Chapter Nine
Milo
The Heir of a Major House inviting a group of former Third Ringers to dinner wasn’t just out of the ordinary, it was inconceivable. So I’d had the food brought up to the study while everyone else was eating together in the dining room.
I didn’t need the rest of my family attempting to snoop on our conversation or making the Bexleys feel uncomfortable with their unforgiving contempt and patronizing glares.
I certainly didn’t need them overhearing anything which hinted at another rebellion.
For now, Olympia and I were the only ones aware of that symbol resurfacing and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.
I ordered Paxon away for the evening and went straight to the kitchen myself. It took the assistance of a few nearby acolytes to carry the various trays back up the stairs without being seen by my family but I’d managed it.
Now I stood in front of a long dining table they’d moved out of storage and covered with a pale blue tablecloth.
Eyeing the place settings and chairs arranged around it, I wondered if it was too much or, perhaps, not enough.
Though I hadn’t been entirely honest regarding the true intentions of this meeting, I did care about these people.
I had been friends with Adrian, after all.
I’d seen how fiercely she loved them with all her heart.
To honor her memory, I would respect them as equals to the best of my ability, starting tonight.
“What do you think you’re doing?” someone hissed suddenly.
I turned to find Bria storming into the study, finger pointed right at my chest. I peered past her once to see Nick standing in the doorway, slack jawed. I waved him away and watched as he closed the door, leaving me alone with the irate acolyte.
“Bria, how lovely to see you,” I said, ignoring her fury in favor of a friendly welcome. “Have you heard back from any of the correspondences I asked you to send?”
“You know damn well I haven’t,” she snapped.
“Ah, cursing isn’t very pious, is it? That behavior is not befitting an acolyte of your position.”
“Milo.”
She stepped in front of me, hands on her hips and nostrils flaring.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, I’m afraid,” I replied easily, folding my hands in front of me patiently.
She made an exaggerated gesture at the table beside me.
“Dinner?” I asked.
“With the Bexleys,” she snapped.
“How–” I started but then stopped. “You were with them.”
“When Harrison came banging on the door to announce Olympia, of all people, showed up at his apartment and convinced him to bring the Bexleys to dinner with you? Yes, I was.”
“You’re welcome to join.”
She threw her arms in the air and paced away from me, hands on her hips again.
“Did you tell them not to come?” I asked, glancing at the closed door behind her in recognition that she’d come alone.
Her gaze snapped to mine and hardened.
“Of course not,” she replied. “I don’t tell them to do anything. I advised them not to come but the Bexley boys have a habit of doing exactly the opposite of what they’re told.”
“Then where–”
“Olympia is bringing them through the back way, whatever that means. She nearly bit my head off when I asked to go too. Why, Milo? Why have you brought them here? It’s not what’s done. It isn’t the right way–”
“I should go down to the Second and visit them in secret like you?”
She paled at that, lips opening and closing as she fought to school her features once more.
“If you can be romantically involved with a Second Ringer, why can’t I have them over for dinner?
” I asked, raising a brow. Then I turned away and strolled across the room toward the wine bottle the acolytes had left beside my desk.
“If you wish to remain, please feel free, but I ask that you leave your hypocrisy at the door and remember where your loyalties lie.”
She blinked at me as if I’d slapped her but didn’t move as the door of the study flew open again to reveal Olympia standing tall in the threshold.
I got a glimpse of the others shifting awkwardly behind her but Olympia came first, striding right into the room and straight across until she was standing behind my desk, waiting for the others.
The Bexleys filed in after a tall, lanky boy whom I recognized as Harrison.
He was frowning deeply and seemed to make a concentrated effort to look anywhere but at my cousin as he entered.
The middle brother came in second, scowling as he held the hand of his pretty red-headed wife.
Behind them was the oldest, largest brother.
Expression entirely blank, he resembled an unreadable mountain of stone.
His amber eyes passed once over Bria but he didn’t react to her presence any more than that.
“Welcome to House Avus,” I said, offering what I hoped was a friendly smile.
Olympia’s signature defensive stance on the other side of the desk, crossed arms and wary grimace, certainly wasn’t selling the welcome I was extending.
Harrison was eyeing Bria with a frown. Adrian’s brothers looked down at the seats around the nicely set table as if wondering if they were for them and the sister-in-law just glared at me as if I’d personally kicked her down a flight of stairs.
I dropped my hands to my sides. This was going to be a long night.
“Please, have a seat,” I said then, still keeping my tone as light and friendly as possible. This wasn’t a demand, it was an offer. Still, they rejected it, not even moving in the direction of the dinner that awaited them.
“Right,” I continued despite the awkwardness. “I’m not sure how much Olympia told you regarding our request for you to join us–”
“Olympia isn’t very forthcoming with any information,” Harrison finally said, unable to keep silent any longer.
Olympia’s glare snapped up to the roommate and hardened. I fought the urge to reach over to subdue her and prayed to gods who didn’t exist that she wouldn’t derail this meeting before it could begin.
“I know tensions are high in Sanctuary right now,” I started again, trying a different tactic.
“You don’t trust anyone from the Upper Rings and I don’t blame you.
But I was Adrian’s friend and I just wanted the chance to get to know all of you.
You were such a big part of her life and, now that she’s gone, it feels like she would have wanted us to try. ”
The mention of Adrian seemed to soften them somewhat, but only enough for them to finally make their way to the table after a round of exchanged glances.
They settled into their seats, the older brother with Harrison on one side and the middle brother with his wife on the other.
Bria and Olympia remained standing in silent observation on opposite sides of the room.
I ignored them, choosing to focus on my guests as I settled in at the head of the table and lifted the silver lid off my platter to release a mouthwatering aroma of roasted chicken, potatoes, and an assortment of vegetables.
They watched me carefully before lifting their own lids and poking at the food beneath.
“I hope you like the chicken,” I said. “I wasn’t sure of your preferences. I had the–”
“Why are we here, Heir?” the wife snapped. “Your pretty words about Adrian were nice but she’s been gone for weeks now and you haven’t reached out once before. Why now?”
I took a moment to look her over, trying to remember who she was.
Of course, I’d heard her story due to Adrian's involvement in it. She was the one who’d made it to the Fourth Trial.
Olympia would know her name. She’d always followed the Trials and those progressing through them much more closely than I.
A Third Ringer who made it that far would have been the talk of the city, even up here in the Upper Rings, but I’d been locked away inside a library long before I was cursed with the presence of Simi’s diary and I’d never had much of an ear for gossip.
Still, I knew what had happened to her, if only because it had sent Adrian running to House Avus to plead with Nascha for mercy on her behalf.
Her partner had been injured in the Fourth, so badly he fell into a coma, and she’d ended his life to spare him the suffering.
For that, Cosmo had humbled her. Then Adrian had promised away her future to save her brother after he’d married her anyway.
She had more of a reason to hate the Upper Ringers than the others. I needed to remember that.
“We aren’t all like Cosmo,” I told her, gentling my tone.
Her anger slipped for a brief second but it was enough.
I saw the vulnerability in her eyes then, the true emotion driving all that rage to the forefront.
Fear. She was just a scared girl who’d been through far more than anyone should.
Her trust had been broken so many times she couldn’t find it anymore.
But trust was something you built and I’d always been a patient man.
“The Vipers take and, what they can’t get, they destroy,” I said.
“Cosmo’s hunger for power and his abuse of his position aren’t just concerning to you on the Second, or to those down on the lower rings.
I recognize you have reason to hate us up here.
I just ask that you don’t put us all in the same box.
Some of us are fighting for a better Sanctuary. ”
“For who?” It was the first time I’d ever heard the older brother speak.
I turned to him, reassessing my opinion. He was quiet but thoughtful. I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss him.
“A fair question,” I said. “And one I hope can be addressed in this very room. After all, I did call all of you here in an unprecedented move toward unity.”
“You called us here because we’re in danger,” the middle brother said, “or so she said.”
I couldn’t help but notice the way he spat out the word she as though it was a foul taste on his tongue, but Olympia didn’t so much as flinch behind me.
“You are,” I replied. “You see, your relation to Adrian has elevated your status in the city. Whether you want it to or not, your sister being one of the first in over a thousand years to complete all ten Trials, especially since she was from a lower ring to begin with, has given you all a bit of renown. It’s important for you to understand the risk that comes along with the fame.
You’re targets now. For Cosmo, for politicians from Major and Minor Houses trying to gain an advantage over the others, and for those dissatisfied with the status quo, those who might seek to make a change in our society through violence. ”
“For you as well?” the middle brother added, lifting a brow.
“You don’t trust me. I understand. I’ve given you no reason to.
All I can tell you is that Adrian and I were friends and Cosmo and I are opposed.
I feel I owe it to Adrian to see to your safety but, more than that, I owe it to you as a future leader of this city.
However, the only way I can help you is if you come to me when you need it and the only way to assure you will is to build up enough of a relationship with you, enough trust, that you’ll feel comfortable requesting whatever protection I can offer. ”
“Why would we need your protection?” the wife spat.
“Do you know what Adrian sacrificed to ensure the two of you weren’t punished for your marriage?” I asked and watched the varying reactions around the table.
Everyone but the middle brother seemed confused, stunned that she’d sacrificed anything at all, but he knew. I could see it in the way he averted his eyes and frowned. So I turned my attention to him as I spoke again.
“The Tribunal is based on a system of majority. There are three of them. To ensure you weren’t punished, Adrian had to gain the support of two major Houses, not one. She had Viper through the deal she made with Cosmo. Who else do you think supported her?”
The room fell silent as the middle brother pulled his gaze back to mine.
“You?” he asked quietly.
I nodded.
“My grandmother asked for nothing in return,” I said. “She cared for Adrian. We all did. And we understand, better than most, why you did what you did. Both of you.”
I met the wife’s gaze with an intense stare, hoping she understood what I was insinuating. By the way she grew suddenly paler, I thought she might.
“The time will come when we must stand against Cosmo,” I told them, my tone dropping low in warning. “If the rest of us don’t stand together, as one, we will all fall. He sees you as inferior beasts, as heretics. We see you as friends. Let us prove to you we’re different from the Vipers.”
“Do you really believe you are?” the middle brother asked. “No matter how nicely you speak to us, no matter how friendly you were with my sister, you’re still up here every day, living in your mansion, eating all your food, never working or rationing for what you have.”
I frowned. He had a point. How could I stand here and argue that I was better than Cosmo if I still placed myself so far above them?
“So come up here with us,” I said. Olympia’s gaze snapped to me but I continued.
“All of you. Adrian and I came from different rings and we found common ground. She and I were friends. We could be too. I can inform the Guardians on the stairs you have a free pass to visit the First Ring whenever you wish. No one in House Avus will deny you if you knock on our door. Visit us, see how different we are from the Vipers, see us in our element, and help us try to make Sanctuary a better place. We can’t help the lower rings if we don’t know what they need. ”
“You want us to…be friends,” the wife repeated, dumbstruck, “with you.”
I nodded.
Olympia’s eyes were boring into the back of my head but I ignored her and watched as they wordlessly debated with one another. The older brother stared directly at Bria and I could feel the tension radiating between them.
This was risky. Perhaps the biggest risk I’d ever taken.
Nascha would give me an earful later and I could practically hear Olympia’s scolding now.
The entire city would be shaken by the news of the elevation.
It was unprecedented, unheard of, but then so was this very meeting right now.
I was the Heir of a Major House and, with the way Cosmo was throwing around his position lately, testing the limits of his power, I figured it was about time another one of us did the same.
After a moment, the middle brother turned to face me.
“Adrian trusted you,” he said, somberly. “We can at least give you a chance.”