One, Two, Three
I had a mountain of work waiting, and here I was, about to kill time dealing with Dayson and wear my patience down to nothing in the process.
For the briefest moment I considered simply driving the carriage straight past him, but I had to stop anyway to see Cassion home. The approach to his castle was still in disarray, and taking a carriage any further would have been asking too much.
"Your Highness, how are you feeling?"
Having told the coachman to halt, I turned first to check on Cassion's condition. He had just been through a war of nerves with Karman, and with the outcome he'd hoped for collapsing, his disappointment was bound to run deep. Pile Dayson on top of that, and I feared the strain would be too much for him.
Even a perfectly healthy man would collapse under this much stress.
"I'm fine."
Coming from a face gone that pale, it was a claim no one in their right mind would have believed.
"Stay in the carriage. I'll meet Dayson alone."
I would simply tell Dayson that Cassion had taken ill and collapsed — as for why Dayson had come looking for Cassion in the first place, that much was obvious anyway.
"No need. I'll go out myself. If I don't see him now, he'll only come calling again later."
For Dayson, that was restraint over and above. This was the man who had come storming over the very day of his own birthday, after all. Come to think of it, he'd held out for quite a while this time. Perhaps he deserved a word of praise.
"All right, then."
I instructed the coachman to bring the carriage to a stop in front of Dayson.
"Come down with me, though. Signal me at once if it becomes too much."
Cassion gave a small nod. The carriage rolled to a complete halt, and the coachman opened the door.
Before I could so much as step down, Dayson shoved his face into the doorway.
"What did he say he'd give you?"
Dayson fired off his question without so much as a by-your-leave. Skipping even the barest greeting — his mind must have been in a truly desperate hurry.
Then again, what good was it to spend a fortune on etiquette tutors in childhood, only to raise an idiot who couldn't manage a simple bow?
No, wait. What did the etiquette tutors ever do to deserve that?
I reminded myself that Dayson's rotten character was beyond the reach of any education, and withdrew my complaint on the tutors' behalf.
"Glory to Petrora, Your Highness Dayson. I am Diana of Ehrenberg. Have you been keeping well?"
Just because the other party had dispensed with manners was no reason for me to abandon mine, so I offered a proper greeting.
Dayson stared at me, gave a dry cough, and shuffled aside from the carriage door. Only then were we able to climb down.
Cassion, following me out, offered his own greeting. For a man whose insides must have been in complete disarray, not a trace of discomfort showed on his face.
"Good day, Brother."
"Hello? You think this is the place for you to be asking after my health?"
Dayson was thoroughly worked up. He planted himself directly in front of Cassion, practically vibrating — whether he'd had a particularly good breakfast, he was brimming with energy this morning.
"I'm afraid I don't follow, Brother."
When Cassion blinked up at him with artless, innocent eyes, Dayson clutched at the back of his neck.
Cassion's acting was improving by the day. The man had a born actor's instincts.
I stepped back a pace to watch the exchange unfold. If Dayson tried to work mischief on him, I could step in then.
"I hear you went to see Father?"
I had wondered what could bring him all the way out to this remote spot in the morning; apparently word had reached him that we were meeting with Karman. I'd expected rumors to spread, but this was absurdly fast.
So there's one of Julia's people among King Karman's attendants.
It struck me anew just how formidable Julia was.
"Yes, I have just returned from an audience with His Majesty."
"It was about the gift, wasn't it?"
Cassion, pretending to straighten his posture, gave the back of my hand a light tap. He was asking whether it was safe to speak of. I raised an eyebrow and let it fall.
"Yes, that's right. I went because of the gift."
"What did you ask him for? Did he say he'd give it?"
"No. He said he couldn't."
Cassion answered only the latter half, wisely. Color flooded back into Dayson's face.
"He said he wouldn't give you anything?"
"Yes. He said I must have been too greedy, so he refused."
The corners of Dayson's mouth began to dance. It was exactly the sort of exchange meant to lull him into carelessness — and yet, watching him preen, I felt my irritation rise.
"What on earth did you ask for? Tsk, tsk. You must have overreached terribly. And it was such a fine opportunity, too."
Cassion bowed his head. In the shadow of his lowered face, the corner of his mouth curled crookedly.
Lest Dayson catch a glimpse of it, I shifted to block his view.
"Ahem. Miss Diana, forgive my rudeness. I was rather absorbed in talking with my brother."
Talking — if you could call an interrogation a conversation. A stranger might have taken Cassion for the criminal and Dayson for the constable.
"Of course. Though you do seem to take quite an interest in Prince Cassion. You knew at once that he had been to see His Majesty."
"Hahaha, we are brothers of the warmest affection. I take a keen interest in what my brother does and whom he meets."
One or two more displays of that "affection" and somebody was going to end up dead.
I itched to smack that shameless mouth going on about brotherly devotion, but since that wasn't an option, I settled for crushing the hem of my dress in my fist. Dayson's business was surely concluded by now, and all I wanted was to hurry home.
"Your Highness Dayson, if you are quite finished, may Cassion and I take our leave?"
"Already? You've only just come from the palace. Miss Diana, I recently imported a truly fine tea from abroad. If your schedule permits, would you do me the honor of sharing a cup?"
Dayson turned one of his obvious moves on me. It was a classic among classics — the sort of line even the older generation had long since retired — and I very nearly gaped.
Well, would you look at that.
Dayson was showing interest in me.
Had he ever once asked me out in the past? As I remembered it, I had always been the one to come running to him first. What, I wondered, had changed in his heart?
"Brother, Diana is busy."
Just as I was turning the matter over, Cassion stepped in and refused Dayson's invitation on my behalf.
"Cassion. I was asking Miss Diana."
Dayson's reply to his brother was icy.
What did these two think they were doing, leaving the person concerned standing in the middle? I took Cassion by the collar and drew him back a step.
"I'm afraid I have business today, Your Highness, so I must decline. Oh! If you find yourself in need of company for tea, perhaps I could introduce you to someone?"
The idea struck me all at once.
A good while had passed since my conversation with Karman. I summoned Jenice to set my long-postponed plan in motion.
"Jenice, I need you to deliver a letter."
"To Lady Bella?"
Jenice took the letter, checked the recipient, and asked again.
"That's right."
"But Lady Bella ought to be at Count Kolkos's estate in the country, my lady. The address written here is in the capital."
"She's in the capital."
"Pardon? If she had come to the capital, there is no way she would not have called at the mansion."
"I'm certain of it. She's there."
The moment Count Kolkos became my guardian, he had thrown a banquet — and going by the calendar, it would fall right about now. And Bella had attended that banquet. Even if she had raced up from the countryside the instant she heard the news, she could never have arrived in time. And yet there she was, sweet as you please, an enormous ribbon perched in her hair.
He must have anticipated that Kolkos would be named my guardian, and summoned her ahead of time.
My gut told me, strongly, that this time would be no different.
"Go on, now. She'll really be there."
With a look of lingering doubt, Jenice tucked away the correspondence and stepped out.
Once she was gone, I turned my thoughts to Bella. Count Kolkos's daughter, my cousin — we were the same age, and once upon a time we had been as close as sisters.
My parents had always grieved that I had no brothers or sisters of my own. So they had hoped Bella and I would grow close. Whenever Count Kolkos had business in the capital, they had him bring his daughter along, and the girl would stay with us. Starved for the company of children my own age, I took to Bella almost at once. Every game two girls could play — make-believe houses, dressing dolls — I played with her.
My parents cherished Bella as though she were their own daughter. They believed that someday, if ever I was left alone in the world, Bella would be a great strength to me. Bella knew it, too. Whenever she came to the capital she would naturally find her way to our house, and at Ehrenberg she received treatment second only to mine.
Mother, Father — you were both wrong.
They had shown Bella kindness for my sake, and Bella — with no grasp whatsoever of her place — used it to edge me out and cultivate an ambition to claim my seat as her own.
No doubt when Count Kolkos was summoned to the capital, Bella had been itching to come straight to me. But my manner toward her had changed without warning, and Count Kolkos — finding it strange — must have told her to hold back.
One thing, however, was certain: the moment I called, she would come running. Bella was a child who knew nothing of concealing her greed. And I hoped — this time as ever — that she would indulge it freely.
I hoped things went wonderfully between her and Dayson. Just picturing the two of them standing side by side put me in a good mood already.
I was just settling in to puzzle out, with my lighter heart, how best to persuade Karman when—
"May I come in?"
A thin voice drifted in from beyond the door.
"Rebert?"
"Yes, my lady."
I hopped down from the great office chair and went to open the door myself. Rebert's eyes widened a fraction — he had plainly not expected me to answer it in person.
He bowed his head. Sky-blue hair spilled down and veiled his face. He was thin to begin with, and hunched over as he was, he seemed to shrink even smaller.
"Have you been eating properly, Rebert?"
Whenever I saw the man, the first thing out of my mouth was a question about his meals.
"Yes, thanks to your care, I am eating quite well. Also — I have brewed a new painkiller..."
Rebert fished bottle after bottle from his pocket. Every time he came before me, he presented some newly devised remedy. His medicines improved by the month — the doses had grown smaller, the vile smell fainter, the effects swifter and stronger. Thanks to him, Cassion's daily life had grown easier in a dozen small ways.
Perhaps I should have Rebert properly trained and put in charge of Cassion's care.
There was only one conventional road to becoming a physician: enter a skilled doctor's service as an assistant, run his errands, and learn by peering over his shoulder. But Rebert had no need of such a road. I could simply place a teacher at his side myself.
I'll have to ask Dallas to take him on as a pupil.
Knowing how sharp Rebert was, six months would be ample time to absorb everything Dallas knew.
"Actually, your timing is perfect. There's something I've been meaning to tell you."
"And... what might that be?"
The muscles of Rebert's face locked rigid. He drew in his shoulders and studied my expression warily. I couldn't begin to guess what was passing through his head, but it certainly didn't look like anything pleasant, so I hurried to my point.
"Rebert, I've gotten every one of the children out of the smuggling ring."
One. Two. Three.
A long silence stretched between us.
I had been sure he would be overjoyed, but Rebert only blinked, saying nothing at all. Could he not have heard me?
"Rebert — your little brothers and sisters. I got them all out and sent them to a shelter."
"H-how... how?"
Only now did Rebert give me the reaction I had been waiting for. Eyes wide with disbelief even as the words reached him, he stammered out the question.