Chapter 7
The guards filed into the banquet hall in neat procession, bearing gifts wrapped in velvet and gilded
pekeless treasures that drew gasps from the crowd
lineu
Ornate silverware, rare tapestries, and deeds to faraway estates
each offering more extravagant
than the lasi
The assembly erupted in murmurs
All this. from His Highness?
“They say he once bought out the whole of Jewel Hall for Lady Cecily. Now he sends gifts in
person:
“Looks like the future Lady Thorne has already been chosen.”
Their whispers were not unkind only pitying. Their eyes turned to Eleanor with veiled sympathy
She was the daughter of the manor. Graceful, lovely, born of the first wife. And yet tonight, in the
eyes of the court, she had lost
Eleanor calmly set down her teacup and turned to leave. The garden path led toward the boats
moored at the water’s edge A breeze stirred the hem of her gown as she exhaled into the cool ait
Then
“Why are you all alone, dear sister?”
Cecily’s voice was a blade wrapped in silk. There were no guests near, no watchful eyes only the
two of them now
“Father has made his decision,” she continued with a smile sweet as mead and twice as poisonous “You’ll be wed to that ailing lord from the Westmarch. Tragic, really But then history does have a way of repeating itself, doesn’t it? Your noble mother couldn’t outshine mine. And now, here you
are – just as outmatched.”
Eleanor turned sharply “Say that again
Isaid
Cecily leaned in close, her breath scented with cherry cordial, “your mother died as she livet losing. A pitiful end, bleeding out on the birthing bed
Crack!
The sound echoed, crisp and unmistakable
Bar Eleanor hadhet struck her Cecily had slapped herself
artwat later, she stumbled backward, tears springing from her eyes with alarming ease She collapsed just as Roland entered from the terrace, falling neatly into his arms
1-It’s not her fault.” Cecily sobbed, clutching her cheek “I said something foolish Eleanor was
only angry
More footsteps Lord Viremont arrived with a host of concerned guests trailing behind
Disapproving stares sliced toward Eleanor
73
Eleanor Lord Viremont’s roar shook the rafters “Have you lost all propriety?”
The guests gasped in waves.
“On her name day, no less-such cruelty!”
“She was raised motherless, after all. No wonder she turned out so cold.”
Amid the swelling storm of judgment, Eleanor laughed.
She strode forward without hesitation and slapped Cecily clean across the face
“There. That one was from me.
The wineglass she held shattered on the marble floor, the shards glinting like broken stars.
“Now you know the difference.”
And with that, she turned her back on the stunned assembly.
Just before she stepped into the garden’s shadows, she saw him–Roland. Arms still around Cecily,
his gaze frozen, cold as winter steel
On the moonlit path, Eleanor had barely turned the corner when her wrist was seized in a bruising
grip
She winced
Roland towered beside her, bts voice a low grow! “Lady Eleanor
“What?” she met his glare eyes sharp with scorn. “Are you planning to return every slap I give her
with ninety me lashes of your own?”
His pupils contracted. The implication hit its mark
No She couldn’t know about that He had been careful No witnesses. No traces left behind
“Lady Eleanor,” he said again, voice taut with restraint, “you’ve always had everything. Why must
you torment your sister?
Eleanor laughed dry and cracked like leaves underfoot
“Everything” Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears “The moment Cecily moved in, my mother died in chuldbed her blood still warm. Lecily took my chamber my jewels, my stipend, my fathas She even clained my place at Crownspire Academy Tell me, Roland what do I have left?
For a moment, he said nothing
It was the first time he had ever heard her speak so plainly
In the moonlight, her face was pale and proud. The tears in her eyes did not fall
“I’ve heard.. “Roland finally said, stiffly, “that it is Cecily who has always been overlooked
Eleanor wrenched her arm free, her voice cracking. “Believe what
you
like ”
As she turned to leave, he called after her again.
“Lady Eleanor.. I wish to take leave. For a few days.
“Do as you please,” she replied without looking back.
That night, at Blackrock Estate, a sound disturbed Eleanor’s restless sleep.
She drew back the curtain and saw him in the courtyard-Roland, shirtless beneath the cold stars
A squire spoke to him in hushed tones. He pointed to his chest, to the skin above his heart
Two words passed his lips.
Clear as day, she could read them.
Por Cecity
