Page 87 of The Familiar

Valentina’s hands paused on her laces, then she resumed her work. “I did.”

“At Don Víctor’s suggestion?”

“Doña Beatriz approached me. She suggested that an alliance might serve both our interests.”

Did Doña Beatriz believe so little in her champion’s skill? And did Valentina believe so little in Luzia’s? “You think I’ll fail.”

“I don’t,” Valentina said with some surprise. “You don’t seem to do that.”

Luzia couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s still time.”

They moved to the dressing table so Valentina could take down her hair, and Luzia marveled at how strange it was that her mistress now attended to her, at how easily they had fallen into this new routine.

Valentina began removing the pins. “I thought … I thought you might enjoy speaking with him.”

The idea that Valentina might be matchmaking had never occurred to her. “I don’t think Doña Beatriz would approve.”

“That’s not an attachment that can last. It’s good for neither of them, and she will make herself a laughingstock.”

“As I will with Santángel?”

Valentina made a disapproving hum. “Must we speak of him?”

“Why shouldn’t we?”

“He is not natural.”

“Maybe not. Maybe I’m not either.”

Luzia hissed in a breath as Valentina gave a hard yank on her hair. “Don’t say such things. Even in jest. A stain on you is a stain on us all.”

Luzia met her eyes in the mirror. “Let go. Now.”

Valentina sputtered, “If you have his children they will all have tails.”

“At least I’ll have children.”

Luzia regretted the words as soon as they were spoken. Valentina’s grip loosened, her eyes suddenly lost, a woman searching the crowd for a daughter she would never find. Luzia turned in her chair and seized her hands. “I shouldn’t have said that. That was … I shouldn’t have said that.”

Valentina seemed to sway slightly, a leaf on the branch, waiting for a strong wind to carry her away.

She didn’t look at Luzia when she said, “Did you … did you prevent me from having children? Because I was cruel to you?”

“You were cruel, señora. But I don’t have that kind of power.”

Valentina nodded slowly. Luzia couldn’t tell if she was agreeing or simply deciding if she believed that Luzia hadn’t made her barren.

“Then you can’t help me, can you?” she asked.

How long had Valentina been holding this question against her tongue, trying to work up the courage to let it free?

“I’m sorry,” Luzia said, and she meant it. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Valentina nodded again, lips pressed together, as if considering the taste of her disappointment. Luzia thought she might leave, but she merely drifted backward, moved by an invisible tide, until her hip struck the bed. She leaned against it.

“I sometimes feel I’ve spent my whole life longing,” she said.

“As have I.”