Chapter Three
Might Makes Right
It had taken Daiya nearly a full day to recover entirely from her long trip from the front. She had slept through most of that time, even missing dinner the next day. When she was finally up to leaving her room it was early evening and everyone in the mansion had retired to the main sitting room on the main floor to finish out their day. So, even though it was just the beginning of Daiya's day, she decided to take Coni up on her offer of a drink and joined them.
"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up," Coni said brightly, peering over the top of her large book as Daiya entered the room and found almost everyone living at the mansion seated around a fireplace.
Ignoring the comment she took a seat on the couch that Coni was sitting on alone, her eyes moving over the three younger people sitting across from them. Lythia stared off into space, her eyes unmoving as Daiya had entered the room and there was a slightly hard edge to her lips that made it clear that she was not happy about something. Sitting right next to her was Richard's friend Karo, with his blond hair and bright blue eyes that tracked Daiya almost everywhere she went within the room. It looked like he had something to say but he never opened his mouth and instead continued to look at her.
Sitting in a small arm chair right next to the couch that the other two were sitting on was Lisbeth, the shy and demure girl that had quickly become a part of the Proud family. If Daiya was completely honest with herself she had to admit that for the longest time she had hated Lisbeth for what had happened between her and Richard before their engagement had been finalized. It wasn't fair and she knew that now though. Back then she and everyone else had been led to believe that Lisbeth had snuck into Richard's room in the middle of the night to seduce him to try and conceive a child with him illegally. That just wasn't the truth though, and it hadn't been until Richard had disappeared that Aura decided to come clean about that little lie as well, explaining that Lisbeth had been forced to try and recruit Richard into the Copper Focus terrorist group; which was something she had done unwillingly.
"Is Aura still at the palace?" Daiya asked when she noticed the head of the family was absent.
"She is always at the palace," Lythia answered for Coni, her voice dry and a little huffy. She still didn't look at anyone else in the room and the expression she wore was growing more bored by the second.
Coni nodded to her sisters explanation and then stood up. She crossed over to the small bar near the window overseeing the side lawn of the mansion that was bathed in the soft glow of the waning sun. Without asking she grabbed a slim and ornate glass and then filled it with red wine, which she then handed to Daiya and took her seat next to her once more.
"Aura's work doesn't leave for much time off and we rarely see her now," she then expanded on Lythia's answer, picking up her own half full wine glass and then taking a small sip. "Most military orders come directly from her and there is a lot of weight on her shoulders at the moment. I'm honestly surprised that she hasn't just moved to the palace yet. Some nights she doesn't even come home."
"I see," Daiya replied, unable to keep all of the disappointment out of her voice. She quickly covered that up by taking a drink from her wine, savouring the taste it left on her tongue. She had been hoping to see Aura to discuss a few things with her before heading to the palace to meet with Reiea and Lyla later that night.
"So how are things going near the border?" Coni now asked and suddenly the whole atmosphere in the room changed. Lythia finally focused on the room around her and looked towards her and Coni, while both Lisbeth and Karo seemed to edge forward in their seats and their faces hardened. It was like they had all been hoping for this topic to come up.
