Chapter 23
Home at last. A long sigh escaped me as I shut the door of my bedroom suite in Solantha and leaned against it.
A weight lifted from my shoulders, and I closed my eyes, savoring the much-needed solitude.
After everything that had happened, and the long, tension-filled ride back in the dirigible, I was happy to be back where I belonged.
I kicked off my shoes by the door, then passed through my sitting room and into my bedroom.
I flopped onto my enormous bed, intending to do absolutely nothing but lie here and de-stress for the rest of the day.
Life could wait for at least twenty-four hours.
I was beat, both physically and emotionally.
The banquet had run late last night, and I’d been forced to schmooze and dance with the locals.
Dancing with Iannis had been enjoyable enough, but dancing and conversing with dozens of strange mages was a different story.
The banquet was supposed to be in our honor, but it felt more like an opportunity for Lord Logar to put me on display in front of his mages so they could examine me from all angles.
They’d all been very polite—no one would dare say anything rude with Iannis around, not after what happened to Resa—but being under constant scrutiny had been exhausting.
We’d managed to make it back to our guest rooms around one in the morning.
I went to check on Fenris before turning in, but his door was locked.
I could hear him snoring lightly beyond the door so I decided to leave him be.
I’d hoped that a good night’s sleep would lift his spirits, but he and Iannis had been silent the entire dirigible ride home, barely speaking to one another.
Apparently, Iannis had gone to talk to him before I was up, and the outcome of the conversation hadn’t been good.
Neither of them would tell me what it was about, which pissed me off because, at the very least, Iannis should have told me.
If it turned out that he’d been hard on Fenris for his slip-up, Iannis and I were going to have some serious words.
But right now, I was tired of fighting. I’d done more than my fair share, and I still had the outcome of Noria’s hearing to look forward to.
Not.
Snuggling deep into my mattress, I closed my eyes and sank into sleep. I wasn’t sure how long I was out, but it seemed like only seconds before someone was knocking on my outer door.
“Go away!” I grumbled loudly, burying my head under a pillow to block out the noise.
“But Miss Baine, it’s nearly six o’clock in the evening! Please forgive the disturbance, but I have some important things to go over with you.”
I scowled. Important things? What important things?
And who the hell was this anyway? I certainly didn’t recognize her voice—she sounded young, around my age, but a lot more innocent.
Realizing the intruder wasn’t going to give up, I threw off the bedcovers, then trudged through the sitting room and opened the door wide.
“What do you want?” I growled at the petite blonde standing outside. She wore black-framed glasses and was dressed in a navy-blue pantsuit. Very professional looking, and one-hundred percent human. You didn’t see too many of those in the Palace.
“Oh goodness, it’s so nice to finally meet you, Miss Baine,” the woman gushed, her fresh face lighting up instantly. She stuck out a hand, and I took it automatically, surprised by her enthusiasm. “My name is Nelia Thrase. I’m your new social secretary.”
“Social secretary?” I scowled as she pumped my hand. I yanked it away from her before she tore it off. “I didn’t hire a social secretary.”
“Director Chen hired me on your behalf.” Nelia’s wide smile dimmed beneath the onslaught of my displeasure.
“Did she not inform you? I was given to understand…” She trailed off, sounding genuinely distressed.
“I assure you, I am qualified and eager to work for you. I used to write for a magazine, and before that, I interned with a local radio station.”
“The director may have mentioned it,” I said between clenched teeth, deciding against telling the girl I’d wanted to hire my own social secretary, and that I hadn’t even decided if I needed one. “I’ve been a little busy the past couple of days, so I forgot.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” The million-watt smile returned in full force, and Nelia hefted her binder a little higher. “I’ve already organized your calendar and made some appointments for you. I’ve also made some additions to your wardrobe for your social engagements.”
“You what?” Whirling around, I darted into my room and headed straight for the walk-in closet.
Sure enough, space had been made in the front for a variety of conservative but very expensive-looking robes and dresses in all kinds of colors and fabrics.
I instinctively cringed at the thought of how much all this stuff had to cost as I riffled through it, before remembering I was rich now, and also engaged to one of the wealthiest men in Canalo. But still…
“Are the clothes not to your liking, Miss Baine?” Nelia asked. I turned to see her standing just outside the entrance to my closet, worry stamped all over her heart-shaped face. Guilt twanged in my gut as I realized I was being incredibly rude to her.
“No, they’re fine,” I said, letting out a sigh as my hand fell away from a dark pink dress with a high collar and gold buttons.
There was nothing here that I would hate wearing, even if these more conservative fashions weren’t something I would have picked off a rack myself.
As Iannis’s future wife, I needed to expand my wardrobe and style choices a little bit.
I wasn’t going to ditch my leathers and boots, but I had to have the correct outfits for many different occasions on hand.
“Oh good, I’m so glad to hear that.” Nelia smiled, then lifted her binder. “May we adjourn to the sitting room, so we can go over a few things? I promise this won’t take long.”
“Sure,” I said, shoving my hands into my pockets.
I followed her out to the sitting area, and settled onto one of the pastel green couches.
Nelia perched on the chair next to me, crossing her well-toned legs as she flipped open her binder.
She pushed her glasses up her narrow nose as she scanned the pages with her dark grey eyes, lips pursed.
“I took the liberty of dealing with all the mail you received after your article was printed,” she told me.
“Article?” I echoed dumbly, my mind racing to catch up with hers.
Nelia smiled, pulling out a newspaper page from the binder.
“Director Chen told me it might have slipped your mind. You did leave almost immediately after the interview for Now.” She handed the paper to me, a full-page article of my interview with Gena Chanie.
To my surprise, the reporter had painted me in a sympathetic rather than patronizing light, and had included two flattering photos—one from the batch her photographer had taken that day, and another someone had snapped of me in the street in my enforcer leathers.
According to the write-up, I was adjusting to my new role well, bringing dignity and light to the Mages Guild while continuing to stay in touch with my “street roots”, as she called it.
“I will be keeping a scrapbook of these,” Nelia informed me as she tucked the article back into her binder. “So that we have a record of all printed media.”
“Thank you,” I said, with feeling. I had to admit, I hadn’t thought about how much administrative work would come with my new social status, and it was a relief to know that someone else with experience was going to take care of it.
Director Chen had chosen my secretary well—maybe she wasn’t out to get me after all.
I supposed I would have to thank her later.
Nelia then explained my schedule for the next four weeks.
There were meetings and interviews Director Chen had already set up, though many of them had been rescheduled due to my unexpected departure.
I imagined this would be a common occurrence, as I doubted this would be the last time Iannis and I would be off on a mission.
Still, I would not be able to duck out of these entirely, so I guessed I was going to have to get used to it.
The first interview had gone really well, so maybe I was ready for the press after all.
But I would make sure to get some tips from Iannis before I did any more, on how to handle personal and inconvenient questions.
I told Nelia not to schedule any more interviews for the time being.
“By the way, Chieftain Mafiela Baine called to respond to your invitation for lunch,” Nelia said to me. “I penciled her in for Wednesday the eleventh, in the Winter Garden.”
“Oh.” I let out a surprised breath—I’d forgotten about that too.
The Winter Garden was a pretty salon on the second floor of the Palace, filled with mirrors and evergreen plants.
It was sometimes used for small dinner parties by the Chief Mage, but would do just as well for a private lunch catered by the Palace cook. “Did she sound happy about it?”
Nelia paused, as if trying to recall. “She didn’t sound unhappy,” she decided.
I held in a sigh. Oh well. Guess that was the best I was going to get out of my aunt. Hopefully, this lunch wouldn’t be a total disaster.
A knock at the door interrupted us before Nelia could continue. “I’ll get it,” I said, rising from the couch and gesturing for Nelia to sit. There were still some things I wanted to do myself, and answering my own door was one of them. “Who is it?”
“Lanyr Goldrin, Miss. I’m your new bodyguard, here to escort you to dinner.”
“Bodyguard?” I echoed. What the hell? Why were all these new employees being sprung on me out of nowhere?
Annoyed, I threw open the door to see a Palace guard, decked out in blue-and-gold livery, standing in the hall.
As I had suggested, Iannis had hired locals to guard the Palace, and this one was a handsome, orange-eyed tiger shifter with golden-brown hair and a tall, lean frame.
“It’s me, Sunaya.” Rylan’s voice echoed in my head, and I nearly fell over.
“By Magorah,” I hissed, dragging Rylan inside. “What are you doing, dressed like this?” I slammed the door behind us.
“Well, I am a guard, so I’m dressed in uniform, naturally.” Rylan grinned, giving me an extravagant bow. “Lord Iannis suggested this look. He felt it would be better not to walk around the Palace looking like I normally do, under the circumstances,” Rylan added in mindspeak.
“I see.” So he’d cast a spell on Rylan to make him look and smell like a tiger-shifter, then dressed him up as a guard and assigned him to me. “I hope this means you’re not going to be hovering above me while I sleep.”
“That would be rather improper,” Rylan said dryly. “No, I am to accompany you around the Palace, and around Solantha as well, by Lord Iannis’s orders.”
I bit back the protest rising to my lips—I didn’t need a babysitter.
But it occurred to me that I was babysitting Rylan as much as he was me.
He couldn’t leave the Palace without an escort, so without me, he would be stuck to the confines of these walls.
Besides, Rylan was resourceful and handy in a fight, so I couldn’t say that he would hamper me by tagging along.
“Don’t worry—I’m sure I won’t be shadowing you when your fiancé spirits you off for a romantic evening,” Rylan said dryly in my head. His grin widened as he craned his neck around me and met Nelia’s gaze. “And who is this?”
“This is Miss Nelia Thrase,” I said, turning to see her staring wide-eyed up at Rylan. To my surprise, and discomfort, I caught the fascinated attraction in her dark eyes. “She’s my new social secretary.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Nelia said, getting to her feet. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as Rylan approached, deliberately looking her up and down.
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine.” Rylan took her hand and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. Nelia’s eyelashes fluttered, and, for a moment, I thought she might actually swoon. “Hopefully, your position means I will be seeing you more often.”
“Hopefully,” she agreed, sounding more than a little breathless.
“All right, Bodyguard,” I said, barely managing not to roll my eyes. “Can you take me to dinner, then? I’m starving.”
“Of course.” Rylan dropped Nelia’s hand. “See you later, Miss Thrase.”
“If you break Nelia’s heart, I will send you off to the mines myself,” I warned as we all exited the room. I loved Rylan, but he was a player, and I wasn’t about to let him mess with my employee.
My employee. How weird is that?
“Don’t worry,” Rylan said, sounding completely serious now. “I intend to serve out my sentence in peace, so that I can eventually rejoin the clan. My place is with our family, and I’ve neglected it for far too long. I want to get back to it someday.”
I mulled Rylan’s words over in my head, my heart growing heavier as we walked.
Rylan did have a place in our family, that was for sure.
Mafiela might be angry with him, but he was her son.
She would welcome him back into the fold as soon as he made things right with her.
But I wasn’t sure there had ever been a place in the Jaguar Clan where I’d fit in the past, and now that my life had changed so much, I wasn’t sure there ever would be in the future.