Ash-colored Despair (4)
Startled, she raised her head and came across a cold, frozen face.
He, looking down at his younger brother with a piercing gaze, quietly continued:
“I grew up quite spoiled.”
The boy's face distorted with displeasure.
The longboat, as if shaking off his hand, turned away and turned his gaze to a middle-aged man standing by the stairs.
- How did you raise him?
“I’m ashamed,” the man bowed with a stern expression on his face, as if apologizing.
Seeing this, the boy flared up and shouted irritably:
- If you have something to say, tell me! Why are you reprimanding an innocent person?!
Longboat's icy eyes immediately turned to him. The boy who had bravely shouted a second ago looked away in embarrassment.
“You could at least show your face, it won’t be erased.”
There was a displeased grin in his muttering, and Thalia narrowed her eyes angrily. The tone, as if she were a curiosity from far away, flared up in her chest with an unpleasant heat.
“You dare treat me like an ostentatious little animal...!”
She opened her mouth to respond sharply, but long fingers blocked her view.
Longboat abruptly pulled her hood, hiding her eyes, and, without stopping, walked up the stairs.
Thalia's eyes widened in surprise.
Until now, she didn’t understand why he was trying so hard to hide her. Maybe he wanted to avoid clashes between her and his household in advance?
She threw her hood back irritably and shot him an angry look.
- What have you been doing since this morning? You could at least introduce me!
“You’ve been feverish throughout your entire journey,” he responded calmly, crossing the spacious hall with a marble floor. - First, get yourself in order. I'll imagine when you finally recover.
— Я уже в порядке…!
She wanted to object, but a dry cough escaped her.
Thalia immediately covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders trembling. His throat, parched from the heat, felt as if sandpaper had been rubbed across it.
Longboat sighed quietly.
- Don't waste your energy. Better get some sleep.
With these words, he pulled the hood back over her head.
Thalia stared at him with annoyance from under her furrowed brows, but soon lowered her head helplessly.
He was right: after several days of illness, she had almost no strength left. Deep down, she was even relieved that the meeting with his people was postponed. But she didn’t admit it out loud, she only grumbled in a low voice:
-You're really annoying.
He said nothing as he continued up the stairs.
A man, it seemed like a butler, hurriedly ran out to meet him and took Longboat to a large bedroom on the second floor of the main palace.
Soon a room appeared before her eyes, furnished much more luxuriously than the chambers in her palace.
Thalia looked around in amazement. The high ceiling was decorated with a huge chandelier strewn with crystals, and golden candelabra were placed in even rows in different corners of the hall.
The walls were decorated with furniture of such delicacy that it would rival imperial offerings—it was clear at first glance that it was the work of dwarves.
Everywhere hung tapestries with intricate patterns, shields with the coat of arms of the Siekang house, animal skins and exquisite porcelain dishes of dazzling white color.
While Thalia looked at the decorations, Longboat carefully lowered her onto the large bed in the center of the room.
- From this day forward you will use this room.
Thalia involuntarily grabbed his sleeve:
- And you?
Longboat, already reaching for the bell to call the servants, froze and looked at her.
At that same second, heat filled her cheeks.
She hastily added, stammering:
- I don’t suggest sharing a room...!
“Don’t worry,” he answered calmly. — I will have a separate bedroom.
Talia involuntarily exhaled a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders. All this time she was nervous, afraid of the moment when she would have to show him her legs.
He straightened up and calmly continued:
“These are chambers that from generation to generation belonged to the mistress of the Siekan family. This will be sufficient for Your Majesty's stay.
“And if I take this room, where will the current duchess live?”
“For the last ten years, the title of Duchess of Siekan has remained vacant.
His emotionless response silenced her for a moment. Fragments of the story that she had heard out of the corner of her ear surfaced in her memory when she lived in the imperial palace.
Barkas's own mother died shortly after his birth from puerperal fever. The second duchess, who was brought into the house after her, died in an accident - they said that this blow even crippled the health of Duke Siekan himself.
In such circumstances, it was probably impossible to think about a new marriage.
Она неловко откашлялась:
— Ах, да… Точно…
— Позвать целителя? Take an antipyretic and get plenty of rest.
Apparently, he was offended by her hoarse voice - he poured water and handed her a glass.
Having accepted it, she took a sip - and at that moment steps were heard at the door.
Turning her head, Talia noticed a middle-aged woman with a stern face and hurriedly tried to sit up. But Longboat put his hand on her shoulder, sitting her back down, and looked at the guest over his shoulder. She, who had previously been carefully examining Thalia, bowed respectfully.
- Long time no see, young master.
Her voice, soft and warm, did not match her stern appearance.
Женщина продолжила:
“His lordship ordered you to be brought to his chambers immediately.”
“Tell me that I’ll come soon,” Longboat answered calmly and looked at Talia again. — Тогда я пойду.
“...Shouldn’t I come with you?”
-You can introduce yourself later. I'll explain everything, don't worry.
Without giving her a chance to stop him, he left the room.
Thalia looked confusedly at the door closing behind him, then crawled out of bed and, staggering, walked to the window.
Behind the transparent glass, the entire view of Kalmor opened up: a city in a ring of fortress walls, further - small villages, even further - endless green plains... She moved the window frame to the side - a dry, cold wind hit her face.
Looking at the plain, lost in the distance in the blue of the sky, she suddenly caught a strange, barely audible sound coming from afar, and turned around.
At the very edge of the hill there was a white forest of silver birches. At that moment, she was overcome by a strange feeling - either excitement or fear.
“Here is my place now...”
Taking a deep breath, she felt the same dry, cool smell of the wind that permeated Longboat’s clothes, and her lungs were filled to the brim with it.
And at that moment she realized: someday she would love this land.
* * *
Lucas lounged in his chair, mindlessly tapping his toe on the floor.
His sister Raina, who was a year younger, looked at him angrily and lashed out shrilly:
- Because of you, now they also consider me ill-mannered! Take responsibility for this!
- So you are ill-mannered.
A pillow stuffed with goose down immediately flew into his face.
Raina spent several hours doing her hair, braiding her thick hair in order to impress her older brother. She even took out jewelry and a silk tunka (traditional clothing of the Kan people) from her late mother’s chests.
So what's the result? She never received a word or a look from him.
She, of course, took out the irritation from powerlessness on an accessible object - on Lucas.
- Brother Barkas is the most noble of aristocrats! In the capital, he received the same education as the prince! Even palace etiquette is very familiar to him, do you understand?! And how dare you speak to him like a commoner?!
- The most noble of the aristocrats? May he freeze to death!
Lucas stood up sharply:
- Didn’t you see it? He came here after a long journey - and didn’t even really say hello to the people who had been waiting for him for several days! Is this what they teach them in the capital?
- That's because you were the first to start being rude!
- What did I do, huh?!
He jumped to his feet, outraged to the extreme.
“I just wanted to look at that woman!” You also wondered what kind of person she was!
“I’m not interested in her face at all!”
Raina forcibly pulled the jade jewelry from her neck, her brown eyes flashing angrily.
“What do I care about this girl who disgraced her brother’s honor?!” She's probably as vulgar as her wretched mother!
-...And you say that it’s me who is ill-mannered.
“I told you: you need to be careful in front of your brother!”
Raina furiously let her hair down into a tight bun, her eyes sparkling.
Since childhood, from the age of six, she rode horseback every day, so her skin was tanned, and her long limbs gave her the appearance of a tall, thin youth, especially when she did not wear makeup.
The younger sister threw off her richly embroidered tunic and sat cross-legged on the bed.
- Listen carefully. You can’t allow yourself to behave rudely with that woman in front of your older brother. If we openly tease her, our naive brother will feel sorry for her! And in return we will look like evil juniors!
- Naive? Lucas muttered in bewilderment.
Raina, not paying attention, continued her long speech:
- Therefore, we must do it very secretly! If we offend even a little, she will immediately run to complain to her brother! Then she will become an evil woman who slanders the kind and sweet younger ones, and we will become poor victims!