Schemes by Krista D. Ball

Author:Krista D. Ball
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Krista D. Ball
Published: 2015-08-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Opal tugged on Edmund’s trousers and demanded, “Up, Dada! Up!”

He reached down and picked up the little monster. She looked like her mother, with her dark hair, dark eyes, and her chubby, copper-hued skin. She grinned when Edmund wrapped his hand around her and used the stump on his other arm to balance her. Once settled on his lap, she pointed at a ragged doll on the ground. “Bun, up! Dada! Bun!”

Edmund obeyed and picked up the cloth bunny, taking care to shake the grass off it first. Opal balanced herself happily on Edmund’s lap and chatted away to her toy in her baby language.

“What do you say, Opal?” Amber said. Opal grinned up at Edmund before going back to chatting with her toy. “She can’t say thank you yet.”

The three of them were sitting under the white tent of the Imperial Palace’s south garden. It had taken most of a year to move Amber here. Despite all of his and Arrago’s urging, Amber wouldn’t move into the palace with them. She stayed with the Dowager Duchess of Arsenia the last year. With the arrival of Allric’s sister, however, they were finally able to persuade Amber to move to the capital where Arrago could help her.

However, Amber didn’t want to impose on Arrago’s hospitality and took lodgings in the city. An actual apartment. Above a butcher shop.

In the end, Lord Stanley and Lord Rayner used their years of diplomatic experience and convinced Amber to come to the palace for Prince Henry’s benefit. Paverly, Allric’s sister, cautioned them that Opal was Elorian and her maturity would not keep pace with the young prince’s. But, she also thought the young prince would help Opal mature a little faster than many isolated Elorians did.

This was where Edmund spent nearly every morning now, sitting outside with Amber and Opal, to take breakfast together. Most of the aristocracy didn’t eat breakfast; they skipped straight to dinner. But Amber liked having a simple breakfast, and even Edmund had become used to it, having been around elves for so long.

He liked the quiet. It was good for Amber to socialize and little Opal needed a man in her life. He was no Lord Allric; no one could ever replace her father. Yet, when he was with Opal, she didn’t care that he was missing an eye and a hand. All she cared about was Bunny and Dada picking her up.

Opal dropped her toy on the ground and pouted. “Dada! Bun!”

Edmund dutifully picked up the ragged thing, shook it off, and handed it back. Opal threw it back on the ground and grinned. “Dada! Bun!”

“Opal,” Amber said in an authoritative voice that reminded Edmund of his own mother’s stern warnings. Why did all mothers have that same tone? Were they taught it in the birthing chamber? “Do not throw Bunny on the ground.”

“Dada! Bun!” Opal said, pointing. Her face was screwed up into an angry scowl. “Bun!”

He bent over, picked Bunny up, and shook it off. He handed it to her and said, with less authority than Amber, “Don’t throw it again.

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