Reign of Shadows - Deborah Chester [80]
Hecati stepped forward. “My lord, it’s too generous of you, but really you do not need to send Elandra along as a companion to Lady Bixia. The time has come to separate the girls. Let each of them follow the paths of their far different lives.”
Albain ignored her. His eyes remained on Elandra, who stood there frozen with fury and shock. “Go and put on one of your pretty gowns. Put up your hair as befits your rank. Have one of the maids pack your things. There isn’t much time.”
But she could not move. Her heart was thudding so hard she could scarcely hear him. Sent away. Her mother had sent her away, years ago. All her life she’d feared the day when her father would do the same thing. And now it was upon her. Kicked out. Unwanted.
Oh, he could call it a great honor if he wished. She knew some people would sell their souls for the chance to live at the imperial court. But she saw only the hurt.
Worse than that, it meant no escape from Hecati.
Elandra could not bear it. “Please let me stay,” she whispered pleadingly. “I’ll do anything, Father. I’ll work day and night, run the household or scrub floors, in whatever capacity I can serve. Willingly I will do this. But let mestay.”
He flinched. “Is this what you have been taught? To beg like this? Where is your pride, girl?”
Her lips trembled. If she had to kneel one more time and thank the hag for a whipping, she would die. She looked at her father, who refused to see what she could not tell him. “I have no pride in this matter,” she said at last. “Let me stay.”
“My lord, consider,” Hecati spoke up. “This is Lady Bixia’s ascension into greatness. After a lifetime of training and preparation for her ultimate station in life, she must look ahead to new friends and new companions—those more worthy of an empress.”
Albain scratched his chin. “These protests are unworthy of you both. There is something you do not know, Hecati. Something Elandra does not know.”
Elandra felt tears burn her eyes and frowned to hold them back. “I won’t go,” she said.
“Elandra,” he said to her, “you have your own destiny.”
She glared at him, too defiant at first to understand what he had said.
“Nonsense,” Hecati said with a sniff. “How can your lordship speak of trivial matters when Lady Bixia’s good fortune outshines everyone?”
“Bixia has no destiny, save what has been foretold to me about my own fate,” Albain said flatly.
Hecati twisted her fingers. “But the girl is to marry the emperor. We have known that since her birth. It was—”
“My destiny says that my daughter shall marry the emperor. That is true.”
Hecati nodded emphatically, looking relieved.
“I have worked long and hard to maintain the best relations with the imperial court so this could come about,” Albain said. “But that has nothing to do with Elandra.”
“And Elandra has nothing to do with Lady Bixia’s future,” Hecati said with thin impatience. “Nothing.”
She glared at Elandra, who glared back.
“Father, thank you,” Elandra said, her tone not grateful at all. “You mean to be kind, but I will not go with Bixia. Empress or not, I don’t want to serve her anymore.”
“Nevertheless, I am sending you to the Penestricans,” he said and shot a warning look at Hecati. “Not as Bixia’s servant, mind you. But as my daughter, to be trained in the House of Women, and to be married advantageously through their selection.”
Again Elandra felt as though all the breath had been knocked from her. Her anger vanished, and complete astonishment took its place. Married? She didn’t want to be married. She hadn’t thought about it. In fact, she was sick of the whole idea after watching Bixia moon and plan and gloat for months.
“You’re seventeen,” Albain continued. “Old enough to make a good match.”
Hecati was blinking as though shocked. “Sent to the Penestricans?” she repeated hollowly. “But that’s for wellborn—”
“You’re a fool,” he broke in sharply.
Hecati flushed to the edge of her wimple. Anger filled her eyes, and the jinja positioned itself between her and Lord Albain with its sharp teeth