Rena's Game by Mira Lamb

Author:Mira Lamb [Lamb, Mira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

A red-haired boy in his late teens brought Rena a bowl of clear chicken broth and a silver carafe of coffee. He stayed with her while she ate, standing unobtrusively in a corner of the room and stepping forward now and again to refill the cup at her elbow. Rena decided she could get used to this.

The third time the boy, whose name was Troy, bowed to her before refilling her cup, Rena asked him why. “I mean,” she said, smiling to show that she wasn’t offended. “It isn’t as if I’m one of the Gentry. I’m as human as you are.”

The tips of Troy’s overly large ears turned pink. He was kind of cute in an overgrown-puppy sort of way, Rena thought. “I know, miss,” he said, staring at the tops of his shiny black shoes. “But you’re Lord Malachi’s personal servant. The law says a lord’s servant is his proxy and must be treated as such in his absence.”

“It does?” Rena was bemused. She’d never really read up on the finer points of the Human Commerce Agreement. Once the slaves left her and Maggie’s booth, her involvement with them ended.

“Do you treat Malachi like this when he’s here?”

“Oh no, miss. His lordship’s made it clear we’re not to attend him.” Troy lowered his voice. “This was years before my time, but I heard his exact words were, ‘If I catch sight of another sniveling human anywhere near me, I’ll break his neck.’”

Rena raised her eyebrows. “Sounds serious.”

Troy nodded impressively. “He means it, miss. We all stay in the kitchen when he’s here, at least until he and Lord Caleb go downstairs. But you’re different.”

There was a wistful look on his acne-scarred face. Rena felt uncomfortable. “Troy, you haven’t been bitten, have you?”

Troy looked down, fumbling for her cup. Rena took the carafe from him and set it aside. “Answer me, please. It’s all right. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Of course I have,” Troy said, still addressing his shoes. He touched the side of his neck. “But it was just the one time, you know, when Lord Caleb hired me. It’s not like you or Aakif.”

“I’m not like Aakif,” Rena said, more sharply than she’d intended.

“Yes, miss,” Troy said. Rena could tell he didn’t believe her.

She sighed. “You seem like an intelligent guy. Why don’t you get work elsewhere? Why stay with the Gentry?”

Troy looked up. His eyes were cornflower-blue, round with astonishment. “I couldn’t do that, miss.”

“Why not? You’re a free reg, aren’t you? You could get a permit and go anywhere.”

“I could, miss. But the Gentry, you know? There’s nothing else like them.”

“You know what they do. What they are. They might kill you.”

“Oh no, miss. Lord Caleb wouldn’t do that. And…”

“What?”

“Well, it’s not like you or Aakif,” Troy said again. “But there’s always the chance, you know? Lord Caleb’s inauguration is in a couple of months. There’s a chance, if I get assigned to serve at the ball…” His face flushed brick red as he finished in a whisper.

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