46. Chapter 46
Chapter forty-six
The Seeds and Starlight Celebration was still some time away. I was to seek Tymon’s help in securing invites and we felt it was best for all of us to attend, if possible. The more eyes we had on the place, on the councillors who would be enjoying a party and a drink or two, the better.
Audrie was also very welcome, much to my delight. It was a celebration of nature and magic. And by extension, humans and fae and their balance in the world.
The pale brick exterior of Tymon’s townhouse in the city stood before me, smooth with age and crumbling at the corners.
An ancient wisteria tree had climbed the full height of the three stories, and its lime green leaves hung heavily over the structure and poured onto the street above me.
Fragrant lavender grew in grey planters under the windows, filling my senses as I tugged on the brass bell at the door.
Formally dressed, a young man, possibly in his late teens, greeted me. He led me to the foyer, where he bade me wait for the lord and lady.
“Just Tymon.” I inwardly cringed. Lord Tymon. But it was too late now. The boy had already disappeared down some stairs to another part of the house.
The place was similar to the Alabaster Palace in that it was grand and had hard marble flooring, though these were black and white.
But where Kaed’s home stood bare on the walls save for the swathes of curtains, Tymon’s home had paintings and art on every inch of plaster.
Each in an ornate gold frame, they depicted everything from battles to weddings to simple seaside scapes.
It must have taken years to curate this collection. And I was only standing in the foyer. I had an urge to peer around the next corner to see if the art displays continued throughout the house.
“It was my father’s collection before it was mine.” Tymon’s voice was warm and welcoming as I heard him behind me.
I turned and smiled, and it was genuine.
“Lady Imogen.” Tymon inclined his head.
“I think we both know you don’t need to use a formal title for me.”
He smiled. Where Kaed’s features were fierce and demonically handsome, Tymon’s were classic and refined.
His rich, dark skin was like ebony that shone from within, and the points of his ears were unmarred by piercings.
If Kaed was the wild night, Tymon was the warm sunshine day.
But there was a strength in him that I knew was what he and Kaed had in common.
“Please.” Tymon gestured to the lounge through one of the doors.
As we entered the room, I peered behind us.
“We have probably three minutes before my dear lady wife arrives.”
“Sorry.” I fiddled with the buckle of my cloak. “I just don’t think she likes me very much.”
“She doesn’t like most people. Don’t feel put out.”
I smiled and took a seat in a settee opposite Tymon.
More paintings. So many more. Most were of beautiful cities I had never seen.
I recognised one of Viverna and a large one above the mantle that I took to be Gallen, its carts and mining equipment depicted by the artist in the corner.
And a cluster of the flowers I’d seen on his breast the first time I’d met him.
There was an ominous piece of a dark castle on a stormy night. And beside it, its utter counterpart, the golden city of Aurora with rivers for roads and shimmering shells for roof tiles. My heart gave a painful squeeze at the sight.
“What brings you here?” It wasn’t a rude attempt to draw my attention. But we had to get down to things before Sapphine showed up.
I pulled my gaze from the paintings. “Things have gotten a bit worse.” What a wonderful way to greet someone. But Tymon waited for me to continue.
I filled him in on Audrie’s theory that the books we had been looking for may have been deliberately removed from the archives.
“And do you have any thoughts on who might have done this?”
“A few council members were quite interested in your mines when you returned, Gavrin mentioned.”
“You think the council had the records removed?” He raised a perfect brow. He was practiced at controlling his features, I could see that. But his pupils were wide with surprise.
“Perhaps some of them. We’ve no proof.” I paused as Tymon took in what I was saying. This was a lot. If we were right, not only did it mean the council was hoarding faebane sources, but they were lying to everyone about it.
“And that’s why I’m really here.”
Tymon came out of his thoughts and looked at me.
“We need invitations to the Seeds and Starlight Celebration. Kaed is convinced he won’t be on the list, and judging by how Councillor Varris enjoyed the sight of him in irons, I doubt he will want to see him in his finery.”
Tymon nodded. “I will secure your invites.” How, I wasn’t sure, and he didn’t elaborate. He scrubbed at the neat stubble on his jaw. “I’ll have the invitations sent to the Alabaster Palace as soon as I can. And will you tell Kaedian I will see him before the celebrations?”
I stood to leave and wanted to hug Tymon for his help. He didn’t ask questions. He just trusted me like he trusted Kaed.
The sharp clip of shoes on tiles pulled our attention.
“How Varris ever coordinates such a spectacular party every year, I will never understand.” Sapphine swaggered into the drawing room like she wasn’t just interrupting a private conversation. “I will, sadly, be missing this year’s event.”
Excitement danced behind my eyes at her impending absence but I tried to be demure. “What takes you from the city?”
A small amount of polite conversation would go some way towards ingratiating myself with Sapphine, for Tymon’s sake.
She speared me with a look as a sharp and unattractive smile spread across her face.
“My lord father wishes me to visit my home in Gloriya. With everything in Gallen, we must ensure we’re prepared for the changes that are surely to come.
I take an active and hands-on role in my father’s work.
My brothers had no head for it, so I now see to the details. The bottom lines.”
I didn’t really have anything to say to that. She had no idea I knew about the faebane in the mines. Did she even know what the miners in Gallen had struck, or was she just concerned with the bottom line, as she’d said?
“Where is home for you?” Sapphine said with a plastered-on smile. Her eyes shone with a barely contained blaze. They might have been beautiful if they weren’t so cruel behind those russet lashes.
“Home,” I repeated, and paused to find a lie.
“Perhaps you two can discuss this another time,” Tymon interrupted as he stood, and I was so grateful he did. Whether he knew or not that I couldn’t conjure a lie, he’d stepped in.
Something pulled across Sapphine’s face, and I felt uneasy in the room. But she surprised me. “No, no, my dear. She must stay for tea. I will have the help fetch some. You’ll stay for tea, won’t you, dearest Imogen?”
I stammered. Had Sapphine just extended a kindness, or had I just been invited into a snare?
I flicked my eyes to Tymon, who looked as bewildered as I felt. But what was he to do? There was no malice in Sapphine’s tone.
“It’s settled,” she said, smiling broadly as she took up Tymon’s vacated seat on the sofa opposite me. A snap of teal magic crackled on her fingers, and a bell chimed somewhere in the house.
She sat with impeccable posture as she jabbed Tymon with a look that forced him from the room. Tymon offered me a pitying smile.
Dumbfounded, I puzzled on how I’d found myself alone with Sapphine.
The tea arrived on a silver tray, but before the cups were poured, Sapphine stood. “They’ve forgotten the cakes.” She was to the door and gone before I could stop her.
How had my day taken a turn to be sitting for tea with the last female I’d ever imagined doing that with?
My mind fussed over the timing of it all, and I wondered whether she knew, did she care that Kaed and I were—What were we?
She had believed from the start that we were engaged to be married.
But everything that had unfolded between us, everything that had been building inside of me was finally let loose last night.
Could she sense that? Was I different? I blanched at the memory of Kaed having scented Eryk on me after he’d kissed me.
Could Sapphine sense Kaed on me? Oh, gods …
“Absolutely useless help in this house. I would not have humans in my house in Gloriya, but Tymon insists on it here.” Sapphine huffed as she spun back into the room, a plate of cakes in one hand and a small glass jar in the other.
She poured me a cup of tea, and I felt entirely uncomfortable under her hospitality.
“Try it,” she said as she scooped two spoonfuls of the white shimmering grains from the glass jar into my tea.
“What is it?” I said, sniffing at the steaming cup in my hands.
“Mooncap sugar,” she said simply, “from the mountains that surround Gloriya.” Her back was bolt upright.
Not wanting to be rude, I took a sip. It was hideously sweet as it hit my tongue. Even Audrie might balk at such sweetness. But I smiled regardless.
Silence stretched between us for long minutes. But Sapphine looked perfectly content to just luxuriate in it while I fidgeted with the delicate porcelain in my hands.
I drank the tea for something to do.
“Does your father do much business in the city?” I tried to wake myself up from the peace that was settling into my skin from the heat.
“Some,” she said, a dismissive tone on her tongue. “Drink. Please.” She offered no further insight on that.
“And your trip to Gloriya is for business?”
Her eyes landed on me then, puzzling my question. Maybe I was pushing too much. But what else was I going to talk to Sapphine about? I didn’t want to discuss flowers and paintings. If she knew what Tymon’s mines had, maybe she had something to do with the missing records.
“Yes,” she said slowly, weighing my words. I took another long drink of the sweet tea, and at that, she continued, “My father wishes to expand his holdings, and as I am the one who now maintains the finances for the investments, I must review things with him.”
“That seems an enormous undertaking. And Gallen’s mines too? After so many years, to finally find something. What did they find?” I hedged. I swallowed a dry lump as her eyes strained in their sockets. Either at my brazen questioning or my knowledge that the mines had been fruitful.
“Tymon told you.” Her eyes narrowed to sharp slits. “That husband of mine …” she trailed off like she was contemplating how she would take him apart later.
“The entire council is talking about the good fortune Tymon has had in Gallen.”
A look passed over Sapphine’s face that was disturbing, like a snake poised to strike. Sizing up her prey, wondering if she could swallow me whole.
“You seem to know a lot about my business, dear Imogen.”
“Not at all.” Serenity painted across my face as blatantly and heavily as any costume make-up. “But I would like to. I was informed that your family is wealthy. Instrumental in this city’s infrastructure.”
What was the harm in pushing? I had nothing to lose with her. There was hardly a friendship at stake here.
Sapphine stood at that and leaned over me. At first, I thought she might strike me; she looked so tense. But then her eyes fell on my empty cup, and she smiled as she plucked it from my hands.
As she turned, I sank a little deeper into the cushions of the settee.
“My family is the power in this city.” She spun.
Or the room did. “In Gloriya. And Gallen. If we had our way, we would be the power in Hayden too. And every miserable town in between. The council will see it that way, too, one day. We might not wear a crown, but not all power in the Four Corners is gold adornment and titles.” There was a bitterness that soured her tone, a bite to every word.
A cloud of unease washed over me, and the paintings in the room all seemed to melt, their colours dripping past the frames.
I shook my head to clear it, but it did nothing.
She was above me now, her slight frame suddenly feeling more like a harpy and less like a bird.
“And … the mines? In Gallen … will help you do that?” My tongue was heavy in my mouth, and my fingers felt cold and numb as I reached for her. “What’s …What did—”
Sapphine’s hand swatted mine away.
“Aren’t you the intrepid little investigator? More than a pretty face for Kaedian.” Her smile grew wicked as she gripped the teacup still.
The tea. The sugar she’d added to mine. Just mine.
A wave of teal magic surged up and forced the air out of my lungs and slammed me into the back of the seat. My vision went soft and fuzzy.
Black spots danced across my eyes as I fought for air. Sapphine never touched me, just her magic. It was a barbed noose that tightened as she sneered.
“I don’t like you. I don’t have to have a reason, but you’ve given me many already. But asking about my business? My family? My mines?” She scoffed. “You would do well to remember who holds the power here. And you can tell Kaedian the same.”
A scream was smothered in my lungs as her magic forced its way down my throat. I tried to claw at my attacker, but my fingers were numb from whatever had been in the tea.
Before the roaring blackness took me the door crashed open, Tymon appearing and shoving Sapphine away from me. I thought I heard my name but then everything vanished under a curtain of immense darkness.