CHAPTER 43

Tianna was still frustrated when she approached the Dowager Savitik’s suit for afternoon tea. *Well played*. What did he think, she was some sort of game? Also, what did he mean by change tactics? Why did the man have to be so frustratingly confusing?

“Ah, Tianna,” the Dowager arose from her very pink couch. Even prepared for the room, Tianna was a little overwhelmed by it. So much pink. “And you brought the little one. Oh my, what a beautiful girl.”

Tianna smiled at the older woman. She had taken special care with Eveera’s dress, spending extra time combing out the girl’s hair and ensuring her hands and face were clean. For some reason, the Dowager’s impression of the baby mattered to her. She shouldn’t have worried, though. It was obvious that the woman was taken with Eveera from first sight.

“Come, I have your tea ready. Tell me, what do you think of the book?”

Shit, that was right, the Dowager had wanted to discuss the books. She had started* In the Mirror*, but hadn’t made it far past the first chapters. Tianna sat on the same seat she had taken the last time she’d had tea with the Dowager. She settled Eveera next to her and handed the girl one of the small toys she had thought to bring along. Eveera was far more interested in trying to capture a loose thread on one of the cushions. She was not fussing, though, so Tianna laid the toy next to her and addressed the older woman.

“I haven’t had as much time to read as I had hoped, but I’m finding that the author is very colorful. I’ve never seen a landscape described as an old, ratted patchwork blanket before.”

The Dowager smiled warmly.

“She is that. Have you reached the part with the mirror yet?”

Tianna shook her head, “No, I haven’t gotten that far.”

She made a small, disappointed sound and handed Tianna a cup.

“I suppose it is a lot for such a busy young woman, but you will keep reading?”

“Yes, of course, whenever I have free time,” Tianna promised.

“Good, don’t let suitors turn your mind to mush. Men should never be the reason you stop your pursuit of intelligence.”

Tianna groaned and set her cup on the table.

“Does everyone know about that?”

The Dowager gave her a look that said the woman thought she was foolish.

“Of course, they do, this is court. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, and they gossip about it, too,” she paused and looked at Tianna over the rim of her cup, “what are you going to do about them?”

“Nothing...ignore them?…I don’t know…,” she dropped her head into her hands.

“Most women would be excited to have gained the interest of two such prominent men in such a short time.”

“I wouldn’t call it exciting. Frustrating, maybe…”

The Dowager tilted her head.

“How so?”

“Well, Torgux wants my money in exchange for...I don’t know what, a friendship maybe, he didn’t seem to mind whether it would ever be anything more. And Xor’annan…I’m not sure he wants anything that I can give at all.”

“And what about you? What do you want?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know, I haven’t had time to figure that out.”

“Perhaps you would take some advice from a very old woman?” she smiled wryly at her own words.

“If you have some to give.”

“There are many ways to fill the need for companionship, marriage among them, and it would seem as if they are all equal, but true happiness is found in yourself, and the freedom to be yourself.” She paused and her gaze grew unfocused, “do not settle for a mediocre relationship, don’t convince yourself it will be good enough. It is better to be independent and find companionship in other ways.” Tianna nodded and opened her mouth to say that she had been thinking the exact same thing. “But,” the Dowager interrupted, “*love*, a true melding of souls and passion of bodies...that is worth every risk, for it is as precious as it is rare.”

Tianna closed her mouth and sat in silence. What, exactly, was the Dowager suggesting? Or was it just that she was remembering her own lost love? She was too sharp and observant for random words of wisdom. The old woman chuckled.

“That’s enough about that, I’m sure. Let me tell you about the time I spent in the far south. There was this group of Daemon that would entertain at the evening meal and could do the most incredible stunts.”

***

“There was a d...ddd...delivery for you while you were away,” Sargrach informed her when she returned from tea. The Dowager had spent the rest of their time together regaling Tianna with stories of her travels. She was a talented storyteller and Tianna had almost felt as though she was actually in Nistonus, a city several weeks travel to the south and on a beautiful coastline. It was enough that Tianna had decided that she would, indeed, travel there as soon as her situation allowed. Excitement over her newfound plan had consumed her thoughts so deeply that she had to spend a moment processing Sargrach’s words.

“I had it placed in the antechamber,” he told her. “And T...TTT...Torgux of Cedworth came calling while you were gone.”

“Thank you, Sargrach,” she smiled and slipped through the guardroom. She wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that she had missed Torgux. After his proposal, it felt as though spending more time with him would be a sort of acceptance, and she had decided, most thoroughly, that such an arrangement was not what she wanted. Thoughts of him quickly fled her mind, though. The package was, as he had indicated, on the main table. It was wrapped in brown paper packaging, and on a quick glance she could see that there was a flower on top. A blood red orchid.

Her heart did a funny little flip. She quickly laid Eveera down for her nap and came back. There was a handwritten note beneath the flower: * For the banquet tomorrow night.*

That was it. That was all it said, no name, nothing. She tapped her fingers along her thigh. She knew who she *wanted* it to be from, but that didn’t make it so. It took three seconds to cross the room and poke her head back into the guardroom. Sargrach looked up from his pile of papers.

“Who is this from?” she asked.

He shook his head. “N...nnn...no idea, a servant brought it by about an hour ago.”

“Okay, thanks anyway, Sargrach.” She returned to the package. Well, she might as well see what was inside. She pulled away the packaging to reveal swaths of material in reds and deep chocolate brown. A dress. Well made, but with none of the shocking elements Miss Inaz liked to put in her pieces. It was beautiful, though, and she contemplated it when a spark of red caught her attention. She lifted away one of the folds to reveal a necklace studded with fat red gems that looked suspiciously like real rubies. Blood red rubies. *Oh my god*.

She couldn’t accept them. That was the long and the short of it. Except, without a name, who would she return them to?

She picked up the orchid and ran her fingers across it. Would Tril be able to tell her who had sent it? She would likely know her brother’s handwriting, at least, but Tianna hadn’t seen the other woman since the star gazing party, although she could probably send a message to her.

In the end, she decided against it. The rubies hadn’t come with any demands, she could wear them once, for the banquet, and then return them. If the gift giver wished to stay anonymous until then, who was she to complain? She carefully folded up the dress and placed it in the trunk in her room with all of the other evening gowns, taking the necklace and tucking it along the side, out of sight. There was a pitcher of fresh water on her table. She placed the orchid in a cup and brought it into the library with her, smiling stupidly. It was time to write her responses to the invitations, and she was definitely going to the banquet tomorrow.

It was several hours later, after she had penned and sent her responses and had picked up *In the Mirror* to make good on her promise to the Dowager when she came across the passage. She backed up and read it again, and then a third time.

The mirror was not an actual mirror. It was an arch, leading to another world, a *mirror* world. Her heart thundered in her chest. Thanlos’ words about the reception of his father came back as fresh as the day he had told her the story. Somehow, the Dowager knew. And while she didn’t think that the woman meant her harm, it did give her an uncomfortable power over Tianna’s life. She spent the next hour talking herself out of her panic. Surely, if the Dowager had meant her harm, she would have done so by now. Why else bring up the topic so subtly unless she was willing to keep Tianna’s secret? She sighed and put the book down.

One thing was certain, her next tea with the Dowager was going to be very interesting.