Page 4 of Degradation (The Brethren Lords #3)

Pailtyn

T he maids chatter rings out down the hallway. I can catch words of it, but not the whole conversation. They sound excited. They certainly look it.

“Sally?” I half-whisper, anxious not to speak to loudly and earn more of my mother’s wrath. “What is it?”

Her face flickers with an expression I can’t read and then she glances at Rebecca beside her. “It’s nothing,” she says hurriedly.

I frown, hearing the obvious lie. They might technically be our maids, but they’re practically the same age as I am, and we’ve spent many an evening hanging out like friends rather than staff and mistress.

Rebecca gulps, nudging her shoulder, “Just tell her.”

“Tell me what?” I ask.

Sally grimaces, “We weren’t supposed to say, Mistress was very clear about it.”

I feel it, that familiar pang in my stomach that tells me some more shit is going down.

Are we moving again? Is that it? I glance around the house, it’s nice enough, but it’s not a home, not our home.

We were forced to leave ours, forced to downsize, when my father died, and then we’ve moved three times since.

Apparently the first time was for our own protection.

Antonio, my guardian stated that, as he stepped in, swooped in, and took me under his ever-watchful gaze.

I know it had something to do with my uncle, I know he and Antonio were warring over who had the most say over us.

I’m not sure what the reasons were for the next moves, I was simply told to shut up and pack, like a good daughter should.

I know why I’m locked away. Why my mother and I have been for years.

Because my bloodline is precious, sacred even.

I’m being kept nice and safe until the Brethren are ready to make a suitable marriage for me.

I don’t really mind it, if anything a part of me can’t wait until I’m away from my uncle’s overbearing presence but still, the thought of marrying someone I don’t know, it’s doesn’t exactly fill me with ease either.

I let out a slow breath of air. It is what it is. It’s my destiny, my bad luck for being born a Heseltine. There’s no good fighting it. No good at all.

“Our Chapter Lord is looking for a new wife.” Sally states.

I let out a puff of air at her words. That’s it? Why are they acting like that’s a big deal?

“He’s sent out invites.” She adds.

“Invites for what?”

She glances behind her, before grabbing my hand, pulling me down to where the study is. I can see it on the desk, the fancy paper, the even fancier writing scrawled on it, and the seal that tells me that this came from the Palace.

“He’s cherry picked his options. Wants every girl on some list to be presented to him so he can choose.” She says.

My lips curl. I don’t know why they’re making such a fuss, who a Chapter Lord does or doesn’t marry doesn’t concern us. I’m a Founder. I’m off-limits. Those are the rules. Those are the laws a Grand Master established more than five hundred years ago.

But my hand shakes as I pick up the letter, as I scan the contents. It’s addressed directly to my mother, but there must be some mistake. He can’t surely believe we would attend such a thing?

“Get back.” Rebecca hisses, pulling me so that I’m flat against the wall and hidden from view. I’m guessing my mother is out there, on the veranda. I can hear voices, hers and a man. From the tone alone, I can guess who it is, who has decided to honour us with his presence.

“Go.” I murmur. It’s bad enough that I might be caught but I don’t want to tie them up in this mess. My mother has a foul temper and she’s more than happy to make it clear when she feels our staff have stepped out of line. I don’t want them getting a beating because of me.

As soon as they’re gone, I tiptoe closer, using the thick curtain to hide myself and I press my ear against the cool glass so I can hear.

“Don’t do this. Don’t take her there.” Antonio’s voice sounds tense, angry even.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” My mother scoffs. “You know as well as I what the plan is…”

“You want her to marry him?” He half-snarls back and that makes me pause.

He’s always so calm, so collected. My mother has taken great joy over the years to do her best to annoy him and up to now, I’ve never seen him take the bait.

I know it’s because she feels loyalty to our family, that on some level, she wants to prove her loyalty to Pearce, but it feels so unnecessary, so petty too.

“It’s not about wants.” She says and I can her body language, the way she’s waving her arms like she knows what’s best for our family and shouldn’t be challenged.

“Vera, you know what he is, what he’s like.” Antonio states, stepping right into her space. “You really want that for your daughter?”

“He’s Chapter Lord.” My mother states pointedly, like that somehow explains all of this. Only, it doesn’t.

“Another reason why you shouldn’t go through with this.” He adds, shaking his head.

“What’s the matter, Antonio, you seem very invested in my family’s matters. In Paitlyn’s. One might wonder whether you have designs on the girl yourself?”

I shift, trying to gauge his reaction to that comment. Antonio’s face is neutral. He just stares at her like she’s lost her marbles.

Would I mind if that was the case? He’s not bad looking, even if he is more than twice my age.

He’s a tall man, toned, with tanned skin and a look in his eyes that makes you feel like he’s always plotting something.

His hair is short, ruffled, dark, and contrasts against the grey pepper of his stubbly beard.

When I was younger, when my father first passed, I wondered whether he was my future, my intended.

That that was his purpose in our lives, that he was simply waiting until I was legally of age so he could take me away and marry me.

It was my uncle who fixed that error, having found my diary, having read the contents before he cruelly laughed at my obvious stupidity.

No, Antonio wasn’t to be my husband, he was my Guardian. Put in place to secure my survival. My bloodline. He works for our Grand Master, he follows his directions, being one of a handful of people on this earth who even know what our great leader actually looks like.

“Don’t be absurd.” He replies, bringing me out of my head. “Besides, it’s against the rules.”

It is against the rules. As my Guardian he isn’t allowed to marry me. But I am fair game to the other Guardians, if our Grand Master signed off on it, of course.

“Gunther doesn’t seem to pay them any mind, does he?” My mother taunts.

“That’s another reason you should keep your daughter far, far away from him. He’s dangerous. He’s not in his right frame of mind anymore…”

“He’s old.” She sneers back, cutting across the last of his words. “He can be controlled.”

“You’re an absolute fool if you believe that. Control Gunther?” Antonio scoffs.

“Soon enough you’ll see.” My mother states. “He’s hardly in the perfect picture of health as it is.”

“So what, you’re all are banking on Mother Nature to step in?

” I can hear the absurdity in his voice, his tone.

I can see the contempt too, as he looks down at her.

“Who says Gunther doesn’t simply die, what then?

You’ll have wasted her potential. Or worse, he lives for another twenty years.

Would you condemn your daughter to such a life? ”

“I will do what is necessary. As will she. She’s a Founder after all. She has her father’s blood. His strength, his ambition. She will be more than happy to play her part. To do her duty as her family dictates.”

“You’re sure about that?” He says, getting right in her face.

“Why don’t we ask her, she’s standing right outside the door.”

My face heats instantly. I barely have a second to compose myself before those doors spring open and I’m there, exposed, and it’s more than apparent what I was up to from how I’m wrapped up in the curtain.

“Paitlyn.” My mother says with that irksome, expectant tone she puts on when we have guests and wants me to behave.

“Paitlyn.” Antonio says throwing her a look.

My eyes dart between them, between the only parent I have and the man who even now, I still can’t figure out.

“I…” I begin but fall silent when my brain refuses to come up with any decent sort of explanation as to why I’m stood here beyond the obvious.

“Paitlyn,” My mother says again, more gently. “We were just discussing your future. A potential marriage offer has arrived. An advantageous one. One that would make your father proud…”

She thinks she’s being so clever, so subtle, but we can both hear the manipulation in her words. It’s Pearce. He’s doing this. Forcing this. I know it.

“It’s forbidden.” I reply before I can stop myself. I know the laws as well as anyone. My mother made me study them, made me learn them all by heart. Knowledge is power, right? I had that fact drilled into me from the moment I could read.

She pulls a face. “Rules are made to be broken.”

“That’s not what you said…”

She cuts across me as if my opinion doesn’t even matter.

“Those were different times. The Brethren is far stronger now than it was, far more powerful. We no longer have to fear a blade in the dark, we no longer have to worry about uprisings and revolutions. We hold the power now. We can do as we like, and I for one think it’s high time we stopped hiding, stopped acting like we have anything to fear. ”

“You’re a fool if you believe that.” Antonio states. “A fool and a traitor too.”

“It’s not treason.” My mother hisses.

“It is.” Antonio snarls. “Our Grand Master himself declared such statements as such. You’re lucky I value your life enough not to report it.”

“Or you’d what?” She sneers. “You’d see me taken away, sent to Oblivion, given over to those mongrels, the Blakes?

” her dark eyes land on me and to my surprise she doesn’t look in the least bit afraid.

But Antonio is right. His word alone is enough to condemn her, to condemn me too if he chooses.

“Look at her,” My mother says, “She’s young, she deserves to live, to not be constantly hiding away. ”

“Marrying her to Gunther is not allowing her to live.” Antonio snaps. “And as her Guardian, I forbid it.”

“Gunther overrides you.” My Uncle states loudly as he steps out from behind a bush like he couldn’t be any more of a cartoon villain. I knew he’d be lurking somewhere. I knew he’d be listening in. Clearly, he’s entangled with whatever this is.

My stomach turns as he struts up to us, looking more and more like the smug bastard I know him to be.

“We live in his Chapter.” Pearce continues. “We live by Gunther’s rules. And besides, it is a decision our family can make without you.”

That’s not true. We all know that. Antonio was made by our Grand Master, his family were made by them. He reports directly to him, not to some mere Chapter Lord.

Antonio narrows his eyes, but my mother turns, quickly grabbing my arm tightly, telling him the discussion is over as she pulls me back into the house.

As I glance back, I see them both squaring off and I wonder if this here will be the moment he finally decides to fight him. If this moment will be the tipping point.