Chapter 30
I notice the lights on in the Tzu house as I approach. I expected Gryphon to reach the cottage first, so it doesn’t occur to me to be alarmed until I open the door and discover Sojourner sitting at the kitchen table. Next to her are Jarek, Misia, and my betrothed.
My stomach goes liquid.
“Where were you?” Jarek cuts each word into a neat cube.
“I already told you,” Gryphon interrupts, his eyes warning me. “We wanted to be alone. I came back before Rose so no one would guess we were…”
Jarek swivels to face his son. He’s swollen with anger. I don’t want to know what he’d do if Sojourner wasn’t here. “I asked her.”
My heart is beating so hard it hurts.
“Misia called for me to drop by,” Sojourner says, standing.
She strides over and puts her hands on my shoulders, eyes searching mine.
From behind, it must look like she’s being overly solicitous, something her House is famous for.
Up close, I can tell she’s buying me time to collect myself.
“She asked me to offer pre-matrimonial counseling. There’s concern the two of you haven’t yet found a way to connect.
It’s not unheard of for betrothed couples to need extra support in that area, but if you two are sneaking off together… ”
She leaves it hanging in the air, as Gryphon had.
I think of Eero’s earlier suggestion of playacting like we are in love, about how it might take the heat off with the Tzus.
Before I can lose my courage, I rush toward Gryphon.
He leaps to his feet, hands poised, like he expects me to attack.
Instead, I lace my fingers behind his neck and tip my chin so I can stare into his obsidian eyes.
His expression slips, leaving his face momentarily raw.
Is it because he was a Caster for so long?
I feel a rush of guilt for manipulating him but see no other path forward.
I lean my head against his chest—his heart is slamming, probably out of fear I’ll get us caught—and peer through my lashes at Jarek and Misia.
“I’m sorry I worried you all,” I say. “I’ve cared deeply for Gryphon since I was a girl.”
The last bit is true, anyhow. They don’t need to know that I stopped.
Jarek snorts. “You could’ve fooled me.”
“Rose has always been reserved,” Sojourner says, a note of admonition in her voice. “It’s no surprise to me that we didn’t know of her true feelings. Gryphon, do you feel the same?”
I want to see his response, but I also can’t bring myself to look. Instead, I bury my face into his shirt. He smells of river and pine.
“I wouldn’t have gone off with her if I didn’t,” he says. The words rumble like rocks inside his chest.
“We should’ve waited until we were married,” I add.
Our virtue is important when we’re young, and we’re supposed to protect it until we’re officially wed, but if we’re with our betrothed, most villagers look the other way.
I know I’m telling them what they want to hear.
It’s so personal, though, that I have to step away from Gryphon.
I feel oddly unbalanced without his warmth.
“Maybe we should just marry you right now,” Jarek says coldly.
“We will not!” Misia snaps. “You know David proposed this Friday. He agreed to a big celebration.”
This surprises me, as does the slight keen in her voice. Why would the Record Keeper be involved in the timing of my wedding, and why would he want it to be an attention-drawing event? I need to ask that man some questions when I pick up my census materials tomorrow.
Jarek grunts. “Fine. Have your pageantry. I know how you crave that fluff.”
“Have you forgotten that I’m a Guardian?
” Misia’s words practically ice over in the air, her deadly arms flexing where they rest against the table.
“And soon, we’ll have another. Gryphon, you’ll bring Rose to tour the training grounds for second shift tomorrow, after she completes her census work.
Will that satisfy you, dear husband? To get your little prize pig closer to her duty at last? ”
Jarek stands without acknowledging Misia’s jab. “Gryphon, come,” he commands. “We’ve got work to do.”
I risk a glance at Gryphon. He looks like he wants to say something to me. His eyes cut to his father, then drop. Jarek strides to the door, reaching for his weapons resting nearby. He straps his sword at his waist and his throwing knives at his ankles and wrists.
Gryphon follows suit.