Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) - Ilona Andrews Page 0,23
narrowed her eyes. “You seem so sure that you have my cousin on a leash, ready to do your bidding.”
“Nobody in this universe, man or woman, could put Arland on a leash.”
“You know what I think?”
“I have no doubt you’ll enlighten me.”
“I think he wanted to play hero. He found you, an exile living in squalor with your daughter, and he decided to rescue you. You preyed on his noble instincts, manipulated him, and now you’re toying with him. It appeals to your pride to have the Marshal of House Krahr pining for you like some lovesick puppy.”
And that was exactly the welcome she’d expected. “It’s refreshing, Lady Karat.”
“What?”
“Your honesty. I’d prepared myself for murmured insults behind my back and ugly glances. I thought perhaps it would take your House a couple of days to build up enough outrage to throw their derision in my face, but you laid it all out in my first hour on the planet. Why, I haven’t even had a chance to wash my face after the journey. Truly, you’re a credit to your bloodline.”
Lady Karat’s dark eyes sparked. In that moment, she looked remarkably like her father. “Did you just call me a poor host and insult my family?”
Maud gave her a narrow smile. “Well, clearly.”
“And now you call me stupid.”
“No. Only slow-witted. Are you going to do something about it, or can I start unpacking?”
Lady Karat stared at her for a long moment and grinned. “My father was right. I do like you.”
Apparently, it was a test and she’d passed. Vampires and their games. Nothing was ever simple. Maud sighed and stepped aside. “Come in.”
Karat strode into the quarters and saw Helen on the bed. “Cute kid.”
Helen bounced off the mattress, flipping in the air, and landed on the pillows. “Are you going to try to kill Mommy?”
“No,” Karat told her.
“Good.” Helen went back to jumping.
“Does she expect you to be killed by random strangers?” Karat asked.
“That’s the way things were on Karhari.”
Karat eyed Helen.
Helen gave her a cherubic smile.
“She would attack me if I tried, wouldn’t she? She’s building up enough bounce to jump across the room.”
Maud nodded.
Karat wiggled her fingers at Helen.
“Why do you have so many names?” Helen asked.
“Alvina is the formal given name,” Maud explained. “It’s used on formal occasions like special dinners or if she gets in trouble with family. Renadra is the title name. It’s means all of the people and lands she is responsible for and it’s used during government functions when people vote on laws. Karat is her knight name, the one she earned in battle and the one she prefers.”
Karat wrinkled her nose at Helen. “My friends call me Karat. You can call me Karat, too. For now.”
“You can call me Helen,” Helen told her.
“Well met, Lady Helen.”
It was customary to offer refreshments when someone visited a room. Where would they have put them? Ah. A faint outline in the wall betrayed a niche. She stepped to it, deliberately turning her back to Karat, and ran her fingers along the crack. A square section of the wall slid forward, revealing a shelf supporting a bowl filled with small pieces of jerky twisted into knots and a big bottle of blue wine. Six heavy tulip-shaped glasses cut from sparkling crystal waited next to the wine.
Maud took the wine and two glasses and offered one to Karat. Soren’s daughter landed in the nearest oversized chair. Maud twisted the round stopper out of the wine bottle, breaking the seal, poured them both a glass, and sat in another chair.
Karat sipped the wine. “My father asked me to assist you. He’s invested in this pairing. I don’t know what you said or did, but that crusty old bastard is singing your praises.”
“In the words of your cousin, Lord Soren’s ‘grizzled exterior hides a gentle heart.’”
Karat chuckled. “Sure it does. He is suffused with warmth and sunshine.”
Maud toyed with the wine in her glass.
“Wondering whether to trust me?” Karat asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll make it simple for you: you have no choice. You could go it alone, but it will be much harder. Our House is old and complicated.”
“Why are you helping me? After all, I manipulated Arland and preyed on his heroic instincts.”
Karat swirled the glittering blue liquid in her glass, making the crystal throw a filigree of highlights onto the table. “Arland appears to lack in subtlety and seems easy to influence. In truth he’s anything but.”