Thea's Tale (Sisters Of The Curse Book 1) by Lisa Manifold

Author:Lisa Manifold [Manifold, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OTI Press LLC
Published: 2015-05-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Thea looked out over the great hall and sighed. She sat between her father and Sebastian, as she had every night for the last two weeks—two weeks of endless balls, parties, games and frolics on the lawn, emissaries from other courts, more people from the court of Laurycia to celebrate with Sebastian, and even more people from Ethion, to celebrate the ending of hostilities between the two nations and Casimir’s appointment as Ambassador to the Empress of Samir.

For Ambassador he was to be. His father had sent a reply via a herald who’d read of the king’s great pleasure in working with his neighbors. Thea had been sitting between Aland and Sebastian when that occurred. She could feel the pleasure radiating from Sebastian.

Those of Gallivas looked a bit tired this evening. It was wearing having constant visitors for well over a month now. She was even more tired of it all than her people were. She was not only the daughter of the host, but supposedly part of a happy couple. The pretense was wearing.

She’d had to watch Isobel continue to seek out Casimir. She and Isobel were no longer talking. Their last conversation had ended with Isobel blaming Thea for bringing trauma into their lives, and Isobel had steadfastly avoided any conversation with her since. Not that Thea felt inclined to seek her out. They were both miserable and Thea didn’t want to add to it by forcing conversation.

She wanted to be angry with Casimir, but couldn’t be. Attempting to watch him dispassionately, she could see that he often sought to include others when Isobel sought him out. He was paying heed to what she’d said to him. He made sure not to be alone with any one lady and certainly none of her sisters.

She’d barely had a chance to speak with him. Recently, while leaving chapel after morning prayers, he’d kissed her hand and given her a look that made her melt. But there had been no way to sneak out, or hide away. She was too on display, and there were too many people who commanded her time.

Additionally, she and her sisters were drawn below ground every single night. Every. Single. Night. Since telling them about her meeting with Catrin, they had all stayed alert the next night. Now all were aware of the reality of their nightly dancing, although the princes with whom they danced still were not. The stress of being awake every night made them short tempered and unhappy. They were all so tired they barely had the energy to fight. As she did every day, Thea cursed Catrin.

“Thea?” Her father’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“I am sorry, Father. I was woolgathering.” She smiled at him.

“I am sorry to hear that, daughter. This is not the time to do so.”

Thea stifled her sigh. “Yes, Father, you are correct. Please accept my apologies. Would you repeat what you said?”

She could tell Sebastian, sitting next to her, had heard this. Wisely, he kept silent.

“I asked if there was any change in the matter I inquired about a fortnight ago.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.