Of Blood & Power

B A L L II

"WHAT SHOULD I BE MADE AWARE OF?"

Taryl looked up at Erienne with a dry smile.

"Her Highness Princess Reythe, I suspect, is the king's mistress." Erienne didn't even let an eyebrow hair betray any sort of emotion. She was already privy to the information, of course. But she didn't quite know what her next move should be.

She knew that Adrian regraded the marriage as practically nothing, so he doubted that he would be discreet with his affair. Still, Taryl had no obligation to tell her of anything. The rebellion either wanted the lady as her ally, or, she sought the persecution of Reythe.

"I know," Erienne replied, with equal tartness. She saw a flash of disappointment in Taryl's eyes.

"And how did Her Imperial Majesty become privy to such information?"

"You Weissans and your stupid questions. Is it not the role of a wife to know the affairs of her husband?"

Taryl said nothing. She correctly assumed any contradiction or future statement would be seen as an insult. She stared into Erienne's eyes for longer than appropriate before lowering into the deepest of curtsies.

"Your Imperial Majesty." With that, she left the white room. Erienne decided to bathe soon after that. She retired early, which meant Octavia had to too. She could hear her uneven breaths from the palette from which she slept.

Erienne made a mental note to keep a very careful eye on the slave girl. It was horribly clear that she hated her.

                                    ***

Erienne gathered her ladies and event planners in the white room the next day. They talked from morning to noon on the most trivial things. Chinas, porcelains, crystal glasses, foods, and the like. It was everything that made a great ball. And as she sipped her tea and nibbled at her sandwiches, Erienne watched everyone very, very carefully.

They were interrupted by Octavia two hours past noon. She had a slip of paper between her fingers. With a curtsy, she delivered the note. All very curious eyes were on Erienne. She opened the note and smiled before she read the words.

Library. Now
-Duke

How very rude he was. Erienne tucked the note inside her satchel and rose. The rest of the room followed.

"Thank you so much for your cooperation and help. I'm sure this ball will be lovely," Erienne said to the advisors. They only nodded with bowed heads. "You may leave," she said to all. Everyone practically tripped over their feet so they could make the curtsies that meant their exit.

"Who is it from?" Octavia asked

Erienne turned to her. She doubted a slave from Spvet had the faintest clue how to read Weissan. But, on the other hand, you could never be sure if anything. Assumptions made about people could always turn out to be incredibly wrong. Erienne couldn't afford to make that mistake.

If she could read, the note only deepened the lie of Royce as her lover. Which was good, she needed everyone to believe it. Erienne thought of shrugging her shoulders, but then thought the better of it.  Showing Octavia she didn't trust her might only worsen the issue when Octavia ultimately betrayed her. She needed the girl to be careless when the inevitable happened.

So, Erienne replied with a coy smile. "The Duke of Argon," she said. Octavia's eyes were wide.

"That is the emperor's best friend! Is such a thing wise?"

"I've never known the pleasure of a man before. I will not suffer that ignorance as a married woman as well. If the emperor sees no need to fulfill his duty, his best friend can." It was a very wild thing to say, Erienne realized. Everything that she usually said was calculated and sanitized. But she twirled the beads cascading from her headdress like an infatuated girl. "With all the danger happening at court, I think I should be allowed one happiness."