Arrival of the Traveler

  The dance followed the dinner in the ballroom on the opposite side of the entrance hall from the dining room. The ballroom had been decorated with elaborate displays of fresh flowers and was lit by candelabras and chandeliers. Off in a far corner, there was a small group of musicians playing various dances. To Lena’s relief, no one was in the mood for politics once the dancing began. She tried to keep herself hidden in a corner, but it wasn’t long until Griffin sought her out to annoy her.

  “Princess.” He said with a nod and a pleased smile.

  Lena had been busy watching Hesper and Eric across the room. They had stolen a different corner, and were dancing together, very close. Hesper was laughing at something he had said; Eric was smiling in his subtle way. “Why can’t you just be happy for them?”

  “Who?”

  Griffin followed Lena’s gaze out to the dance floor. He sighed.

  “The petition was granted, and I’m officially a Daray now.” He held out his hand. “Would you give me a victory dance?”

  Lena rolled her eyes. “No.”

  “Suit yourself.” And he walked away.

  Lena stared at Griffin’s retreating form in surprise. Had that really just happened? Not only Griffin asking her to dance, but then accepting ‘no’ as an answer? She watched him disappear into the crowd, and then he reappeared a moment later on the far side of the room. It wasn’t long before he was dancing with Bianca Channing, who looked more than happy to oblige to his request. Lena wasn’t sure why, but Bianca’s blond hair and flawless bright smile annoyed her after that, as did the way that she laughed every time Griffin said something. He wasn’t that amusing. She turned her attention back to Hesper and Eric, but quickly became bored. She shared a few dances with Howard, and then excused herself to go to bed.

  Exiting the ball room, she couldn’t help but feel slighted. Griffin had broken the rules; he asked, and she rejected. Then he insisted, and she still rejected. He hadn’t insisted this time, and she wasn’t sure what it meant, or why it mattered to her.

  As she passed through the library, she heard loud voices coming from Daray’s office. People were shouting at each other, and she paused for just a moment too long. The voices went silent.

  Eden, you will join us for a moment. Lena jumped and her heart bounced as adrenaline flooded her system.

  It didn’t matter how many times he did that—every time Lena wanted to run and hide like a scared four-year-old. She took a moment to gather herself and then walked as confidently as she could up to the office. She cracked the door and stuck her head in. “Yes?”

  She glanced around the office. Standing opposite the desk where Master Daray was seated was Master Corbett. He was red in the face, a vein pulsed on his forehead, and as he turned his gaze to Lena he had the look of a crazed dog.

  “Join us in the room properly, Eden. I have some business to finish concerning Master Corbett, and as you aspire to a political career, I feel you should learn from example.” His stern, dying gaze fell on Lena. You will now join me next to the desk.

  Lena tried to keep her flinch to herself, but felt the terror drawn on her face as she approached the two men. She took her place next to Daray and turned to face Master Corbett. Master Corbett smiled, revealing slightly crooked, off-white teeth. They weren’t disgusting or unkempt, but somehow seemed to betray Mr. Corbett’s groomed exterior.

  “Darius, you’ve been a good friend over the years, and you make an interesting proposal. Given your years of devoted service, I’ll consider accepting it, but as I’m sure you know it won’t benefit me either way. It’s a worthless proposal. As I’m sure you’ve heard, my dear little Eden will soon be a Collins. It’s a good thing Astley didn’t kill her, isn’t it? We all know how concerned the Council has become of late regarding her safety. I’d hate to think of what would become of anyone found to be involved in such an ordeal.”

  There was a pause. Lena was confused; did that mean that he knew of someone trying to kill her? Daray raised his eyebrows as if waiting for Master Corbett’s response, which he promptly supplied. “The Council would surely seek swift justice, as we both know.”

  “Indeed. Eden’s safety is paramount. But as she is going to become a Collins, it does leave me in quite a bind. I need someone to continue the Daray line, and it does not befit me to give Griffin back. I apologize for the inconvenience, as well as for the loss of your daughter.” Daray gave a look that was more mocking than apologetic, and Corbett started pacing the floor. After a moment’s pause, and never looking directly at Daray, he gave an outcry that was more of a whine than a demand.

  “You can’t do this to me, Pyrallis! He’s my son!”

  Master Daray shook his head. “Not for a long time, I’m afraid. I’ll consider your offer, but that is all for now.”

  As Master Corbett stormed out of the room, Lena turned on Daray, who was looking rather pleased with himself.

  “What the hell does that mean?” She had meant to speak with the anger she felt, but her voice had gone dry and flat. “Do you know about something…something going on? I’d really appreciate knowing if you know someone’s trying to kill me!”

  Daray hissed between his smile; he looked like he wanted to laugh. “Darius is in a tight spot; he does not command the respect of his family, and he’s lost favor in the Council since your little friend disgraced his name. I’m afraid he’s taken to blackmailing many of them to keep his voice in the vote—he angered a great deal of them over the summer by being so presumptuous of the fact that his family was going to inherit the throne. But that is obviously no longer the case, and his greed has caused all of them to reject him. How he loathes you, Eden. They all do, for one reason or another, but I wouldn’t worry about it. The zealots loathe me too.” He turned his dying eyes on her. “You’re perfectly safe here, Eden, as you’ll always be inside this house.”

  Lena left the office with her skin creeping and the look of satisfied dominance burned into her retinas. Once in her room, she found she wasn’t actually tired anymore. Unable to think of anything else to do, she pulled out her journal and her notes on Latito and practiced her conjugations well into the morning.

  Breakfast the next day dragged on for hours. People had been up so late the night before that many didn’t come down from their rooms until well after ten. Lena, however, was up bright and early, and sat down to eat with Alexis Alarid and her six-year-old brother Ivan. Alexis was unusual in the Silenti world in that she wore a lot of dark clothing; she wasn’t exactly Gothic, but almost. Lena liked her because she looked different than everyone else; she wasn’t as outspoken as Hesper, though she did seem to have her own views on things. Ivan was a very creative child, and entertained himself by creating a sculpture of an airplane out of his oatmeal and toast.

  “Did you enjoy the dance last night?” Lena asked.

  Alexis yawned. “I didn’t get to come down until late. My parents made me watch Ivan until he fell asleep…I didn’t see you there, though.”

  “I went up early.” Lena frowned, remembering the way that Griffin had slighted her. “Anything fun happen after I left?”

  “Same old, same old.” Alexis replied, looking at Lena somberly. “Bunch of old people dancing, then the old people got tired and went to bed, then there were a bunch of young people dancing, then the musicians finally stopped playing, then people kind of went their own ways. The respectable ones go to bed, and the others tend to hang out in dark corners. It was a little bit disturbing, actually. I’m not too fond of those occasions.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t like dancing. And I really don’t like the exchange of bodily fluids…it bothers me to see the way some of those kids will just kiss anyone that crosses their path. It’s like a giant germ factory—God knows what they're brewing at those parties, but let’s hope it doesn’t mutate and become airborne.” Alexis shivered.

  Lena cringed. “Gross. Glad I left early then.”

  Alexis and Lena watched as Ivan grabbed a s
tack of napkins and started to papier-mâché them around the oatmeal frame of his masterpiece.

  “Ivan, are you going to eat anything?” Alexis finally asked.

  “I’m not hungry.” Ivan replied, using his spoon to draw in windows. His accent was much thicker than any other member of the Alarid family; Lena had noticed that this was often the case with the younger children of Silenti families. Hesper had explained that younger boys, especially, were somewhat of a novelty to richer wives. The eldest son was the only one that really mattered, and they were often sent away into hiding to protect the future political stance of the family; the younger boys stayed at home, much like the girls, but they didn’t have nearly as confined upbringings because they didn’t have to advertise themselves for marriage. They were superfluous, and often left to their own devices. Many of them were expected to grow up and become artists, musicians, or scholars, bringing glory to their families by creating beautiful or novel works that would be admired by others. No one ever planned for Ivan to do anything but live in Russia as a secondary member of the family, and possibly take a wife to support a political alliance if it was requested of him, so it really didn’t matter if he spoke English with a strong Russian accent or not.

  Alexis pulled his plate away from him. “Then go find some other kids to play with.”

  Ivan stared at her with large blue eyes, and then hopped down out of his chair and trotted off. Alexis pushed her eggs around her plate.

  “So, I hear you don’t want kids.” She said finally.

  Lena sighed. “Well, that got around fast.”

  Alexis laughed a little. “Well, it was shocking. My mom almost had a heart attack…She’s been kind of hoping that she’d see the portal reopened within her lifetime. Now, it might not ever happen. I don’t get how you could just crush so many people’s dreams like that. It’s your fate, and you’re just going to turn your back on all of it.”

  “I don’t believe in fate.” Lena shook her head.

  Someone on the kitchen staff came out and cleared Ivan’s plates from the table. Alexis sighed. “Are you going to Serafina and Martin’s ceremony tomorrow?”

  Lena thought for a moment. “I guess I’ll have to. It’ll probably look bad if I don’t.”

  “Unfortunate.” Alexis said.

  “You’re not going?” Lena asked, picking up her milk to take a drink.

  Alexis shook her head. “No. I really don’t care for Serafina or Martin. And it’s just one more occasion for my parents to try to fix me up with some loser. You’re so lucky.”

  Lena snorted and milk almost came out her nose. “Me? Why?”

  “You’re young. You’ve still got a few years to avoid it, and even then, I’m betting you hold a lot of influence over the situation…it’s not like they can disown you, is it? And Griffin’s not that bad, all options considered…” Alexis had an expression on her face that was almost bitter.

  “Don’t even. Just don’t even go there.” Lena went back to her oatmeal.

  Alexis raised her hands and smiled. “I mean, I’m not blaming you, but you really do have a unique situation. You’re just lucky, that’s all. You don’t seem to enjoy it as much as you should.”

  Lena tapped her spoon idly against the rim of her bowl. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I mean, I can’t even go to the bathroom or take a walk without someone needing to know where I’m going. I’m under house arrest. I can’t even leave the property without getting special permissions, and even then, my life isn’t mine. People vote on where I get to live, who else gets to live there, how much time I’m allowed to spend with those people…It’s insane. I feel like I’m suffocating.”

  “So why don’t you change it?” Alexis asked.

  “I…can’t.” Lena looked up, surprised, as though this should have been obvious.

  Alexis looked her in the eye. “There are two types of people in this community. The ones who worship you and the ones who want you to be treated just like everyone else. Well, okay, three types if you count the ones who want to kill you. But my point is, it’s all about you, Lena. If you can’t change it, then who can? I thought you didn’t believe in fate…”

  They finished eating in silence. After breakfast, Lena went back to her room to work on her exposition—even though she was sure she already had it the way she wanted. She went over her note cards four times and corrected a few spellings. Around two, Howard asked Lena to meet him in the second floor study. He sounded tired, but was looking very hopeful.

  “You created quite a stir in the first meeting today.” Howard looked at her warily.

  “I’m sorry.” Lena said quietly. “I just didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t think I should lie, so…”

  Howard reached one hand up, loosening his tie and then ruffling his smoothed, greying hair as he spoke. “I think you did very well last night, given the circumstances. Mrs. Brendon was trying to trip you up. It’s a hobby of hers to pick on the new ones, and it’s a good sign that she didn’t see a reason to lay off of you. You didn’t panic, and that was very impressive, even if your answers weren’t.”

  “My answers sucked. Just go ahead and say it.” Lena made a face.

  Howard cocked an eyebrow. “Your answers sucked. I’ve got to get going to another meeting here in a moment, but I suggest you work on your answers now that you know people aren’t going to be polite about their questions. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  Smiling just a little, because Howard had reminded her of her father just then, Lena went back to her room to work on her exposition again. Having spent nearly the whole morning on the exposition, however, she soon became restless and went downstairs to find some other entertainment. Upon entering the living room, she was almost immediately pulled into an uncomfortable conversation by Ava.

  “Lena, this is Mrs. Perry, I believe you met last spring.” Ava smiled and nodded at Lena expectantly. Lena smiled, emphatically said how happy she was to see Mrs. Perry again, and then tried to make the encounter as brief as possible.

  “Oh, well don’t run off so quickly now! I was just telling Cecelia about the lessons Griffin has so graciously been giving you.” Ava looked at Lena, who looked at the expectant Mrs. Perry. She realized she wasn’t going to be leaving until Ava was appeased, and so resigned herself to some creative diplomacy.

  She chose her words carefully, and smiled broadly. “Oh yes. The many hours I’ve spent with him have been a fantastically invaluable use of time.”

  Ava beamed. Mrs. Perry smiled politely, but Lena could see that she was somewhat thwarted. “You’ve been spending a lot of time together, then?”

  Lena made sure to keep her smile fixed. She knew what Ava wanted, and it was to have a daughter with better marriage prospects than Cecelia’s daughter, Serafina. And on the subject of snubbing the Perrys, Lena was on the same page with Ava. She didn’t want to say anything that supported Griffin, and so voiced her thoughts as covertly as possible. “Griffin is very intelligent, and clever to a fault. It’s been quite unwarranted.”

  “Even with the restrictions placed by the Council?” Mrs. Perry’s mood became slightly more agitated, and Lena could hear the sharp edge in her tone.

  Lena let her smile fall slightly, as she thought would be appropriate. “Oh, well, I’m sure you know my dear grandfather is barely clinging to life…that fact is quite tragic. Griffin has had less time for me since the meetings started and my grandfather’s improved—so, so sad.” She shook her head. Ava was still glowing, and Mrs. Perry was looking more dissatisfied by the minute. “And then there’s Griffin’s political career. I must say that his devotion to his work and my family have been…well, just short of obsessive, really. Where politics are concerned, one could say he’s definitely the lead rat in the race.”

  Mrs. Perry, still wearing a false smile, sighed. “Well…aren’t you a lucky one.”

  Lena strained to keep smiling. “Oh, you can’t even imagine…”

  Mrs. Perry crossed her arms an
d her eyes wandered back to Ava. “It’s every mother’s dream to see her daughter successful. Sera and Martin are already planning a family.”

  Ava eyes looked pleadingly over at Lena. “Are they, now?”

  “Oh yes. Sera has always wanted a lot of children.” Cecelia beamed, looking maliciously back to Lena.

  “Well,” Lena looked from Mrs. Perry to an expectant Ava. She couldn’t believe people so young considered themselves ready to be parents—Serafina still acted like a child. “Good for them. Please excuse me.”

  Lena made a beeline for the kitchen before Ava could entrap her further. She wasn’t going to lie about her future plans regarding children…there were some things a person just couldn’t say without twitching. Once inside the crowd of kitchen staff, she started evasive maneuvers to avoid Mrs. Ralston by hanging back in a corner. Her eyes scanned the room, and though she hadn’t had much time to get to know the kitchen staff at the previous meeting, she did recognize a few faces.

  “Hey.” An arm landed across her shoulders and pulled her into an awkward side hug. Lena turned her head and saw Devin smiling broadly. “You didn’t eat those potatoes, did you?”

  “Devin!” Lena smiled and hugged him back. “Yeah…I didn’t eat them. What was that about?”

  Devin had grown significantly since the last time Lena had seen him. He was actually bordering on being taller than she was now, and his light brown hair had grown out a little, but his lopsided smile hadn’t changed at all. He glanced around the kitchen and eyed some of the older adults suspiciously before turning back to Lena.

  “Maybe later. Maybe…” Devin looked around the kitchen again. “Do you have anything to do tomorrow night?”

  Lena looked around the room like Devon had before whispering back to him. “When tomorrow night? What’s happening?”

  At that moment, Tab walked into the room and nodded at Devin. “Look for a note.” And Devin walked briskly back to the sink area, where he started directing drying and stacking activities among some younger teens. And then Mrs. Ralston floated in, toting a huge basket of dirty laundry, and started doling out jobs for dinner preparation.

  “…and Lena, your mother is looking for you. I need some help with the laundry first, if you have time.” Lena gratefully followed Mrs. Ralston and Cheryl to the laundry room, where she took a current load out of the dryer and started folding them. Cheryl moved the washer laundry to the dryer, and then helped Lena fold as Mrs. Ralston sorted the newly arrived wash.

  “Where’s Marie?” Lena asked curiously.

  “She’s having some difficulties with the transition, so I thought it best that she take some time until the meeting is over.” Mrs. Ralston picked up a pile of towels and tossed them into the washer.

  “She’s okay, isn’t she?”

  “It’s mostly the headaches,” said Cheryl, “And the nosebleeds. She had a really bad nosebleed a few days ago.”

  “She saw one of the guests walk through a door that wasn’t there,” Mrs. Ralston explained. “You remember how it was. She’s disoriented and confused with so many people around.”

  Lena turned her attention to Cheryl. “How are you doing?”

  “Okay, I guess. It’s about the same as where I was.” Cheryl said with a polite little laugh. There were times when Lena thought she acted far too old for her age.

  “Oh? How’s the transition going?” Lena asked.

  Cheryl looked confused for a moment. “I’m not like her…I grew up here. I already know all this stuff. I used to live at the Evans.” She went back to her folding as if this explanation resolved the issue.

  “Oh…” Lena looked over at Mrs. Ralston, who was still busy sorting the laundry. She wasn’t sure what Cheryl’s exact status was, but she didn’t want to embarrass her, so she let the issue go for the time being.

  Mrs. Ralston was folding the clothing more aggressively than usual. Finally, she sighed and threw down the jeans she had been holding. “Young Master Corbett is looking for you, too.”

  Cheryl rolled her eyes at the mention of Griffin. Lena continued to fold but looked up at Mrs. Ralston’s disapproving expression.

  “He is?” She asked innocently.

  “Nothing frantic, but you know how displeased he gets when kept waiting. I suggest you forgo visiting with your mother since I’ve kept you here.” Mrs. Ralston said gratingly.

  Lena smiled a little, but Mrs. Ralston still looked displeased. She folded a last towel and turned to leave.

  “You’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately.” Mrs. Ralston added, indicating that the conversation wasn’t done yet.

  Lena paused. “It’s a political duty. That’s all.”

  “Of course.” Mrs. Ralston had sorted all the laundry. She straightened her dress and walked over to Lena. Your mother is going around telling people how clever and devoted you find Griffin, and how much time you’ve spent together. You said these things to her?

  “Whoa.” Lena held her hands up. “I said he was clever to a fault, that his interest in the Darays bordered on a freakish obsession, and that the time we spent together was unwarranted. That’s what I said. Whatever my mom heard was what she wanted to hear.”

  Mrs. Ralston sighed, and a fleeting smile graced her tight lips before she became serious again. I trust you know you’re putting yourself in a precarious situation, and I don’t need to remind you to remind yourself that it’s only a political obligation. If it’s ever anything else, it’s illegal. You’d need to tell Howard or me, and we’ll take care of it.

  Lena tried ineffectively to stare down Mrs. Ralston as Cheryl looked back and forth between them, trying not to laugh, which was her usual reaction to tense situations. “It’s just political. Nothing else.”

  Mrs. Ralston was looking very sternly into her eyes. Her arms were crossed. She sighed again and very suddenly pulled Lena into a hug. Lena wasn’t sure what to do, so she waited until Mrs. Ralston released her, smiled at her, and then they walked into the kitchen together. As Lena made her way to the stairs in the living room, she listened to Mrs. Ralston shout orders back in the kitchen.

  “What?” Lena threw herself into one of the armchairs that sat opposite Master Daray’s desk. It was the first time she’d ever actually seen Griffin sit at the desk, and it was slightly unnerving. He looked entirely natural behind Daray’s desk.       

  “Master Daray’s health has improved. He asked me to tell you.”

  Griffin turned his attention back to some papers on the desk that he had been studying. Lena looked down at the paperwork, then back at Griffin. Time seemed to move at crawl, and for the first time, Lena noticed an unusual ticking noise coming from somewhere in the room. She twisted around in her chair, but still couldn’t find the clock that the noise was emanating from. She turned back to Griffin, who was looking at her again.

  “Why are you still here?” He asked in a stern tone.

  Lena stared at him for a moment before his words sank in. “Oh…That was it?”

  “Yes. That’s all.” Griffin went back to his papers. He picked up a pen and started to make notes in one of the margins.

  Lena looked around the room again. He had called her up just to deliver a simple message?

  He was glowering at her again. “I’m very busy. If you’d like to continue your studies the books are on the side table, but otherwise please go.”

  Lena stood up. She watched Griffin doubtfully for a moment, and then slowly made her way back towards the library stairs. When he didn’t try to stop her, she turned around.

  “Okay. What’s going on?” She asked doubtfully.

  Griffin looked annoyed. He put his pen down and glanced up at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re just…that’s all you wanted? To tell me something that I don’t even care about?” She accused.

  “Apparently.” He watched her a moment longer, and when she didn’t speak, he went back to his previous engagement. Lena looked around the room again, looking for an
answer or something else to say, and then left down the library stairs.

  That night at dinner, Howard seated Lena at a side table with some other aspiring heirs. The conversation wasn’t bad, and politics hardly even came up—Lena had a sneaking suspicion that at least some of them didn’t think it appropriate to discuss politics in front of a lady. She’d had enough politics for the day, so she didn’t push the issue. Master Corbett was sitting in a corner with a family Lena didn’t recognize; he had taken to drinking a good deal of wine, and was staring suspiciously around at the other Council members. Bianca Channing had made her way to near the head of the main table. She was sitting next to Griffin, and while it didn’t really bother Lena, she found that she kept glancing in that general direction. Griffin and Bianca didn’t seem to be talking too much, though she did see them share a few brief interactions. That was typical for Griffin, though—from what Lena could remember, he didn’t ever talk much at dinner. What was different, and Lena was surprised it bothered her, was that she hadn’t caught Griffin looking at her once; he didn’t whisper compliments from across the room or once meet her eyes. Master Daray was deep in conversation with two Council members Lena hadn’t met yet; he was acting in higher spirits than usual. He looked up at Lena and smiled; Lena turned back to her tablemates, and joined in a conversation about white water rafting. She had actually been before, and Ryan Ashmore invited her to go on a group trip the following summer (“…with Council approval, of course”).

  After dinner, Lena found a few moments to spend with Hesper and Eric. Hesper was looking more tired and worn than Lena had ever seen her, and she guessed the tent was starting to get to her. She offered Hesper her room, but the offer was turned down.

  “It’s just a stomach bug.” Hesper leaned in closer. “Serena and Greg are letting us room with them, so don’t worry about us. Thanks for the offer, though.”

  Lena found her way back up to her room, and saw that Mrs. Ralston had picked out three outfits that she deemed appropriate for the Perry-Colburn consecration ceremony the next day. Lena hung the clothes up at the front of her closet, changed into her nightclothes, and climbed into bed. When her head hit the pillow, it made a crinkling noise—she reached inside the pillowcase and pulled out a sheet of paper.

  Colburn and Perry staff has off tomorrow night because of the ceremony tomorrow noon. There’s going to be a party if you want to come.      

  Outside greenhouse 8 p.m.

  --Dev

  Lena still wanted to know what had happened to the potatoes, and decided she would have to go if she was ever going to find out. Besides, she didn’t have anything planned for that night, and it sounded like fun.

  The consecration ceremony was straightforward. It was conducted in Latito, so Lena only understood about half of it, but it involved a lot of the same type vows and promises that most marriage ceremonies did—love, honor, fidelity, and so forth and so on for about forty-five minutes. Near the end of the ceremony he said something about the portal that she didn’t quite understand, but it made her uncomfortable nonetheless. Serafina and Martin kneeled at an altar-type table on the lawn outside the greenhouse and the ceremony was led by Martin’s father, Calvin Colburn, who was a chubby man in his mid-fifties. Serafina wore an elaborate golden dress that was very conservative given her normal standard, and the attendants were composed of various younger siblings and cousins of the two.      

  There was food and dancing afterward that lasted for about four hours and kept the kitchen staff on their feet. Hesper left during the dancing because she was sick, Alexis was absent as promised, and Bianca was still staying very close to Griffin. Howard was talking with a group of Council members about something that had happened at a meeting the previous evening, and Ava was talking with Serafina and Cecelia Perry. With nothing else to do, Lena wandered into the greenhouse where the younger children were playing. She wanted to sneak out early to get some sleep because the real party was starting at eight. She played some synchronized hand clapping games with Daisy and Rose for a while, and then looked over her shoulder and saw something that concerned her far more than she would have expected.

  Griffin was off at the far corner of the house, almost hiding around the other side, and a young woman in a powder blue dress was with him. Lena turned around and stared through the clear glass wall at the two, squinting to get a clearer view. They appeared to be talking; Griffin was leaning casually against the side of the house, and then he straightened up. The girl turned her head to look back at the party, and Lena got a clear view of Bianca’s profile. What happened next, she wasn’t sure exactly…she replayed it over and over in her mind, and it never made any more sense. Griffin put a hand on her cheek and kissed her—and kept kissing her.

  The next thing she knew, Lena was suddenly outside the greenhouse and floating across the lawn toward Griffin and Bianca. By the time she arrived, they had stopped kissing, but it seemed to have taken her an eternity to get there. Then she was standing in front of them. They were laughing—laughing, a thing that Lena wasn’t entirely sure she had ever heard Griffin do before.

  With more force and volume than she intended, she’s said, “Great party, isn’t it!”

  Bianca turned around, startled, red in the face, and looking so guilty that Lena wanted to scream it to the world. “Oh! Lena! Yes, it is a good party…I think…goodbye!”

  And she scurried off back to the clusters of people nearer the greenhouse. Lena turned to face Griffin, who was looking more annoyed than she had ever seen him.

  “Griffin.” She said uncertainly.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He pushed past her and walked a few steps in Bianca’s direction. Then he stopped and turned on Lena. His eyes were almost glowing red and he was now standing between Lena and the party. She took a few steps backward, he followed her, and she suddenly found herself standing around the corner of the house. They were alone, and Lena was at a loss for words.

  “What was that?!” He pointed back to where they had been standing a few moments earlier. He wasn’t yelling, but Lena wished he would—it might have attracted attention to their location. “Who do you think you are, to be interrupting me like that? I’m the heir. I’m the talent. I enforce the decisions made, and someday I will be the one making the decisions here, and you will not challenge my authority!”

  Lena tried to fake that she wasn’t scared and rolled her eyes. Griffin shoved her hard enough that she fell backwards onto the ground, smearing dirt on both palms as she caught herself. She looked up, stunned.

  “You’re beneath me.” He turned and walked away.

  Lena sat on the ground for a few minutes, trying to figure out what had just happened, and not for the last time in her life, the weight of her situation came crashing down on her. After the shock wore off, the pain in her palms finally reached her brain. Embarrassed, and maybe a little hurt, a tear slid down her cheek and she pulled herself up. She walked around to the front door to avoid the crowd, slipped inside, and went upstairs and laid down on her bed. She cried a little less than she used to, and eventually fell asleep.

  Around six, there was a knock on her bedroom door. It was Griffin, still dressed for the party and looking a little tired.

  “I’ve got time tonight if you want to try to work through some of the older texts. Nothing late, though. The meeting that was supposed to happen tonight was rescheduled to early tomorrow morning.”

  He was just going to ignore what had happened earlier? When she didn’t respond, he shook his head and laughed quietly.

  “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and you’re not making it any easier.” His eyes were glassy, like he hadn’t been getting enough sleep, and his clothes were slightly more disorganized than Lena was used to seeing. His shirt wasn’t tucked evenly, the top button of his shirt was undone, and he was leaning in the doorframe; she supposed this was what Griffin looked like when he was under stress, but he didn’t look much different than usual.
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  Lena glanced at the clock and decided she had time. It wasn’t like she was able to say she already had plans…if she told Griffin about the party, she was sure he wouldn’t want her to go.

  Finally, she sighed and let her guard down; at least he was talking to her again. “Fine. You’re forgiven.”

  I wasn’t apologizing.

  “Well, you should.” Lena said, crossing her arms again.

  Griffin stared at her, hard, and Lena realized things hadn’t gone back to normal. He was still angry with her for some unspoken reason. “You pissed me off. I don’t apologize.”

  “You shoved me.” Lena hissed with more bravery than she would have thought possible of herself. “I scraped my hands!” She held up one of her hands in front of him as proof.

  Griffin’s eyes fixed on her palm, which wasn’t actually scraped, bruised, or even red; it did have some stains where the mud had really gotten into the creases. Lena suddenly felt ridiculous accusing him of anything, because the whole thing seemed so childish—she had caught him kissing a girl, and he had pushed her in the mud. It was something that seven-year-olds would do on the playground. But as Griffin’s eyes flicked from her hand to her face, Lena could see he took it much more seriously than she did.

  Are you hurt? He asked.

  Lena closed her hand and withdrew it back to her body. “No.”

  Griffin nodded, looking down.

  She agreed to meet him in the study in fifteen so that he could change.

  Once in the study, Griffin pulled an archaic looking book out of the stacks and opened it on the table. He had dark circles under his eyes, and she really didn’t want to be around him anymore.

  “Are you sure you’re up for this?” She asked.

  “It needs to get done.”

  Lena gave Griffin a sidelong glance, and then looked down at the text. “This one isn’t in Latito, Griffin.”

  “What?” Griffin looked at Lena. He didn’t make any effort to look at the text, so Lena guessed it was one that he couldn’t read.

  “It’s just a bunch of pictures. Sketches, I guess.”

  “What of?”

  Lena flipped through the pages, and found that some of them did have some Latito written on them, but many of them were just sketches of places and things. “Let’s see…there’s a house, a dog, a chair, a bed…just stuff. This section says something about…something.”

  “That’s very helpful, Lena.” Griffin sneered. “Do you see any names?”

  “Initials. L. C.”

  Griffin took the book, closed it, and put it back on a shelf. “That one was written by Lenore Cassius.”

  “So then, why can’t you read it?” Lena asked.

  “Lenore was one of the royal blood.”

  “Why isn’t it worth reading?”

  Griffin gave up on finding another book and sat back down in the chair next to Lena’s. “Lenore wasn’t really involved with the portal. Dobry and his ancestors had had the portal for generations without ever realizing what it was. It wasn’t until the family brought it to a gathering in China and had a chance meeting with Silas Cassius in the mid-eighteen hundreds, and he identified it, that they realized their coffee table was a religious relic. That's when he designed the carvings for the exterior of the box to assure that it could be easily identified.”

  “Why didn’t he open it?” Lena asked. Silas Cassius being one of the royal blood, it seemed obvious that he would have done the most obvious thing possible to test if an unknown object was the portal.

  “He did.” Griffin retorted. “He opened it right when he found it, just to see if he could, and then he closed it again. There was just as much controversy back then as there is now, and they wanted to control it. Well, less than a week later, people started dying. A lot of people blamed the portal, but they couldn’t destroy it, so they entrusted it back to the Darays. The two families remained close, and years later Lenore Cassius and Dobry Daray were married. The only reason Lenore and their child survived the Nazi raid was because they happened to be visiting her mother at the time the Nazis took Dobry away. I meant to give you Silas’s account, not his granddaughter’s scribble book.”

  Lena looked at Griffin, slouching in his chair and looking drained. She decided it might be best to just let him go to bed. “Maybe that’s enough for tonight…”

  Griffin brought a hand to his forehead and sighed. “Maybe. I wouldn’t want you to be late for your party.”

  Lena’s eyes went wide. “It’s…just a little party tonight, that’s all.”

  “You’re an absolute disgrace to your family, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to make you otherwise. Not anymore.” Griffin, who had been sitting hunched over, leaned back in his chair. Worn out, his eyes fell on Lena, who was slightly surprised by what he had said.

  “Why not?” She asked in a small voice.

  Griffin’s gaze fell heavy on her. “You’re not worth it.”

  Lena froze. She fixed her eyes on Griffin’s and tried to detect what he was up to. “Liar. He told you to say that, didn’t he? He told you to do all of this…”

  But Griffin didn’t flinch. There was no reaction at all—he stared aimlessly into a corner. “Yes and no. In fact, he was very displeased with the situation at first. But the fact of the matter is that you’re not suited to be a Daray, and eventually he agreed with me.” Griffin sighed.

  Lena gawked. “And Bianca is. You’re saying she’s a better Daray than I am? Is that supposed to make me jealous or something?”

  “No. Why? Does it?” Griffin glanced back over at Lena, and then continued very matter-of-factly. “The bloodline is obviously still yours, and only your son—your Silenti son—will be able to open the portal. But if you don’t want my help and protection anymore, then I won’t force it on you. I’ve moved on—Bianca Channing has a strong family line and far more devotion to the concept of family than you do. It’s a good match, and as Master Daray said it would, having her around has helped me to understand what your place should be. You’ve been allowed too much liberty to ever become a respectable wife.”

  Lena and Griffin locked stares. She wanted to believe that he was saying it to get a rise out of her, and possibly to get her to argue with him by saying that she could be a great wife—a better one than Bianca could. But as she looked at him, there was no hint of a smirk on his face, just as there was no humor in his tone.

  The annoying ticking was still present in the room. After what seemed like an eternity, Griffin stood up to leave. Lena’s voice dislodged.

  “So, that’s it then?” She said.

  “That’s it.” Griffin walked to the stairs that led to the upper floors, then paused in the doorway. “The Council’s going to be doing the expositions toward the end of the meetings this year. As long as you keep at the translations, he’ll still help you get in.” And he was gone.

  Lena looked at the empty doorway as if she expected Griffin to come back down any second with a message from her grandfather that she was forbidden to go to the party because it wasn’t befitting of a Daray. But he didn’t, and Lena continued to sit in the empty office. After a while she shook herself loose from the spell of Griffin’s leaving and looked around the room for the clock again, but she still couldn’t see it, so she went back down to her room. It was already eight by that point, and without thinking, she changed into some older jeans and a comfortable top, grabbed a pullover, and snuck down to wait by the greenhouse.

  *****