Honor Tested by L. C. Williams

Author:L. C. Williams [Williams, L. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B09Q3KCGQF
Goodreads: 60567274
Publisher: Liminal Corvid Press
Published: 2021-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

9

Egalitarian

Thursday, May 3rd.

The garden party at House Duvall was the first event Honor attended with Noble Yasmin as her mentor. It was a small affair, as these things went, with only a dozen nobles and their companions in attendance. Large round tables were set out on a series of paved terraces, surrounded by flower beds that were bursting with tulips, narcissi, hyacinths and anemones. The guests, like the flowers, basked in the light of the sun under a clear blue sky; it was the first truly warm day they’d had all spring, and while many of them carried parasols, nobody was using them.

Most of the guests were gray-haired old ladies, old enough to be Yasmin’s mother, but they seemed charmed and delighted to have Honor and Natasha with them. The two younger women followed obediently at Yasmin’s elbow, moving from group to group, curtseying to their elders and making idle conversation with each new person to whom they were introduced. Honor forgot most of their names as soon as Yasmin had said them, but she made note of the houses in attendance: Trent; Chalmers; Drauling; Ballantine; and Duvall, who was hosting the event.

“I don’t understand,” Honor whispered to Yasmin, when they had a moment of privacy. “Most of these women are from Conservative houses, are they not?”

Yasmin quirked their lips at one corner. “They are, yes. What is your question, mija?”

“I thought we were going to talk to people who supported the succession bill. The Conservative houses are all opposed.”

“The Conservative men are all opposed,” Yasmin said wryly. “For the women is not so clear, ¿entiendes? And besides, in politics it is not enough to rely on the friends you have en este momentito. You must try to win friends from the other side, también. You may find them where you do not expect.”

Yasmin beckoned them over to a small table next to a patch of irises, which were not yet blooming but already had plenty of long, sword-shaped leaves. A regal woman in her mid-sixties, her long blonde hair streaked with white, sat at the table with her back to the foliage, looking out over the party like a lioness at a watering hole. Unlike the other guests, she sat alone; and though everyone who passed her bowed or curtseyed in her direction, none of them seemed inclined to linger in her company. Her dress was a richly patterned woven silk, gold on light brown, and she wore a golden brooch of a fleur-de-lis over her left breast. Her pale blue eyes scanned over the three companions as they approached, then focused on Yasmin. She gave the androgyne a nod and the barest hint of a smile.

“Viscountrex,” she said. She had a strong, clear alto voice, and sounded neither pleased nor displeased to see them.

Yasmin was wearing a full-length dress for this outing, rather than a kilt, so they curtseyed to the lady instead of bowing. “Countess. May I introduce Lady Honor of House Bellvue, and her companion, Miss Natasha Volkova.

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