Several hours slipped by while Iiro drilled every rule of etiquette he could think of into my head so I wasn’t an embarrassment to him.
“Never address the dukes by anything other than Sir and their first name.” At least that was the same in Lochlann. “And we do not curtsy in Socair.”
“I should hope not. I’m lucky I can sit down in this dress.” Today’s ensemble was another stiff, multi-layered contraption that allowed little room for trivial things like movement or breathing.
Iiro glared, and Theo broke in, as he often did.
“Why don’t we take a small break and give the princess time to digest this?” Theo’s fingers grazed my elbow, and lightning zapped through my arm.
I appreciated his intervention, if only because I was exhausted from staying up too late the night before.
Iiro nodded irritably and scooted closer to Inessa, who was staring out the window and ignoring us as usual. Leaning my head against the side of the carriage, I followed her gaze to a group of boys around my age playing what looked like a version of Gorodki.
An older boy threw his head back and laughed, and one of the younger boys shoved him playfully.
Though they didn’t resemble my family in the slightest, neither their features nor their clothing, something in the easy way they laughed and ribbed one another reminded me of home.
A memory came to me from just before Avani’s wedding,
It was the middle of the summer, and we had taken a picnic to the lake. Gwyn and Gallagher were sparring while the rest of us egged them on.
“She’s flagging, Gal!” Mac called. “Go for the win.”
He sat against a trunk, Avani lounging with her back against his chest. She laughed, emerald eyes lighting up with mischief as she turned to face him. “Not a chance, Mac. She’s faking it.”
“Care to wager?” He waggled his eyebrows.
I pretended to gag. “The rest of us are still here, Mac, and you’re going to offend Davin’s delicate sensibilities.”
“Ah yes,” Mac cocked an eyebrow toward my cousin, who was laying with his eyes closed on the picnic blanket next to me. “Those delicate sensibilities must be the reason he’s so tired today.”
Davin groaned, throwing an arm over his face.
“I told you to drink Aunt Clara’s tonic,” I said.
“I’d rather die.”
“You look like you might get your wish,” Avani chimed in, laughing again. “What a legacy, Cousin. Death by hippocras.”
Steel clanged against steel, and I looked over in time to see Gwyn holding two swords up in the air. “Victory!” she yelled merrily. Gallagher only shook his head ruefully at her competitive spirit.
“You know, everything is going to change after this,” Davin sighed.
Avani shook her head. “Not this again, Dav.”
“I’m just saying, you and Mac will be married and having little ones, and then Gwyn will be next.”
Gwyn glared at him, and I winced. “Bold move when she has two swords in her hand,” I stage whispered.
“I’ll be Captain, you mean,” she corrected, helping her twin to his feet.
Davin, in an uncharacteristic display of self-control, did not argue. He only shook his head. “Either way, change.”
He was right, too. Everything had changed. Just not in a way any of us could have seen coming.
Something had been bothering me, but it wasn’t until we passed another village that I figured out what it was.
“Where are all the children?” I asked.
Everyone in the carriage tensed, and I got the distinct impression I had asked an uncomfortable question.
“One of the village Babushkas usually looks after the little ones,” Theo finally said.
At my quizzical expression, he clarified. “One of the grandmothers.”
“After all of them? She must be a very brave woman, indeed.” I was joking, but Theo shifted in his seat, and Iiro’s jaw went rigid.
“There aren’t many. The Plague did not kill everyone who contracted it,” Theo explained, hesitation clear in his voice. “Young children seemed to be particularly resistant to it, which is likely why I did not succumb to it. But those who had made the change toward adulthood…many of them were robbed of their ability to have children.”
Iiro’s hand went over Inessa’s. She stared out the window like she was ignoring us, but her shoulders were hunched up around her ears, her features tight. A pang of sympathy went through me, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate that emotion coming from me, so I pushed it back down.
No wonder Iiro looked at Theo as a son. Did that mean Inessa did, as well? Was that why she had been even colder toward me today?
While I searched around for something to say, Iiro jumped in to change the subject somewhat forcefully.
“We are entering into Viper territory today, so we will be stopping for the night at Inessa’s home estate, though her parents will have doubtlessly left for the Summit already as we were delayed. I expect you to be on your best behavior.”
Well, if Iiro was unable to have children, at least he could console himself by treating me like one.
