AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As the meal drew to a close, I found myself no better off than when I’d started. Derrick was still my only safe ally, if I was willing to call him that, and the runestone in my palm was firmly in place. I touched it now and again, feeling the solid stone nestled under my skin, and tried to determine which of my dinner companions was the horrible warlock who’d enchanted the thing. But, without magic to guide me, there was no way to tell.
When the men announced they were leaving for cocktails and the women asked to join Ms. Maureen in the gardens, I feared exhaustion might make me drop my face into the half-eaten chocolate pudding. Happily, Derrick expressed similar fears and with an inviting hand, asked if I was ready to retire.
“Thank you, yes,” I said, almost too quickly, and took his hand.
“Yes, of course. It has been a long day for you both,” Ms. Maureen said. “Do rest well. We have quite the day planned tomorrow.”
Those ominous words followed me through the foyer, and I had to remind myself that this was a wedding. Not everyone here was terrible, and the woman likely meant something more along the lines of party festivities than the threat I took it for. My thoughts must have shown on my face because someone snickered, but before I could catch a glimpse of them, Derrick was whisking me through the door.
His grip was tighter on my fingers than it needed to be, and my bones nearly ached under the pressure, but once the men were out of sight and – I daresay – his grandfather out of earshot, he relaxed. We were midway up to the second floor when he murmured an apology.
“It’s all right,” I said.
He scowled and shook his head. “No, it’s not. I’m afraid you’re going to be abused far more than I’d anticipated this week.”
My stomach knotted. “Abused?”
“There’s no help for it. My grandfather is a louse and he’s going to take every opportunity to sneak you off someplace alone.”
“What for?”
“Blackmail, entice, threaten… anything he can think of to gain some sort of leverage.”
I nearly tripped on the hem of my gown. Derrick slowed and half turned to face me, both to keep us from tumbling and to whisper, urgent in my ear; “Do not be afraid of him. Whatever he says, I’ll keep you safe.”
My breath hitched and I could feel the burn in my cheeks, but I managed to find my voice. “I think you’ve taken me out of safety, Constable, but that’s beside the point. Why would your grandfather want leverage over me?”
He gave a ghost of a smile. “I have made it very clear that you’re under my protection here, Nora.”
“Well, I mean why would he think that gaining leverage over me would in any way affect your actions? We barely know each other.”
Derrick glanced over the railing and went still. Curious, I looked as well. His grandfather stood in the center of the foyer, one hand holding a glass of brandy, the other a cigar. Smoke curled and danced in the air before him, but there was no mistaking where he was looking. For a heartbeat, the two men held, neither moving, and then Derrick’s grip tightened on me once more and he turned away.
Meredith was waiting at the top of the stairs. She bobbed a polite curtsy to us and beckoned me forward, but Derrick held my hand fast. I turned, flustered by the last minutes, and was unprepared for the heat of his breath on my knuckles. He bowed low over my hand, and there was the barest feel of his mouth against my glove before he straightened again.
Feeling remarkably like a doe caught in a hunter’s gaze, I stared at him. He was too beautiful by half and there was something in his face, an expression of conflict that I couldn’t decipher, and that was even more alarming than the kiss had been. Seeming to recall himself, he bid me goodnight and nodded to Meredith.
“This way, Miss,” Meredith said as Derrick took a step back.
It was only after we’d turned into the servant passage that I realized he was waiting to see me safely away before departing the stairs.
Chapter Seven
Morning came fast. No sooner had I laid my head on that lovely, soft pillow than Meredith was bustling through the room, humming an unfamiliar tune as she made her way to the wardrobe. The brass light fixtures mounted to the walls hummed to life, dim at first but growing in intensity until at last the shadows receded and the room was aglow in soft gold. I’m not at all sure how Meredith was able to see before, but as I blinked sleep away, I became aware that she hadn’t stopped working.
A pale blue day dress of breezy material hung on the wardrobe door, neatly pressed and smelling of lavender, which quelled any grousing I may have wanted to do. It was unfair to the extreme that the woman had been up and working for hours on my laundry and I had a fleeting thought for unions. But of course, this was the Fairy way, and I doubted very much that unions were a thing.
“Miss Delilah wants to see you at her private morning tea,” Meredith said as she carried a steaming porcelain pot toward its matching basin on the far side of the room. A moment later she was pouring hot, fragrant water into the basin and I stared, transfixed and sleep-deprived, at the curl of steam in the air. Meredith, either not seeing or not caring about my drowsy state, continued to update me on the morning’s activities. “After tea, the wedding party is taking a trip to the lake, which the Constable has invited you to as his personal guest.”
I snorted despite myself. Personal guest, indeed.
“Do you work for him?” I asked.
Meredith shook her head. “Ms. Maureen is my only employer, miss.”
I frowned, wondering why Derrick believed Meredith could be trusted if she was attached to Ms. Maureen, but I supposed every employee was bound to have some misgivings about their employer. Because that seemed too personal a question to ask the woman, I shoved the covers off and padded over to the basin.
It appeared that the Fairy way did not include private bathrooms with showers, so I resolved myself to washing my face and arms with the cloth. Meredith moved to the wardrobe and began fussing with the skirt, which I imagined was far less luxurious than anything else the girl had seen today, and inwardly cringed. Nana Bess and I led a quiet life, there was no need for extravagant evening wear or fancy day dresses.
