently.”
When the staff member returns to the back of the room, Hex’s eyes shift to me, the corners of his eyes tightening as he studies my face.
It feels like he can read my thoughts now and isn’t sure what to do with them.
Before he can get close enough to say anything to me, several people crowd around him, stealing his full attention.
The auction is still happening, but the next item is just as innocuous as the earlier ones. Though I watch the crowd, it’s impossible to tell who wants to speak to Hex because he’s the prince and who might be approaching him because he may have just inserted himself into an anti-royalist scheme.
Looks like he found a way to follow my plan to entice the anti-royalists to bring us into their fold.
Relief and excitement suddenly flood my system, an intoxicating mixture of emotions that make it hard to breathe. Why did he do that?
The man Hex bid against has moved to the edge of the room, and he keeps his narrowed eyes on the prince while he says something to Alaric Blackmere, who looks as suspicious as he does.
As I watch, Blackmere’s eyes jump to me, and almost instantly his expression fades, leaving him looking bored and disinterested as he starts scanning the crowd.
I curse. That is an impressive mask, and it means he’s more dangerous than I assumed last night.
“Care to fill in the rest of us?” Virek asks with a sigh.
Shuffling a few steps away from the group around Hex, I scratch my nose to hide my words as I quickly reply.
“Prince Hendrik bid against a man who was working with someone else to drive the price up. His opponent isn’t one I recognize, and he seems both annoyed and intrigued by the prince’s interference.
” Now that all attention is on Hex, I give Virek the other bidder’s bid number, though the team won’t be able to do anything with it unless they get access to the ledger, which may prove to be difficult without legitimate cause.