Souls Entwined

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten
Elle's POV

The tablecloth was expensive ivory linen. That much I had deduced in the near hour I'd been studying it. It wasn't ideal, and I would rather be part of the chatter which tried to conceal the tension in the room. But I had no idea where to look or who to talk to. I was lost to the conversations which sprung up around the table, finding no welcome from the leaders to join in.

If the waitstaff making their rounds to clear away bread trays were anything to go by, dinner was almost ready. It became blindingly apparent that something was amiss as the servers ushered around the dining hall, clearing small plates and refilling flutes with light champagne.

It almost seemed as if no one had noticed, but now and again, I would catch the eye of someone across the table, and I knew they were just as curious about Kaden and Leon's absence as I was.

Kaden had come down with me, but he'd found his father outside the dining hall and hesitated, urging me to go in without him. An hour had passed, and they still hadn't come in. I was wracking my brain, trying to unearth the reason behind their absence. But nothing I came up with explained why Iris sat at the table, delightfully engaged in pleasant conversation with the Luna beside her.

I sunk into my seat, braiding my napkin around my fingers. Keeping the door in sight, I found no words to say as I watched the room silently.

It hadn't helped that when Iris had arrived, she'd gone to her seat, leaving a gaping space between us. She hadn't said a word, hadn't acknowledged my presence. She'd joined in the conversation without even a sideways glance. The leaders were flushed with gossip between the argument outside and Iris' clear distance from me.

My name was on the lips of everyone around the table. I'd heard it whispered furiously – they either underestimated my ability to hear them or didn't care. I didn't present a threat to them, not with Kaden noticeably absent and Iris making it abundantly clear what she thought of me.

'If you just consider our livestock,' I was drawn in by the desperation of voice across the table, 'then a union might become more appealing.'

Subtly often escaped me, but I kept my head turned down as I listened to their conversation. The Pecus pack was looking for an alliance. I'd learnt over the week that the Flavo Calendis pack wasn't the first they'd gone to, but it seemed they were the only ones willing to listen.

To anyone who didn't care to ask, the Pecus pack appeared to have little to no assets. They had no established alliances, and their numbers were few. No businesses were supported within their pack, so on the surface level, their financials seemed lacking. But they owned land. It was extensive, especially for a pack of only thirty-eight.

No one could see the value of that land. It wasn't fertile, so no crops grew. Much of it was craggy hillsides, so real estate was difficult. And due to its vastness and the corresponding lack of pack members, the land was hard to defend.

Peter had been wise to offer his livestock as an incentive. It was the Pecus pack's most significant asset. They were a farming pack, and that much was known amongst the other pack leaders. But they had failed to grasp the enormity of the pack's livestock. Peter kept tight-lipped throughout the week, but I'd spent time listening to his pleas to each pack and had heard more about his situation than anyone else had bothered to understand.

I recognised what the others dismissed as a part-time hobby as a lucrative endeavour. I'd looked into it after hearing his plea for the first time. The land he resided on boasted of a generations-long shearing operation. With more than ninety-thousand sheep sheared each year, they supplied most of the country's wool, even exporting to other nations.