Chapter 7 #2
Footmen in ruby velvet livery moved to claim their humble luggage. Liora, beside Sabine, sucked in a breath at the spectacle, while Ellie trudged behind, knuckles white on their smallest valise, plain face resolute and unreadable.
The maid leaned in. “You needn’t look so worried, my lady. Fine houses are just brick and stucco like any other. They simply use more of both.”
The unexpected practicality startled a smile from Sabine’s lips. “I suppose they do. Thank you, Ellie.”
Waiting past the threshold was a woman in the black livery of a head housekeeper, the color broken only by bands of Delarine ruby.
The entrance hall itself soared two stories high, marble and gold, the floor checkered in obsidian and mother-of-pearl.
Above them, a chandelier hung so vast it mocked gravity.
The only way for the staff to light the gaudy thing would have been by using Light magic, and that the Duchess had such a prized affinity in her employ told Sabine all she needed to know.
“This is…” Liora wandered to the mahogany table in the center of the room, fingers reaching for the petals of the flower arrangement placed in finely painted porcelain, then thinking better of it. Such flowers alone would have paid Ellie’s wages for three months over.
“Expected, perhaps, from the Duchess of Braythar,” Sabine finished for her sister.
The only unexpected thing was the art. One in particular caught Sabine’s attention: a marble statue of two figures reaching for each other, each incomplete, only half a person, with only one flaming heart shared between them.
It had too much movement, too much emotion, to resemble the cold virtuosity the Gilt favored.
The housekeeper led them up a staircase of polished ebony, the gold banister cool beneath Sabine’s palm. The corridor stretched on, carpeted red. The smell of beeswax and sandalwood hovered in the air.
The room they were shown to had enough space to swallow their whole family, and then some.
An imposing canopy of heavy red silk hung behind the large tufted bed.
Glass double doors opened onto a private balcony, and two velvet chairs were arranged by a marble table near an intricately carved fireplace.
Sabine catalogued it all with the methodical detachment she’d learned as a governess.
When the housekeeper took Liora to her own room, Ellie exhaled loudly.
It pulled a smile from Sabine. “My thoughts exactly.”
She crossed to the balcony, pressed her forehead to the cool glass.
Below, the gardens sprawled: hedges sculpted into impossible menageries, fountains tumbling tiered water that shimmered with magic, blue and red twisting together in a seam of purple.
Nature-affinity gardeners shaped the hedges with a kind of reverence, coaxing them into living miracles.
Just a few days ago, Sabine had been an employee herself, a mere governess guarding her sister’s future. Now, she was a marked novelty to be paraded before the Gilt’s calculating gaze.
How quickly the world could change.
“Do you think this was a mistake?” Sabine asked.
Ellie paused unpacking, a nightgown limp between her hands. “I should think this was the wisest choice you could have made, my lady.” She hesitated for a long moment, then added, with a bitter edge, “Sometimes, our circumstances force us to make decisions we would have never chosen for ourselves.”
The thought was not as reassuring as Sabine wished it to be.
Then the adjoining door crashed open, rattling the wall.
Liora spun into the room, cheeks flushed, curls wild.
“Bine! Have you ever seen anything this magnificent?” She twirled, arms thrown wide.
“My room has a wardrobe the size of our dining room, and the bathing chamber—the tub could fit us both! I think they might use Water affinity to fill it, too.”
Sabine let herself laugh. “I take it you approve of our accommodations?”
“Approve? I’m in love.” Liora flung herself onto the bed, sighing, every worry seemingly vanished. “When I marry, I want a house just like this one.”
Sabine joined her, smoothing Liora’s hair into a golden halo against the red silk.
“Lady Delarine must be a proper fairy godmother,” Liora said.
Sabine’s heart twisted. “Her Grace is far too cunning for that.”
Liora propped herself on her elbows. “Must you always look for the poison in the wine? What is it that scares you so about such a miracle?”
That I’ll lose you to it , Sabine thought. That you’ll be measured by marriage prospects, not kindness. That your heart will break when you discover the Gilt’s beauty is all calculation beneath its gloss.
And yet, none of that escaped her lips. “I’m merely being cautious. We do not yet understand the conditions of Lady Delarine’s sponsorship.”
Liora rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing.
Looking for traps, calculating contingency plans.
I notice more than you think. I just choose to see possibilities where you see dangers.
” She caught Sabine’s hand, squeezing. “One day, we shall live like this, too. I will marry a duke or a marquess, and we shall never again have to worry about the weight of our purses. You will never have to work again. I promise you, Bine.”
Sabine squeezed back, but the words hung sour over her chest. Liora was not the one owing Sabine any promises. Sabine was the one who’d made a vow, one she intended to keep no matter the cost: to see Liora happy, and settled, and cared for.
The door opened without warning. The heavy scent of spice and incense clung to Lady Delarine. It was nothing like the floral perfumes favored by Gilt women, but rather something richer, more complex, with notes of cardamom and saffron that evoked Keshiran marketplaces.
“I see you are settling in,” the Duchess said.
The sisters rose, curtseying.
“Your Grace,” Sabine managed. “Your hospitality overwhelms us.”
Lady Delarine’s mouth curved in a not-quite-smile. “Let us dispense with the performance of gratitude, Miss Almarien. We both understand this arrangement serves mutual purposes.”
Liora’s eyes went wide, but Sabine found relief in the candor.
“Certainly, your Grace. Though I am still uncertain what benefit we may bring you, in this.”
Now the Duchess’s smile deepened, lines fanning at the corners of her eyes. “Please, sit. We have much to discuss before the modiste arrives this afternoon. The Gilt will be watching your debut closely, particularly given the… unusual circumstances of your return to society.”
“My mark.”
“Precisely. These marks create certain… opportunities.” Her gloved fingers tapped on the arm of her chair. “The Registry has plans for marked pairs this Season. My sponsorship offers you protection while those plans unfold.”
Protection. The word settled in Sabine’s stomach like a stone.
“Protection from what?” Liora asked, leaning forward.
The Duchess looked at Sabine even when she addressed her sister. “From becoming merely what others intend, rather than what she might choose to be.”
Something in her tone raised the fine hairs along Sabine’s arms. “You speak as though you were expecting this.”
“Let us say I maintain an interest in the Registry’s innovation.” Her face twisted as if she bit something sour. Lady Delarine’s gaze swept between the sisters, a player calculating her next move. “I presume you both retain the rudiments of what is expected of a proper debutante?”
“Liora attended finishing school. My own social education was… less formal.”
“You and I shall have our own lessons, then..”
Liora clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, it will be just like those novels where the country girl is transformed for her grand debut!”
Sabine was not certain if she should feel offended or flattered by the comparison.
The Duchess rose. “The modiste will arrive this afternoon for initial measurements. Do not be late.”
When the door closed behind her, Liora released a breath that deflated her shoulders. “She terrifies me.” Her eyes sparkled with something that wasn’t entirely fear. “But in the most wonderful of ways.”
“There’s nothing wonderful about fear,” Sabine countered.
If Liora heard, she ignored it, skipping out to explore her room before the modiste arrived.
Sabine found herself truly alone for the first time since entering Lady Delarine’s world.
Her fingers skimmed the mark under her travel dress, skin warm and faintly vibrating as a tuning fork struck against stone.
Sabine had to ensure Liora’s success while guarding her heart. It was the whole purpose of this Season. But now, she had to do it while playing the worst game of hide and seek she’d ever attempted.
She tried telling herself she’d done harder things in life. But the thought wasn’t a reassuring one.