Chapter 33 Are You Not Entertained?
~ brEN ~
An hour later, I’d put aside the earlier events.
Our plan for the night had been slightly more difficult because the event wasn’t the banquet we’d expected, with assigned seating and obvious movement when someone rose from the table.
Instead, the royals had brought jesters, dancers, bards, and musicians.
The nobles mingled and circulated, while the servants brought plates of food and drinks around in a constant flow.
That was why the other hallways in the castle had been so empty. The servants weren’t just attending and replenishing tables tonight, they were serving everyone. As the nobles grew drunker, louder, and looser, the poor servants were frazzled and harried more and more frequently.
Ruin arrived half an hour after Donavyn made a show of reluctantly following me into the room. But by the time Ruin showed, we’d already established our dance. Not the ballroom waltz. But the plans of two Shadowfang attempting to bait our prey.
Once we’d entered and I’d received the queen’s approval, and Donavyn dodged the king’s comments about my late arrival with excuses of needing to smooth the path with his assistant, Donavyn hovered over me for a few minutes during which I ignored him, then dropped into a chair next to Faye.
I didn’t talk, instead nibbled disinterestedly at food, and drank my first glass of wine far too quickly.
At first, Donavyn attended me, though I gave him no attention. But minutes before Ruin arrived, he pretended to give up in frustration, and turned his attention to Grace who sat at my other side.
By the time Ruin took a seat across from our small circle, I was huddled up with Faye and shooting occasional sullen glances at Donavyn—who was obliviously enthralling Grace with tales of dragons and battle.
I felt Ruin’s eyes on me at various times, though never for long.
I wondered if he’d taken so long because he’d called for a messenger to get a report out already.
I prayed he hadn’t been quite so impatient, because it was unlikely we’d be able to intercept it if he took the risk of using a royal messenger instead of the network runners.
But I had to hand it to him, however he might think or feel about what he’d learned, and what had happened between us, it didn’t show in his charming smile or deep chuckles.
He held court with a handful of the nobles—all more mature women, though he flirted outrageously.
Did he not care about the audience, as long as he had feminine attention?
Or was it because he’d taken my warning to heart and was avoiding the fluttering of innocent, younger Ladies?
Eventually, Donavyn asked Grace to dance and the two swept off. I let my eyes follow them so anyone watching would think I was hurt, or irritated.
Then Donavyn, scandalously, returned Grace to her chair, ignored me, and offered his hand to another young woman I didn’t know, on the other side of the circle.
This time I didn’t hide a dark look, letting my gaze send a clear message of disapproval right to the back of his neck.
He did an admirable job of pretending to ignore me, yet hunching slightly as if he felt the gaze.
“They’re all the same. I did warn you not to make your admiration quite so obvious, Lady Brennan,” murmured the sour women who’d been set down by Hanson on my first night here.
Ruin sat alongside her, purring compliments, and Hanson was nowhere to be seen.
Despite Donavyn’s insistence he’d been prowling earlier in the night, clearly looking for me, I hadn’t seen him since we arrived.
“The General is free to dance with whomever he wishes. As am I. I dance with many men,” I said airily, letting a hesitation reach my tone because we all knew I only danced regularly with Donavyn and Hanson, though I’d taken a turn on the floor with other Lords at times.
The woman smirked, but Ruin stared with a dark, measuring look.
The young lady gave a delighted, tinkling laugh from the dancefloor, and I whipped my head to look at them, then, as if someone had lit a fire under me, I leaped to my feet, murmuring something vague to Faye about needing to find a servant for a drink and sweeping away as if I was fleeing.
And precisely as we’d hoped, Hanson appeared at my shoulder before I’d made it halfway across the hall.
“My Lady Brennan—”
“How many times must I tell you I am not a Lady!?” I hissed at him, not even meeting his gaze. Walking quickly, though keeping my chin high, blinking as if I fought tears.
When I reached the end of the dancefloor nearest the doors, I hesitated as if I wasn’t sure where to go, then quickly turned and plowed through a cluster of nobles to reach a servant with a tray of goblets of wine, taking one before the servant had time to offer, and pretending to drink deeply from it.
Hanson hovered at my elbow, elegantly removing two more glasses from the tray and urging the servant to find other, thirsty nobles elsewhere, before nudging my arm. “There is a discreet corner among the plants near the back table if you need a moment, my dear.”
I turned to glare at him, opened my mouth as if I’d tell him where to go, then stopped.
Hanson tipped his head to the corner he’d mentioned, then looked back at me with one eyebrow hoisted in a question. Or perhaps a challenge.
Taking another swallow from my cup, I swept past him towards the tall grasses and potted trees that decorated the corners of this hall.
When I’d slipped between two of the taller plants and positioned myself so I could look between fronds to watch the dance floor—as if I wanted to surveil Donavyn covertly—Hanson positioned himself with his back to the room, shielding me from view.
“Just take a moment to breathe… and perhaps drink,” he said softly. His tone was gentle, bemused, yet his eyes never lost that gleam of intensity.
When I didn’t respond and let my eyes remain on the dancefloor, he leaned closer. “You do not deserve this sort of… humbling, Lady Brennan,” he murmured with a glance over his shoulder in the direction of Donavyn. “In truth, I thought your General was above this kind of petty display.”
“So did I,” I muttered, then closed my mouth quickly, as if I hadn’t planned to say it.
Hanson’s smile faded and he leaned closer. “I would never embarrass you in this way. Should you come under my… purview, you will be celebrated until you do not wish to be any longer, then you will be gracefully given your freedom. These vultures need know nothing.”
I tore my eyes from Donavyn and stared him straight in the eye. “And if you wish to give me freedom before I wish to receive it?” I asked tartly.
Hanson’s lips curled up on one side. “Negotiation, remember? I do not need the approval of these idiots—nor their commentary. Whatever happens in my home, or within my affairs, remains none of their business. Whatever we choose between us, we will work out the details as suits us, and they can swallow their gossiping tongues.”
I clenched my teeth and pretended to think. “I still don’t know whether to trust you. I have been… uncovering information about you.”
He tilted his head. “And what did you find?”
“There are rumors, but no certainty. Some women even believe you do not desire women because they cannot name a single affair.”
Hanson smirked. “Because I am discreet.” He locked eyes with me and his expression hardened. “You need never step foot inside this castle again, unless you would choose so. My estates are… abundant. No one need know a thing.”
I inhaled and looked over his shoulder to the dancing couple, but Hanson took the half-step to stand at my toes and loom over me, staring down, breaking my view of Donavyn. “Not even your General.”