14. Chapter 14 #2
We all sat at the long table with Melisanna at one end, leaving the other end open.
I assumed that was where Lord Beralt would have sat, if he ever wanted to grace us with his company.
Trays of pastries, fruits, and breakfast meats adorned the table as servants trailed in one after another.
Carafes of various juices were set in front of us and our glasses were quickly filled.
Years of training led me to immediately straighten my back and lay my napkin across my lap in such a way that only those in court would notice.
My ankles were crossed at the floor and my fingers interlaced together as we waited for the servants to finish their duties.
Peiro smirked beside me, lightly eyeing me and failing miserably to follow my movements.
“Looks like someone needs training of their own,” I mused under my breath.
“Give me a sword over a silk napkin any day,” he gruffed.
“Noted.” I smiled widely.
Once the food was placed on my plate, it took every ounce of self-control not to dive in.
I saw the restraint even on Ora’s face as she painstakingly sliced into her meal and nibbled, rather than eating everything in a few bites from being hungry.
Numerous times I had to skewer the men with my eyes to remind them of propriety.
Even Sury seemed to have momentarily forgotten all of his courtly training as he filled his cheeks with food.
Conversation over the hearty breakfast remained light, with the lady seemingly testing the air around us.
Melisanna was so different from her husband, and her company was thoroughly more enjoyable.
She informed us on small business matters regarding Ventus Bluff and its citizens before gushing over her new babe like a proud mother.
“We must meet your daughter,” Ora mused. “She sounds like such a delight.”
Melisanna wiped the corner of her mouth and her eyes widened in glee.
“Yes, she truly is. Why, she finds it quite humorous when she makes her own bubbles as she blows me raspberries. Isla might be too young, but I could have sworn just the other day that she moved the little carousel above her crib with Airus Wielding. That or it was just boastful wishes from an overly proud mother.” Her cheeks reddened at the statement, but regardless, I could see the deep love she had for her daughter.
“Then we must meet her, straight away!” Ora begged. “This court needs more of the younger generations around to liven everything up.” She had always been fond of children, and even pretended when we were younger that she was a mother with too many baby dolls to count.
Melisanna beckoned a servant, instructing her to bring the babe immediately. Moments later a nursemaid brought in the baby girl. She was absolutely breathtaking with her mother’s bright blue eyes and wispy hints of bright red hair. Melisanna took Isla and gently placed the babe in Ora’s arms.
Ora beamed with delight the moment she held her. “Oh my, I could smother butter on her rolls and just eat her up!”
I watched with a smile as Ora and Sury leaned in together, taking turns playing with Isla—both smoothly assuming the role of a parent. Soon the babe was passed on to a very nervous Fyom, who held the poor thing at arm’s length, swearing the child needed a fresh linen.
Isla was gently placed in my arms next. One look at me had the babe starting to cry immediately. My nerves jumbled the moment I saw the largest crocodile tears I believe I had ever seen from a child.
“Don’t scare the poor girl.” Peiro laughed as he scooped her from my arms and immediately began rocking her in a way a caring father would.
Soon Isla ceased her tears as her eyes fluttered closed and she nestled deeper into Peiro’s arms. He hummed something beautiful that caused the babe to sigh in her sleep.
The words were foreign to me, but I sensed he might have sung it before, at a different time in his life.
He might have worn a smile on his face, but I saw a sadness in his eyes.
My mind shamelessly wandered to a future I pictured with Peiro, if the giants ever blessed us with a family.
Would they be a Wielder like their mother?
Would they have the deep brow and beautiful brown eyes of their father?
A sense of sorrow filled my heart. I had never asked if he saw himself with children. Did he have more? Could he?
The slew of internal questions was immediately interrupted by a loud bang from the wooden doors being opened by a strong gust of wind.
Sury immediately jumped to his feet, withdrawing a hidden blade, and Fyom’s green-tinted shield came into view.
Ora grabbed Melisanna in close as I rose to my feet with my Wielding in my palm.
Peiro crouched in a protective stance over the sleeping babe.
A medium-statured man entered the room. I recognized him immediately with his large, graying dark beard and smug face—Ivan Beralt.
His periwinkle eyes twinkled brightly against his tanned features, indicating some sort of mischief was to be had.
Soon he began to laugh deep from his belly, as if we’d all clearly missed the punchline to some joke.
“Welcome, friends!” he voiced loudly, waking up Isla and prompting a new set of tears.
Peiro instantly set her in her mother’s arms, and Melisanna soon began to shush her in quiet whispers.
Beralt took one look at his wife and instantly dropped his smile into a sneer.
“Quiet that child or I’ll quiet it for you. ”
“She is simply scared, my lord. I’m doing my best,” Melisanna said in more hushed tones as she desperately tried to soothe the infant.
I noted the quickly changed demeanor in our hostess.
The woman, who had been all smiles and full of laughter, had suddenly become a shelled version of herself, barely speaking at a volume loud enough for one to hear.
As Beralt hastily pulled back the empty chair from the end of the table, the loud clanking caused Melisanna to jump in fright.
“Are you alright?” I leaned toward the lady, whispering to where only she and I could hear.
She quickly pasted on a faux smile and nodded her head. “All is well, Princess Ophelia, thank you.” Melisanna flinched once again when Beralt banged against the table, a clear order for a servant to fill his plate.
A fresh wave of fury washed over me as I watched the woman curve her shoulders inward and keep her head tilted down.
Why did her entire conduct change once this man was in the room?
My heart rate picked up its pace as I tightened my grip on the armrest of my chair.
Peiro must have sensed the change as he gently placed a hand on me, reminding me to find my calm.
We sat and watched as Beralt overstuffed his gullet, crumbs falling on his aggressively ornate tunic. I almost became sick with his excessive need to fill his mouth. Excessive need for everything around him.
He never spoke or inquired why we were even visiting. Nor did he question how we were here or even still alive. Ora shot me a look across the table, clearly annoyed as I was.
“Lord Beralt,” I began, “it is a pleasure to see you once again. It’s been far too long.
” It was a lie. I had never cared for him nor his pompous attitude.
He was never as cruel in politics as Vovias, but the way those two were always seen together made my skin crawl.
I was curious if he could hear me with all the smacking his food was doing inside his mouth.
My temper flared. Oh, how I wish I didn’t adhere to court politics and could simply gut him right here at their breakfast table.
Why not? The ink twisted around my skull.
“Heartbeat, Ophelia,” Peiro whispered beside me and took my hand into his, gently caressing it under the table in smooth strokes.
“Lord Sury Anmathios. How is your father? Last I heard, he might be receiving a visit from Cisoi soon. Kick the bucket, as they say.“ My emotions amplified not only from the blatant disregard for my presence, but from the brashness of delivering news like that to the son of a highly regarded man.
I quickly looked at Sury, seeing a flash of pain trace across his features before he resumed a neutral expression. “I’m not here to start nor quell rumors, Lord Beralt. I’m simply here for a discussion about alliances—“
“No,” Beralt interjected, the loud volume echoing across the stone room, waking the baby, who broke into another shrill of tears. “If you don’t shut that child up, Mel, I will do it myself, and I won’t regret it,” he said as he pointed the sharp end of his fork in the mother’s direction.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her take a deep gulp before motioning for the nursemaid to take the babe out of the room.
“Now, back to what you said… No talk of politics is allowed anywhere inside of my home except within my study.” As much as I despised the man, I could respect that boundary.
“And I only enter my study in the evening before my nightcap.”
What the living hell? He was toying with us.
Ora knew it too, based on the flush of color toward her cheeks—and, well, based on the way she had Sury’s hand in a vice grip, if the wince on Sury’s face were any indication.
Even Fyom held a disregarding look, presumably not just from Beralt being a complete ass, but from the behavior he’d exhibited toward his wife and child.
Once the child had safely left, we waited and watched Beralt once again fill his throat with food. “I know the broads and Sury, but I’m curious as to who these other two males are who sit at my table.”