Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 103: In the Temple

Toren Daen

A silence passed through the table as my words settled in the air. Sevren suppressed a widening smirk, but I knew him well enough to guess that he expected me to turn the woman down. I'd turned down the full support of Highblood Denoir before. Why would I accept Bloodstone Elixirs' leash in place of his house?

Renea Shorn, who had just brought her tea to her lips, paused. She froze as if she were a perfect machine, even her breathing seeming to halt. For the barest of moments, the woman was a statue frozen as if by aevum.

Then time resumed, and the woman sipped at her tea with a measured pace. Her hair shadowed her face, and I had the feeling I'd done something she hadn't expected at all.

Lady Shorn lowered her teacup down to the tiny plate that held it once more, allowing me to see her eyes. I'd expected anger there. Maybe disappointment or disapproval. After all, why would I deny such a generous offer?

But Renea Shorn's eyes danced, her lips curling at the edges. I blinked, surprised by what I saw.

"This is truly unexpected," Lady Shorn said, crossing her hands over her stomach. "May I ask why you reject my offer?"

"I cannot be tethered to anyone," I replied truthfully. "My goals cannot afford it." I paused, grinding my teeth. "It will take time, but I'll drive Mardeth from my home by my own hand eventually."

Renea tilted her head. "I think you misunderstand something, Lord Daen," she said. "Did I ever say my elimination of the Doctrination in East Fiachra depended on your employment in my service?"

I frowned, leaning forward and resting my arms on the table. "You said that, in return for you forcing the Doctrination out of East Fiachra, you wanted me to work under you."

"No," Lady Shorn said. Her smile was sly. It spoke of something she understood but I didn't. A grand secret I'd missed. "I told you I would drive the Doctrination from your home. Never did I say what it would require." I opened my mouth, but Renea continued on unphased. "You asked me what I desired from you, not what I desired in return for my help."

I closed my mouth, mentally going over the last few minutes of our conversation. I asked, "What do you want from me," but not "What do you want from me in return," I thought with an inner curse. The fact of the matter, however, was that the implication of my question was clear. If the woman was going to drive away the Doctrination regardless, then she leapt at an opening I provided like a waiting crocodile. Aurora would have a field day with my blunders here.

"Why?" I found myself asking. "There is no way you get out of this without repercussions. Mardeth is insane. The fact that he's done this to the unadorned of East Fiachra at all speaks to that. What would make you take the risk?"

"You may choose to perceive me how you wish, Lord Daen," the woman said, bringing her tea to her lips once more. Her brows furrowed as she withdrew the beverage, then pushed it aside. Absently, I realized it was no longer steaming. "Perhaps I am simply a conniving merchant, trying to get the best deal. Maybe I'm an opportunist recruiter, attempting to find the best and brightest mages to collect. I could be worse than the Vicar of Plague himself. But I'll tell you one thing," she said, leaning forward so her hair cast a shadow over our table. It was long and dark, blotting out the sunlight streaming in from the tall windows nearby. "Mardeth and I have had this dance for a long, long time. Perhaps, underneath it all, I simply think there are people out there it is worthwhile to defy."

For the first time since I'd met her, I thought I saw flame in the pale woman's face. Her eyes carried a storm in their turbulent depths.

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