Selfless Ambition
Chapter two
Lucianna knocked on the door to her father’s study.
“Come in.” His familiar rasping voice sounded behind the oak wood.
Lucianna paused. She touched the belt at her waist to ensure the buckle was centered.
Checked that the notebook with the information about Lord Treisling’s recent dealings she stole was safe within her leather messenger bag.
Then smoothed out the wrinkles of her thin black coat.
None of these little adjustments were for her father’s sake.
Lucianna simply felt more at peace when everything was in alignment.
Priming complete, she opened the door to the study.
Her father smiled at her from behind his large marble desk.
The fashion of the Lucent Enclave lent itself to more metal and wood furniture, but her father was a collector at heart.
He’d procured the heavy piece during a trip to Grimhaven, where marble and bone were popular materials.
Lucianna gripped the back of a tufted chair. She hadn’t expected him to be smiling. Her brother’s behavior indicated that she was in for somber news or a scathing lecture.
“How was your mission?” Duke Morrowe asked, sliding his quill into a pearl-encrusted stand.
“One of the servants heard me moving through the estate. I had to hide, but I was not seen. I used my Gift to throw them off my trail.” Lucianna made quick work of recapping the night, in hopes that he wouldn’t dwell on her mistake.
Her father dipped his chin.
“While I am glad you were not seen, your mistake was a costly one. If you had been caught, you might have had to maim or kill an innocent servant. That is not a risk we can afford.”
Lucianna bit the inside of her cheek. He was right, of course.
She had been trained too well to slip up in such a manner.
Later, when she was alone, she would comb over every detail of the excursion.
She’d determine the very placement of her foot that doomed her and ensure that she never made an error like that again.
There was no place for imperfection in Lucianna’s eyes.
If a matter was within her control, she maintained an ironclad grip on it.
She found peace in planning for every possible situation that could arise.
And if there was something outside her realm of influence, she sought to subdue it by whatever means necessary.
“I will do better next time,” Lucianna replied. Her father did not appreciate overdone apologies, only promises to be better. “Mr. Kallahan said you called for me?”
She was anxious to get to the subject of her summons and hoped her father would not insist on going over her notes first.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Perhaps it would be best if you sat down.”
Lucianna’s stomach rolled. He still seemed jovial, but there was an unusual energy around him that she couldn’t place.
“Has something happened? Was there an accident at the forge?” she asked as she took the seat she’d previously been holding onto.
The Morrowe family owned a successful weapons forge that supplied the entire Seven Havens with supplies, though the majority of what they made went to their home island, the Lucent Enclave’s armory.
In recent years, her father had begun the development of a new kind of weapon.
One that would give the owner a great advantage while traversing the Heartless Tides.
It was dangerous to test, though, and at times resulted in tragic incidents that required much recompense on her father’s part to the families.
He was known to ask Lucianna to accompany him, since she knew many of the wives of the workers and could bring a soothing energy to the ordeal.
Her father shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”
Lucianna breathed a sigh of relief. The effort given to the weapon would be worth it in the end—Father never wasted his time or energy—but it was a drain on the entire family.
“I have another mission for you. This one is from the emperor himself.”
Lucianna’s eyes widened. One could have given her a thousand guesses as to what her father would have said, and she wouldn’t have chosen that.
Though her father was involved in royal politics as the main weapons developer on the island, it was unusual for Lucianna to be brought into such conversations.
Duke Morrowe kept her away from the crown—the fewer people who knew of her Gift and associated expertise, the better.
“I have been in talks with the emperor as well as his brother, Commander Valengard, for several weeks now. We have established a deal that will be beneficial to our family for generations to come.”
Her father’s smile returned, and Lucianna’s heart warmed at the sight.
This was their mission as Morrowes: to set up future generations for success.
Her father had clawed his way to the position he had now, and his goal was to ensure that no Morrowe had to do what he did ever again. Her lips turned up at the edges.
She remained silent, though the anticipation of whatever news he was to bestow was agonizing. Perhaps the emperor needed information on a potential traitor. Would she have to infiltrate the castle itself? Excitement buzzed in her veins. She had never been inside the castle gates.
“My dear, I have secured a marriage for you.”
Lucianna’s smile froze on her face. Her mouth went dry, and she was uncertain as to whether she was seated or hovering above her chair.
“I beg your pardon?” she croaked.
Her father gave her an understanding look.
“I know, it must come as a shock, but I didn’t want to include you in the talks until I was certain the deal was solid.
In exchange for your participation in the assignment, the emperor is offering not just financial payment, but the hand of his nephew, Lord Finnick Valengard. ”
Lucianna struggled to take in a breath. It wasn’t that she thought she’d never get married.
Since she was a young girl, her father had told her that one day she would marry for advantage, same as her brother.
She thought he would get married before her, though, and perhaps be able to guide her through the ordeal.
Furthermore, she did not think such an alliance would be made so that she could complete some sort of reconnaissance for the emperor.
She fought for control of her emotions. He’d traded her hand for an assignment, of all things. As though she were a weapon and the crown had purchased her from the forge.
Lucianna felt her father’s gaze heavy upon her.
“Forgive me for not knowing how to respond.” She let out a nervous laugh. “As you said, it is a shock.”
Her father bestowed upon her a gentle smile. He stood and walked around the desk, then bent down in front of her chair. His weathered, calloused hand grasped hers.
“This was not my plan. I wanted to keep you close for a few more years. Your brother is quite cross with me, though he tries not to show it.”
She thought back to the concern in Damon’s eyes.
“But, this is an arrangement beyond anything I could have imagined for us. You will be a member of the royal family, Lucianna.”
Lucianna met her father’s indigo gaze. Noted the lines around his eyes.
He had spent his entire life working to ensure she and her brother never had to dirty their hands in a field or scrub a chamber pot.
If his ambitions were selfish, perhaps she would resent him for marrying her off without consulting her.
But her father was thinking about his children, and their children, and their children after that. What fault could she find in him?
She squeezed his hand and mustered up a smile.
“You have done well, Father. And I will do well in return. I promise to make you proud.”
His eyes crinkled at the edges.
“I know you will.”