CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
VIEW FROM BELOW
Of course, I resolutely refuse to join Kaidren and his aunt for dinner. And of course, he resolutely refuses to let me anywhere near the window to escape.
In the end, I agree, if only so I don’t end up spending the night stuck in a stalemate in Kaidren’s childhood bedroom.
His aunt Julissa is all smiles when we finally leave his room. If she finds my presence here strange, she doesn’t let on as she leads me to a round table where dinner is being served.
She’s beautiful. Kaidren is good-looking, so it’s not a surprise, but I don’t see a family resemblance between them.
She has the kind of beauty that comes from effortless grace and wisdom.
Her hair is short, dark, and thick, with some coils of gray mixed in.
Her round face has a few shallow creases, her skin is the hue of pine bark, and she has the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen.
Like Kaidren, her teeth are perfect. Unlike Kaidren, she doesn’t show each of them off as she smiles at me. “Hello, Kaidren’s friend.”
I almost laugh, but she doesn’t appear to be joking. She must know Kaidren and I aren’t anything close to friends, but it feels rude to say that when she’s being kind. “Hello. Apologies for breaking into your home.”
She chuckles. It’s a smoky, comforting sound. “If I had anything worth stealing, I might be upset.”
Her house is small, as expected, but she’s draped scraps of fabric over walls and surfaces to add warmth, creating a mishmash of colors and patterns. Chaotic, but inviting.
The main room is the kitchen, dining room, and living space.
There’s a patchy sofa, scuffed wooden table, and a side table I’m pretty sure is just a trash bin turned over and covered with a thin sheet.
Resting on the side table is a compass that, unfortunately, I recognize.
It’s silver and rusted and nothing special—except for a shimmer at the end of the needle.
It’s one of those “magic hunting” compasses. Total junk—not to mention illegal.
I look away from the compass and force my face to remain impassive as Julissa pulls out a chair at the table for me. “We’re having potatoes tonight.” She twists her fingers fretfully. “We don’t have any meat. I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to.”
“I love potatoes.” I smile gently. “They’re Luc’s favorite.”
Her soft brown eyes widen, and her fingers stop fiddling. “‘Luc,’” she repeats in an awed whisper. “You call the Praeceptor ‘Luc.’” She still looks amazed as she piles food onto my plate, giving me far more than herself or Kaidren.
“Oh, please.” I shove it back to her. “I don’t need this much.”
“It’s no trouble.”
Warmth floods me as she lies. Food is expensive, and she’s giving me more than my fair share even though I just broke into her house. I glare and swap my plate for hers.
Julissa makes a move to switch them back, but I raise my fork threateningly. “Try it, and I’ll stab you.”
Kaidren smirks. “Don’t test her, Jules. She means it.”
I tip up my chin in silent, stubborn confirmation of his words. I don’t lower my defenses—or my fork—until she takes her first bite and I’m certain she won’t try to swap our plates again.
For a few awkward minutes, we eat in silence. Kaidren must have some hidden motive for insisting I join them, but I can’t work out what he has to gain from making me eat dinner with him and his aunt.
“Kaidren’s told me a bit about you.” Jules breaks the stillness. “You’re just as pretty as he described.”
I’m surprised by the lack of heat with her words. Even more surprised by the light pink that flushes Kaidren’s cheeks and the glower he gives his aunt. “He told you I was pretty?”
“I might have mentioned something to that effect,” he grumbles, not looking at me.
“Well, thank you,” I say to Jules. “Can you also tell me what I’m doing here?”
Jules chuckles. “You’re just as impatient as he described as well.” She takes her time answering me. Spears a potato. Dunks it in the sauce she’s prepared. Takes a bite, chews thoroughly, before finally responding. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I wanted to meet you for myself.”
“What else have you heard?”
She glances at her nephew. “Kaidren mentioned that you’re a difficult person to know,” she says carefully.
I can’t help a disbelieving laugh. “You’re sure that’s all he said? He didn’t call me a conniving bitch?”
Jules tosses her head back and laughs.
“I’ve never called you a bitch,” Kaidren objects.
“Just conniving, then,” I say.
“Well, you are. Should I have lied?”
“Why not?” I challenge. “You’re exceptionally skilled in that department.”
“Yet not half so skilled as you.”
“How big of you to acknowledge your shortcomings.” I take a sip of water and focus my attention on Julissa, who’s glancing between the two of us, looking amused. “Maybe you can answer a question for me. I’ve been asking Kaidren, but he’s yet to give me a straight answer.”
She looks intrigued. “What?”
“Why did he come to Widow’s Hall?”
Kaidren groans. “I’ve answered this already. To improve the Honorate.”
I roll my eyes, not even dignifying his lie with a response as I look back to Jules. “Well? Do you know?”
“I have no idea. You’ll be amazed to hear my nephew doesn’t listen to me, or anybody,” Jules says wryly.
“I’ve never understood the pull of that mountain.
I told Kaidren a thousand times he was a fool for wanting to go to Virdei.
Everyone I know is desperate to find a way there.
No idea why. We all know the tattoo paints a target on your back, but—”
Kaidren loudly clears his throat and slams a glass on the table, making it rattle on its slightly uneven legs.
Jules’s eyes widen. She presses her lips together, falling silent.
I frown suspiciously between the two of them. “Why should that matter? Kaidren doesn’t have a tattoo.”
There’s a long, awkward pause.
“Yes, I know.” Jules breaches the tension with a breathy chuckle. “I meant for other Opherans. Not Kaidren.”
She’s an awful liar. The flare of magic in my gut only confirms what I can already see with my own eyes. She’s lying about Kaidren’s tattoo.
Jules rushes on, clearly hoping to distract me. “I’ll never understand wanting to leave Ophera. Everyone who travels up the mountain ends up a worse person.” She blinks, realizing who she’s talking to. “No offense.”
“None taken. You think life is better here?”
“I think here will never improve if everyone abandons it. It’s better to elevate where you are, rather than to look down your nose from the top.
Virdei told us there were gods in the sky and built their way into the clouds, all so they could claim their kingdom on the mountain makes them godlike.
I read the Shadow Queen’s columns. The Honorate are far from gods.
They are liars and cheats. Why should I want to be anything like them? ”
My fork idles over my next bite. I wasn’t expecting to like Kaidren’s aunt.
She’s still speaking. “If you ask me, they’re going to get what’s coming to them. They poisoned our water so we could never compete—”
“Wait.” I stop her. “What did you say?”
“They poisoned our water,” she repeats.
Kaidren sighs. “That’s just a myth, Jules.”
Jules ignores him and addresses me. “You never heard?”
“I heard that Petruvia always claimed Virdei cut off their access to drinking water,” I say.
Jules scoffs. “That’s a mild way of putting it.
They poisoned it. When Virdei built their kingdom in the mountains, they had more magic than neighboring nations.
There were more aikkari born in Virdei than anywhere else, but forming a military takes time, and they weren’t making theirs fast enough to stave off invaders.
So, they poisoned the stream at the base of the mountain.
Ophera and Petruvia’s drinking supply was sullied.
It killed thousands, left Virdei with more aikkari than the rest, and gave them enough time to build up their army. ”
Silence reigns around the dinner table.
In all my years of listening through walls, I’ve never heard of such an awful rumor. “What did Virdei use to poison them?”
“Something called kishori.”
The same poison that killed Arliss Vale. “I don’t know if that’s true,” I say after a pause. “But I hate Virdei too.”
Jules looks surprised. “Truly?”
“What’s to like? It’s cold and gray, and the people are cruel.”
Julissa and Kaidren have both stopped eating. Kaidren looks the most shocked by my words. “You almost sound sincere.”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” I stab another potato with my fork to give my hands something to do. “Guess you’ll never know.”
There’s a few more seconds of terse silence before we resume dinner.
I don’t know if I’ll ever figure out whether Kaidren has an ulterior motive for making me eat with them.
The three of us talk and laugh and tease each other for over an hour.
Even though there isn’t enough for a second helping, even though I don’t trust Kaidren and he doesn’t trust me, it’s the first meal I’ve had in years I actually enjoy.