Chapter 16 #2
Her ears perked at the mention of Lord Grannam, but she resisted the urge to turn around and look.
A new male voice joined those of the two men on the other side of the room.
So he was here. There was no question in Jade’s mind that he and Arabella had been together just now, but Jade needed to find out why.
The most likely places for a clandestine meeting would either be the war room or Grannam’s private study, which were both on the second level.
Jade leaned toward the study over the war room simply because the war room would likely contain more sensitive information that Grannam wouldn’t want Arabella to have access to.
Regardless, Jade needed to visit both rooms anyway to search for evidence of Grannam purchasing poison.
The butler peeled away from the wall and cleared his throat. Apparently, they had been waiting on Grannam and Arabella to begin their dinner.
“Your Grace, my lords and ladies, dinner is now served.” He led the way out of the sitting room through a door that connected to the dining room, where he took another statuesque position against a wall.
Harrison stood beside Jade and offered her his arm.
She graciously accepted, looping her arm through and resting her hand on his forearm.
He led her into the windowless dining room, further darkened by the burgundy paint on the walls.
Sconces lined the walls between paintings, glowing steadily with electric lights, and flickering candles in gold candelabras lightened the long table in the center of the room.
Jade followed Harrison’s lead as he strode to a spot at the table and pulled out the chair for her.
Lord Grannam took his place at the table’s head, his wife to his right and his son to his left.
Once he was seated, the other women took their seats, and then the men.
Across the table, Jade caught the flash of a grin from Marguerite and returned it, keeping up the part of enthusiastic debutante.
Simon sat on Jade’s left, and as they began their first course, the brothers continued their less-than-invigorating conversation.
Harrison was about as entertaining as a brick, but Simon took it to almost the other extreme, cracking too many jokes that were funnier to him than anyone else.
Jade mixed in feigned laughter here and there to amuse him.
When she could get away with it, Jade cast casual glances at both Lord Grannam and Lady Arabella.
While Arabella wore a sour expression, Grannam carried on pleasant conversation and even laughed on occasion.
Their demeanors could not have been more different.
Whatever had gone down between the two of them had worked out in Grannam’s favor and against Arabella.
But if Grannam was the one supplying poison to an assassin, he should have been the one at Arabella’s mercy, assuming she’d come across some kind of proof.
Unless Arabella had something to hide as well, and Grannam knew exactly how to play her.
Jade smiled and giggled and pretended her way through the dinner, desperate to get to work. She would excuse herself afterward, when the men retired to smoke and drink and the women set off to chat and play games.
The final course came out, a dessert of chocolate cake that tempted Jade to sneak off to the kitchens instead to find the recipe. Harrison faced her just as she took an enormous bite.
“I’ve had an enjoyable evening with you, Lady Elena. I’m glad my cousin took it upon herself to invite you.”
Jade picked up her glass of water to wash down the dense cake clogging her throat. He was making his farewell, so he intended to go off with the men. Excellent. It would extract Jade from him, and she would have more freedom with just the other ladies.
“Yes, it was very kind of her. I don’t remember the last time I had such exceptional food and pleasant company.”
“I’m glad it was to your liking.” Harrison went in for another bite, and so did Jade. What she said about the food was true. It was better than anything they had on base, and she took the opportunity to savor every bite.
Two footmen rounded the table to refill glasses under the direction of the butler. Jade offered a smile to the one who poured more water in her glass. He was young—probably close to her age—but his movements were practiced, like he’d been in service a long time.
When the footman pulled back from Jade, he accidentally backed into the butler crossing behind him, stumbling and sending water sloshing out of the carafe. As he fought to steady himself, a hazy projection like the heat coming off pavement surrounded the man.
Jade’s heart jumped to her throat, her eyes locked on the man. Gasps around the table confirmed everyone else had witnessed the same thing she had seen.
The aura of magic that so many had learned how to hide.
He was a sorcerer.
This would only end one way.
The footman bumbled apologies about the water, either unaware his aura had shown or trying to ignore it. Utter shock covered the butler’s face as he took the carafe from the footman. He must have truly kept his abilities hidden well.
“Guards!” Grannam called to the men stationed outside the room, ever-present during this time of turmoil.
The footman’s eyes rounded and his mouth gaped.
He shook his head, pleading wordlessly with the butler, whose surprise had transformed into composure, but Jade noticed the sadness lingering in the older man’s eyes.
Arabella stood from her place at the table, throwing her napkin down. “Absolutely not! Nothing about this man is a threat!”
All eyes turned to the elder Fellsrin daughter.
Jade’s jaw slackened at Arabella’s vehement disapproval of Grannam’s actions.
If she was keeping up an act to sell the idea that she was against the execution law, her performance was truly spectacular.
By all accounts, Jade believed her to be genuine.
“You will not dictate what happens in my own home,” Grannam retorted from his seat as he stared Arabella down, a harsh edge to his voice. “Sit down, Lady Arabella.”
Guards rushed in through the door, and Grannam pointed to the footman, who by now was nearly hyperventilating with tears welling in his eyes.
Jade glanced at him and quickly turned away, dropping her gaze to the glass of water he’d just filled.
She bared down on her jaw, nearly grinding her teeth in an effort to remain neutral.
This man’s only crime was possessing magic.
Something he was born with. Something he couldn’t get rid of even if he wanted to.
The pounding of Jade’s heart extended all the way to her fingertips, and she clenched her hands under the table. This wasn’t right. Based on what Jade had observed, this man had faithfully served the Evenshold family.
“That one’s a sorcerer,” Grannam said, too calmly to be disturbed by any of this. “Take him away.”
“No!” the footman cried. “You can’t! I would never hurt anyone!”
The guards paused, hesitant to apprehend the man. It made no sense until the realization of what was happening dawned on Jade. This sorcerer was using his magical influence—whether intentionally or not—on the guards to try to prevent his own arrest.
“He’s using magic on you,” Grannam ground out to the guards, who had broken free from the footman’s control and stepped forward again.
“I’ve done nothing wrong!” He hadn’t, it was true.
But Jade recognized the faint tingle of his attempt to sway her in the back of her mind, as though a swirling haze settled over her thoughts.
He’d likely sent out a wave of influence over the whole room, possibly unintentionally in his desperation, but he couldn’t adequately manipulate a mind when trying to influence that many people.
Few sorcerers could, even some of the strongest. The magic worked most effectively on one mind at a time.
Did anyone else around the table even notice?
The military had trained Jade to recognize when she might be under the influence of a sorcerer.
Most of the time, people had no idea if they were being manipulated.
It was part of what made people say magic-wielders were so dangerous.
But members of the military had to recognize the sensation to ensure nothing altered their work or information.
The sorcerer footman resisted as the guards seized him, ignoring his cries of protest. The partygoers had silenced around the table, waiting for the situation to resolve. Jade’s eyes flicked up to Arabella, where she sat visibly fuming.
Could her claims about wanting to remove the execution law be genuine?
What motivation would she have to do such a thing?
But if she truly did, Jade couldn’t help but hope she took the throne soon.
At face value, Jade still supported Prince Reynauld, as all members of the military were expected to do, but the promise of what Arabella might be able to accomplish sent a surge of hope through Jade’s heart.
What better queen to be a grand general under? Jade would finally see through the personal mission she’d given herself as a result of losing her parents.
Jade’s father had been set to inherit the title of Lord of Fairkirk and with it the estate and home where he had grown up.
But when Jade was a baby, her father and mother had discovered that a member of the house staff was a sorceress.
They’d chosen to keep the information a secret in an attempt to protect the sorceress, personally disagreeing with the execution law.
Though her parents hadn’t made their beliefs public knowledge, the secret eventually came to light.
Jade’s parents were disowned and disinherited, cast out of their home, and the sorceress was executed.
It was ultimately the reason for the deaths of her mother and father, her father forced to take on a farming job but having no skills and dying in a tragic accident when Jade was six.
Being without him worked Jade’s mother to the bone, and when she caught pneumonia in the winter Jade was fourteen, she didn’t recover.
The present situation reminded her too much of what her parents had done.
A sob caught in Jade’s throat. She reached for her water, but the moment her fingertips touched the glass, she pulled them away.
The action might have come across to others at the table as fearful, since the footman had been the last to handle her glass.
In truth, she couldn’t stand the memory of the kindness in his eyes moments before he’d received a death sentence.
With the footman gone, the ruckus in the room devolved into quiet murmuring. Grannam stood as though nothing tremendously out of the ordinary had happened, leading the way for the men to follow into the smoking room.
In her peripheral vision, Jade caught sight of Harrison leaning closer to her. “I’m so sorry you had to witness that,” he murmured.
Jade plastered on a small smile in gratitude. “Thank you. Has this ever happened before?”
Harrison shook his head. “I can’t say that it has, which makes it especially horrifying that you had to be here for it.”
Taking a deep breath through her nose, the closed-lip smile still stretched on her face, Jade nodded in affirmation. Harrison stood, pulling back Jade’s chair and offering her his hand.
“You may go on with the ladies,” he said, guiding her in the direction all the other women headed.
If Jade didn’t already know the nobility to be so callous, she might have been surprised at how easily Harrison slipped into routine after such an event.
She carried herself with all the aplomb of an aristocratic lady, walking with Harrison to the door leading to the sitting room, but her heart was breaking.
“It was wonderful seeing you again, Lady Elena,” he said with a bow before turning to join the men.
Jade wasted no time in following in step with the ladies, her hands balling into fists at her sides momentarily before she clasped them together in front of her and tipped her chin up.
It was time to get to work.