Oath of Steel

15 |A Semblance of Collaboration|

She'd not been informed beforehand that Grey would have been there, her informants had apparently deemed that piece of information not relevant, and subsequently had kept her in the dark - that being the wrong answer, for she knew that her informants would have rather dying rather than aiding the only one that gave them enough money to survive the uncaring roads of the capital during winter.

Not moving from her spot, she continued staring at the scene, taking into serious consideration what to do now that Grey had appeared on the scene.

Had he been collaborating with Clark for a long time without the Apostles' finding out? No, from the information she'd obtained from her knights of the roads were more trustworthy than the ones roaming without end on the streets.

Grabbing a pebble in one of the vases containing the plants close to the window, she made the dust on the floor forcefully move, right before cracking the door open.

Rotating the pebble in her right hand, she threw it on the other side of the room where Clark and Grey were apparently having a great time together, the sweet aroma making Rosalynde close her eyes and savoring the scent.

"What was that?" A delicate voice asked, shuffling of what seemed like cushions falling to the ground made Rosalynde bounce out of her hiding spot, her hands wrapping around Clark's neck completely, quickly cutting off the air supply thanks to the stimulated pressure to induce the anoxia to the brain.

She had to be careful though, too much strength and the neck would have snapped in two, and a woman with a broken neck couldn't exactly explain why her name had been placed on that paper now could she?

"I was starting to think that you'd lost your way," Grey commented cheerfully, using both arms to get up from the chair he'd been offered, dusting off his shoulders what seemed to be specks of dust.

Slowly laying down Mary Clark back on the plush chair she'd been occupying before tying the unconscious woman up, Rosalynde squared the form of Grey, who'd resumed in finishing the tea he'd been so kindly offered, lips posing on the ceramic crafted tea cup with yellow roses as he'd kept his eyes closed to savor the taste.

"Black tea with sliced up pieces of peach and petals of sunflower, I suggest trying it if you ever have time, the taste is quite unique," he told her while he kept on enjoying the tea.

"I'll make plans after I'm done and after you tell me exactly why you're here," he cocked his head aside, setting the cup down on one of the two armrests, standing up to shake off the torpor that'd taken control over his legs.

"Oh, you can probably guess why I'm here," an unsettling sensation crept back into Rosalynde's mind.

There could only be two reasons that'd led Hector Grey to precede her in coming there, and only one that could make sense.

"Her majesty ordered you to keep an eye on me - didn't she? To make sure I carry out her orders in the most precise manner," Hector's silence was enough to confirm her words, his eyes dropping to the unmoving body of Mary Clark for a nameless amount of time before raising his gaze once again.

"Ordered sounds like a harsh word, her majesty did indeed ask me to check up on you, but I don't know the reason behind that.

"Liar, you know the reason, and yet you still deny and act like a perfect gentleman as if nothing ever happened," she replied with a thin smile.

What Madame Hellenia had orchestrated on the night of the opera could not be tossed aside into one of the many speeches that Lord Regulus took his time in drawing it up.

Another factor that had to be taken into consideration is that the Smiling Dame still hadn't reported a single thing about Verity, just like a little kid wanting to keep his greatest secret close to his heart Rosalynde had done the same, keeping all he'd told her about Veruty close to her own heart.