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“No, it wasn’t. Instead, your mother did something scandalous. She spurned her patrician suitors and married the son of a faded mercator family, House Cosmin—once well-regarded, but at that time so far down the pack it was at risk of being knocked from the senate entirely. Most thought the pairing a tragic mistake.”
Ms. Securia leaned back, taking obvious relish in recounting the story that Teigra knew all too well.
“And yet, their union was not a mistake. Your father received ownership of the family business as a wedding gift, and in a little over a decade, they took House Cosmin from a laughingstock to a serious power player. From the twentieth-best stable in Mestibes to the only one that a self-respecting patrician would choose. And with the tragic passing of your father, she even secured his seat in the senate. Now, she has taken House Cosmin to the precipice of achieving what only three other houses have achieved in the last century—ascending from mercator class to patrician.”
Teigra sat in silence. It was all true, although she was sure Mother deserved little of the credit.
“Do you agree that your mother is close to achieving this goal, Ms. Cosmin?”
Teigra stared at the floor, not wishing to dwell on Mother’s naked ambition. But the woman in question had instructed her to show respect to the high envoy. And she was already in more than enough trouble to consider any further disobedience.
“Yes,” she muttered.
Ms. Securia tented her fingers. “Then why would you seek to ruin all that your family has worked for?”
Her stomach clenched. “I didn’t... I didn’t mean to!”
“Are you saying you were not aware of your actions? That Mr. Accola was unclear in his instructions for you to remain in the embassy?”
“No! Please, he didn’t do anything wrong. And neither did Aurelius. It was all my fault.”
Ms. Securia rose, running a stick of incense through an oil lamp and placing it at the feet of the goddess. “Loyalty is an admirable quality, Ms. Cosmin. It does you well to show it. But you must decide who you are loyal to.”
Curls of pine-heavy smoke rose across the bronze, wreathing Mesti in a dramatic haze.
“You love your family, Teigra. You just made a mistake today. But I have faith in your destiny. I have faith in your family’s destiny. Just as you must put your faith in me.”
The woman walked behind her, placing a hand on either shoulder.
Teigra shuddered under her strong touch.
“So tell me, why has the archon sent her herald to Ardora?”
Bile scalded Teigra’s throat. Right now, all Ms. Securia knew was that they had snuck out of the embassy and gone into town. And that they had snuck back in a few hours later, right into her stiff-backed scowl. But she didn’t know about the wrestling school. She didn’t know about Aurelius meeting with Calix. And she didn’t know about Aurelius’s mission.
Aurelius had told Teigra all those secrets in confidence. A confidence she had already betrayed badly. And she couldn’t betray it any further.
She just couldn’t.
“I... I don’t know,” she said, her whole neck clenching.
The high envoy’s hands were unmoving upon her skin, yet promised the potential of pressure. “Ms. Cosmin, your cousin will come and go from this place—traveling here and there, making the archon’s grubby, transactional little deals. But you and I will work together for at least the next five years. Just as House Securia could work with House Cosmin for decades to come, as two proud patrician families.”
Teigra shook under the woman’s grip. She felt she was being torn into two.
Ms. Securia could make it happen. Her family was one of the oldest and most influential in the chamber. One letter of recommendation, one confirmation of her loyalty, and the deal would be done.
And all it would cost was the one person who had supported her unconditionally.
Tears tumbled down Teigra’s cheek. She gripped her own hands in frustrated fury.
But she remained silent.
“So be it,” said Ms. Securia with a sigh, releasing her grip. “Go to your office and await my instructions.”
“And... and my family?”
Securia gave her a weary look. “If you will not tell me of the herald’s plans, then you cannot proceed as you have. From this day forward, you will offer him no further assistance in whatever his mission may be. You will provide no aid, no advice, and no comfort of any kind. You are a servant of the senate now. You have no business with the Archon or her pet. And you will answer alone to me. Am I understood?”
