entrance. “Good evening, sir, and…Theodora.”
Theo nodded, but Robin greeted him. “Elswood. What’s on the menu?”
Elswood clasped his hands behind his back. “Tonight’s dinner is a cold marinated vegetable salad followed by salmon with dill sauce, fingerling potatoes, summer corn cakes, sweet peas, and for dessert, pear and pistachio custard tarts with freshly whipped cream.”
“Oh my,” Theo said. “That sounds delicious.”
“It does,” Robin agreed. “And I’m suddenly hungrier than I realized. Bring it on.”
Elswood bent forward slightly. “Wine, sir?”
Robin looked at Theo. She shrugged. Wine wasn’t in her budget, so she never drank it. “I’ll try a glass.”
“Excellent,” he answered before turning to Elswood. “Wine it is.”
“Very good.” Elswood went back into the hall and returned with a bottle. Theo realized there must be a serving cart out there. He filled a glass with white for the both of them. Then he excused himself and came back with their salads.
Definitely a serving cart.
After that, they were left alone. At least until the next course.
Theo looked at her forks. All three of them. Sometimes at home, because of how little time she had between jobs, she ate standing over the sink. Or while walking to work.
“Start with the farthest one out and work your way in.” Robin winked at her. “That’s what Elswood taught me.”
She glanced out the door. “Elswood taught you?”
Robin nodded. “I told you I was common-born. My mother was a weaver, my father worked the mines. I was destined for them myself, I’m sure. Except then I caught the orc king, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
She picked up the farthest fork. It was smaller than the middle one, which was the tallest of the three. “Do you ever wish you, I don’t know, didn’t catch him? Have your life take a different path?”
Robin finished the piece of zucchini he was eating. “I used to. All the time. But after a while, even the strongest piece of rope frays.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I gave up on that. What’s the point of wishing for something that can’t ever happen? I can’t undo my past. Daydreaming about it wasn’t making me feel any better either. So I stopped.”
“What about your parents? Are you able to keep in touch with them?”
“They saw me crowned, but my father, Benmore, died shortly after in a mining accident. I suspect everything that happened with Vesta would have killed him anyway. The stress of it, I mean. My mother, Pryn, still lives in Limbo. She’s moved to the highlands.”
That was an area in the hills, and because of its remoteness, the people who lived up there tended to be loners, loons, or artistic types who didn’t want the restrictions of a more urban setting. A number of well-known goblin musicians lived in the highlands. And a few notorious rebels, too. “That’s an interesting area.”
“I guess I should take the move as a hint. She hasn’t talked to me since I was exiled. I write to her once a week. She’s never answered.”
That cut Theo to the quick. She couldn’t imagine how that hurt Robin to be ignored by his mother. But she also couldn’t imagine how a mother could do that. “How do you know she’s moved if she hasn’t talked to you or answered your letters?”
“I got a change-of-address card not long after I arrived here. To be honest, I think it was sent by whoever moved into our old house.”
That was kind of them. “I don’t mean to imply anything or place blame on anyone, but are you sure she’s getting the letters?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I have no reason to think otherwise. I should probably stop sending them. Obviously, she doesn’t want to hear from me.”
Theo didn’t want to believe that. She pushed a slice of carrot around with her fork. “Just because she doesn’t write back doesn’t mean she’s not reading them.”
“True. But then, why doesn’t she answer?”
Theo looked up at him as a hard truth hit her. “Maybe she does.”
The furrows in his brow matched his frown. “What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “I mean maybe Vesta is interfering with the mail.” With a sigh, she continued. “Being here has opened my eyes to some things. I believe Vesta is controlling so much more than what the people of Limbo know or understand, from our history to our news. Why couldn’t she be stopping your mother’s letters from getting to you? Or yours getting to her?”
His chest rose and fell, and darkness filled his eyes. “Of course she could be. I