Love's Labor's Won (30 page)

“Sometimes,” Master Grey said.

“Then tell me,” Emily said, “what are the
other
stories about how the feud started?”

Master Grey gave her a long, considering look. “Some people are told that the Ashworths wished to keep the family following the old traditions, while the Ashfalls wanted to rewrite them to suit themselves. The family was split between two factions, both so large that neither could claim a consensual victory. Eventually, the Ashworths stayed where they were, while the Ashfalls stormed off to set up their own family. And the feud spread from there.”

It sounded believable, Emily decided. And yet...was it really likely that the split had been even enough to allow half the family to leave the other half?

He snorted. “In the old days, there would have been no contact between the magical families and common mundanes,” he added. “This would not have happened.”

Emily rather doubted it. From what she’d read, both the mundane aristocracy and the magical families had once been tied together under the emperor. It had only been after the death of the last emperor and the fall of the Empire that the two had separated, which was probably why powerful magic had popped up in Alassa’s bloodline. But then, she had never really been sure just how powerful King Randor was, or indeed if he was a magician at all.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I have to take the brat back to the castle and hand him over to his father. I’m sure he will deal with him.”

Master Grey looked for a moment as though he were about to say something, but instead shrugged and walked off towards the bookstalls. Emily glowered after him, collected Frieda, and began the walk back to the castle, mentally planning out what she would say to Marcellus. Maybe the Ashworth Patriarch would see it as a joke too, but
Emily
didn’t. One way or another, Maximus would not be allowed back to the Faire.

“He won’t like you telling him this,” Frieda warned, once Emily had told her what had happened. “Fathers always believe the best of their sons.”

“I know,” Emily said. In Markus’s case, Marcellus might have been right. “But I saw what happened, and I have Master Grey as a witness. And I told them all that I would not tolerate anyone abusing my people.”

Frieda gave her a strange look, but said nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I
WISH TO APOLOGIZE, ONCE AGAIN
, for my son’s behavior,” Marcellus said, during the evening meal. “He has been soundly chastised.”

“As in, he’s been told very loudly that he’s been very naughty and he’s not to do it again,” Fulvia put in. “There’s nothing to be gained by allowing one’s children to run free.”

“Except free-thinking magicians,” Marcellus countered, crossly. “But I suppose you wouldn’t want people thinking for themselves.”

Emily sighed as the two magicians sniped at one another. They weren’t the only ones; rumors had spread rapidly, of course, and now the two families were bickering constantly, while the other guests were trying to stay out of the line of fire. Both Markus and Melissa seemed to have made themselves scarce, while Gaius looked cross, and his two cronies were glowering around the room, as if they were searching for someone to blame.

“I don’t care about what you do elsewhere,” she said, sharply. “But I do care about what you do here.”

“My son has been taught a lesson,” Marcellus assured her. “He will not be abusing your people again.”

“Good,” Emily said.

“My son would not have had to be told,” Fulvia commented. “He
knows
not to pick on the small, weak, and helpless.”

“Your son is old enough to have grandchildren,” Marcellus snapped. “How does your granddaughter behave?”

Emily sighed and prayed, inwardly, that the meal would come to a quick end. Perhaps she could arrange for the next dinner to be held outside the castle, or perhaps come up with an emergency that required her urgent attention. Or...she cursed inwardly, already knowing what Lady Barb would say. She didn’t dare risk giving offense by
not
hosting the dinner every night.

After this, I am damned if I am hosting anything else
, she thought, crossly.
The next Faire can be held on the other side of the world
.

Dinner, thankfully, came to an end without bloodshed, although there were a number of moments when Emily feared all hell was about to break loose. She watched the servants prepare the dance floor, and headed up to the balcony to rest while the guests danced the night away. Jade and Alassa were dancing; it bothered her to watch them, even though she wasn’t sure why. They looked happy together...no, more than
happy
; they looked
right
together. Part of her envied her friends that happiness.

“My lady?”

Emily turned to see one of the maids, a young girl she barely knew. Like so many of the others, she was a younger daughter and had gone into service, rather than trying to find a husband or a life of her own. Emily knew that most of her maids would leave in a few years, with enough money to be sure of finding either a husband or a place to set up their own business, but it still felt wrong, as if people had been dealt a poor hand simply by being born.

And it galled her she couldn’t remember half of their names.

“Yes,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s something...
funny
...about the library,” the maid said. “I’m meant to clean it...ah...I kept meaning to do it, but every time I went close to the library I forgot what I was doing and walked away. And it kept happening.”

Emily frowned. It sounded like an aversion ward, one tuned to grant privacy without calling attention to itself. Anyone who walked too close would miss it, or remember something urgent they had to do elsewhere. A powerful magician might sense its presence, if he were looking for it, but others might just be repelled without ever realizing they’d been pushed away. Mountaintop had once been shrouded in such wards.

“I’ll see to it,” she said. It wasn’t
her
work and her friends were down on the dance floor, enjoying themselves. One of her guests had to have raised the ward. “Leave the library until tomorrow, please. The books will keep.”

The maid bobbed a curtsey and hurried off. Emily watched her go, then turned and hurried down to the library. She felt the ward pressing gently against her mind as soon as she reached the door, trying to nudge her away. It was a skilled piece of work, she had to admit; if Lady Barb hadn’t made her work overtime to recognize the existence of such magics and counter them, she might have missed it entirely. She gritted her teeth — the maid would have wound up in hot water for not doing her job — and pushed against the ward. It didn’t actually fit into
her
wards — that would have been a step too far — but it was close enough that most people capable of noticing the ward would have assumed that
Emily
had put it in place.

But that would tell them I had something to hide
, Emily thought. She had no illusions about how many magicians had been sneaking around her castle. Most of her notes were heavily protected — and the battery was sealed in her pocket — but that wouldn’t stop some of her guests from trying to snoop.
They would think the ward was hiding something of mine
.

She pushed right though the ward and opened the door, silently promising herself that whoever had created the ward was going to get a piece of her mind, then stopped dead. Markus was sitting on a chair; Melissa sat on his lap. And they were kissing...they jumped apart, Melissa hastily standing up, as they saw Emily. Emily braced herself as Melissa lifted her hand, ready to cast a spell, but she dropped it again. Behind her, Markus rose to his feet.

“Emily,” he said, gravely.

Emily looked from one to the other and found herself fighting down a giggle. Melissa’s lips were swollen...and, from her rumpled clothes, it was clear they’d been doing a bit more than
just
kissing. She remembered Imaiqah looking like that, after the party they’d held to celebrate the destruction of the Mimic...her friend had admitted, later, that she’d had more than just a kiss with a boy.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Melissa said.

Emily lost control and started to giggle, inanely. Melissa looked torn between anger that she was being laughed at and relief, maybe because Emily hadn’t screamed for her great-grandmother, or even her grandfather. Markus stepped up behind Melissa and rested an arm on her shoulder, protectively. He genuinely cared for her, Emily realized, even though they had only just met. But then, they did have a great deal in common.

“If it isn’t what it looks like,” Emily managed to say, finally, “what is it?”

Markus and Melissa exchanged glances, as if they were uncertain what to say. Emily found herself giggling again, even though she suspected that both families would be outraged if they found out. Markus and Melissa were the respective heirs of their families, the people who would eventually inherit control of their wealth and influence. To have them making out with
each other
would be horrifying. They could be homosexuals, without any inclination to produce children, and their families would be less outraged.

“We started talking,” Markus said. He’d managed to gather himself while Emily giggled. “You know, just after
we
were talking. And then we kept talking. And then...”

“We started kissing,” Melissa said. She rubbed her lips. “And everything went on from there.”

Emily shook her head, slowly. “I assume your families don’t know?”

“No,” Markus said. He paused. “Are you going to tell them?”

Emily hesitated. She didn’t
like
Melissa, but she liked Markus. Head Boy of Mountaintop or not, he had offered her good advice, even if she hadn’t taken it. And besides, if she did tell, it would almost certainly lead to a fight between the two families in her castle. Hundreds of people would be caught in the middle, including herself, and be killed. Or suffer a fate worse than death.

“I won’t, as long as you two are discreet,” she said. Quickly, she erected another set of wards around the library. “Do you realize just how much trouble you could get into if you are caught?”

“I don’t care,” Markus said. “If they kick me out of the family...it would be worth it.”

“The Matriarch has already ruined my life,” Melissa said bitterly. Her hand was resting on Markus’s arm. “Why should I care what she wants?”

Emily sighed, inwardly. She distrusted strong emotion, with reason. Were Markus and Melissa truly in love...or had mutual disgust with their relatives, and perhaps their prospective partners, driven them into a relationship? It was hard to blame Melissa for wanting to spite Fulvia, not after meeting Gaius, but Emily wasn’t blind to the potential for disaster. What would happen if — when — the families found out?

“Because she could make your lives miserable,” Emily said. “Or get a great many people killed.”

She looked from one to the other, thinking hard. “What are you going to do when they do find out?”

“Tell them that we love each other,” Markus said. “And dare them to kick us out.”

He sighed. “I can make a living on my own, if necessary,” he added. “Melissa can join me after she finishes her schooling.”

Is that genuine feeling
, Emily thought,
or romantic claptrap
?

“And we could unite the houses, once again,” Melissa offered. “We’re the heirs. A great many arrangements would have to be discarded if they kicked one of us out, let alone both of us. They might find it easier to accept that we were married and reunite the families.”

Emily had her doubts. By now, whatever had caused the original split, there were far too many differences between the two families for them to reunite easily. It would be like expecting Britain and the United States to reunify in 1805, even with the threat of Napoleon breathing down their necks. Neither one would fit easily into the other’s system.

And plenty of people on both sides who would object to the reunification
, Emily thought, coldly.
What would happen to Fulvia and her counterparts if the two families become one
?

“It would end the feud,” Markus said. “I was raised to hate the Ashworths, Emily. I was told that they...”

“Ate babies for breakfast,” Emily said, sharply.

“And more, much more,” Markus said. “Eating babies was about the least of it. But Melissa isn’t a monster.”

Emily eyed him for a long moment. “How long were you thinking of ways to end the feud?”

“Ever since my grandfather was killed,” Markus said. “He was lured into a challenge he couldn’t win by an Ashworth, who was killed in turn by one of my family. If the feud hadn’t existed, he might still be alive today.”

And so you asked me about Melissa
, Emily thought, grimly.
And that raises the question of just how sincere your feelings are towards her. Do you want her for herself, or because marrying her would give you the clout to end the feud
?

She shivered. It wasn’t a question she dared ask.

“I was told worse about the Ashfalls,” Melissa said, quietly. “But Markus isn’t a monster, either.”

“His brother is a little brat,” Emily said, tartly. “You’d better be damned careful he doesn’t realize what you’re doing.”

“I heard,” Markus said. “My father was less than pleased about him, if that’s any consolation.”

“Not much,” Emily said. She needed time to think, to process everything. “Picking on people who are defenseless isn’t something to be encouraged.”

“My father corrected him,” Markus said. “But we will be careful not to let him anywhere near us.”

“I never had siblings,” Emily said, “but Imaiqah says that she rarely had true privacy from her family.”

“Imaiqah grew up in a very poor household with only a handful of rooms,” Melissa said, sharply. “We both had plenty of room to hide from our siblings.”

Markus sat on the sofa, pulling Melissa to sit next to him. “Emily...please, will you keep this to yourself?”