Inheritors of Power by Juliette Wade

Author:Juliette Wade [Wade, Juliette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Published: 2022-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

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The Alixi of Selimna was keeping secrets.

Catín wasn’t fooled by his hospitality. They had been welcomed back after their stroll and treated to a primly polite dinner with the Alixi and his Lady, and the children. Everyone had been too gracious, too cautious. Most disconcertingly, Tagaret’s Kuarmei and Della’s Yoral had stayed silent at their stations, awarding her only the most basic of polite gaze-gestures. She didn’t exactly expect to be made to feel at home in a provincial Maze, but this was Master Adon’s close family and Household; there should have been some gesture of welcome. The renowned Lady Tamelera and her Aloran had made no appearance. Her Master had spent the remainder of the evening considering garments that had been hung on the walls of his room, and eventually excused her to her Maze rooms so he could try them on. By the time she’d peeked in again, he’d gone to bed.

Today had to be another opportunity. She could hardly expect to break through a noble family’s barriers easily, but, robbed of the opportunity to continue her Pelismara projects, her mind kept butting against the problem. She went to the kitchens break room for breakfast. Hopefully, someone there might allow her a conversation.

When she arrived at the small, stone-walled room adjoining the main Residence kitchens, carrying a glass of juice and a plate of bread and fruit preserves, only two people were there. One was a golden-skinned Household woman she didn’t recognize, who immediately stood up and left.

The other was a senior manservant with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, who sat quietly at the main steel table.

Half a breath later she realized she’d seen his face in a portrait on her Master’s wall, and her throat closed up.

Of all people to run into . . . Questions crowded into her head. She kept breathing and sent him a gaze-gesture of greeting.

“Good morning,” he said. “I’m Tamelera’s Aloran. I’ve been hoping to speak to you. Perhaps you would sit beside me while you eat.”

“Certainly,” she replied. Calm. Professional. You can do this. She took a stool beside him at the table but had no idea how to begin a conversation. She studied him as subtly as she knew how, taking only brief glances. He was graceful and dignified, and yes, handsome. He looked quite young for a man almost fifty.

He didn’t look like a man of poor judgment, but the resemblance to Adon was undeniable.

“I should inform you that your departure for Pelismara has been delayed,” Aloran said.

Oh, no. She gaze-gestured questioning.

“Please don’t worry; not by much. However, young Master Vant will be visiting a doctor this morning, a mind specialist in the Up-Bend district by the name of Kartunnen Tessai, and you won’t be able to depart until later tonight.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Not a significant delay, thank Heile. If the family was taking Master Vant to a medical specialist, though, that suggested his sister’s concerns were not unfounded. “I wish him health,” she said.

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