Page 90 of Disillusioned (A Lay of Ruinous Reign #2)

He stiffened but didn’t pull away, setting his fingertips lightly on her hips. The positioning felt off; their bodies didn’t fit well together, not like hers and Garin’s did. He was a beanstalk of a man, at least Garin’s height, with little to no coordination himself.

Lilac said nothing and swayed, trying to enjoy the music while ignoring the eyes on them. She gently led him into a circular step, biting her lip to conceal her shocked smile. The more she acted willingly, the pressure of Garin’s command lessened.

“This is much better,” Rupert sighed, relief also flooding his face as he fell into her rhythm. “I thought that would last all night.”

“You wouldn’t know anything about lasting all night,” Lilac shot.

He immediately shut his mouth. They swayed, not terribly offbeat. When they rotated, she couldn’t help but look over Rupert’s shoulder at Garin. His expression was unreadable again.

Good . The bastard was the one who encouraged her to take the dance.

Rupert was watching, too. “You’d think with the way he’s looking at you, that he was your emperor.”

Lilac turned her back to him. “He is merely protective.”

“Over someone he’s just met?”

“Of Maximilian.” Lilac refused to elaborate further.

They fell into an empty silence then. Rupert’s gaze kept flickering over her shoulder until she finally turned to see what he was staring at. Myrddin stared at the floor, seeming to concentrate much too hard on the story Hewig was telling.

“Ambrosius?” Lilac leaned in. “Is that why you pulled me away for this dance?”

Rupert made a sound between a cough and a snort. “What? No.”

“You should go talk to him.” She tried to steer them in Myrddin’s and Hedwig’s direction, but Rupert tugged them back.

“Stop it. I don’t know him. I’ve passed him in the halls a couple times today, we’ve exchanged greetings. That’s it.”

“He’s a warlock. A kind and talented one, at that,” she offered, just in case he hadn’t heard Garin earlier. “His name is Ambrosius.”

“I know.” He nodded, stealing a glance back again. He said nothing more on the matter, but flushed heavily.

“So,” she said, changing the subject for him. “People like you usually don’t serve the castle guard this way. Never as sentry or foot soldier, anyway.”

“It was something I wanted to try at the time, and I preferred not to enter at a higher rank, just in case. I left last year in the autumn.”

They made another rotation; Garin had not lifted his eyes from her.

“Skirting your duties, are you?” she teased .

“I was not often on duty even while I worked here.”

Her face fell. She instantly wished she hadn’t brought it up. They both looked away, and she tried not to think of pumping his cock in her palm. Prick .

“And you went to Le Conquet then?”

“No. I only spent a month there and just now returned.” He paused and frowned, as if he struggled to recall.

“I left when the tides became unpredictable. It happens sometimes with the turn of the season, but it seemed an unprecedented phenomena. Unusual for this time of year. Everyone in the town was in a sour mood because the waves affected their angling.”

“So what did you do before then?”

“I thought about finding my father, learning more about him. He works in one of the towns, according to mother. Won’t tell me who he could be, or if he’s even alive.

” Rupert looked down, eyes shifting. “So instead, I returned home to our estate. I spent many of my younger years traveling and two years before that at the university in Paris. Lately, I’ve been considering going back.

I think I’d like to work in administration. Maybe here one day.”

“That is unlikely.” Lilac offered him a bitter smile. “You’d best wait until the tensions ease before returning to Sorbonne. Otherwise, there are several institutions in the German lands, Austria, and in Urbino.”

Rupert’s brows shot up. “You know of them?”

“Yes, Rupert, I do,” she said curtly. “I suspect many other women know of all the institutions where men are allowed to study freely, and from which we are barred. I was fortunate to have a governess and tutors. Other well-read women are not so lucky, when they ought to be. Having a non-royal parent sounds freeing, though,” she added, hoping to lift Rupert’s spirits.

“To have one foot in the world of nobility, and one to give you a sense of normalcy.”

Rupert made a face. “It can be. It is also burdensome. For one, not having a title when it would probably benefit me. Give me guidance on some grand purpose in life. Mother could take a husband at any time, rich or poor, yet I’d still be her bastard son.

” His head turned, and he sighed. “And here she comes.”

Lilac untangled herself from him to find Emma striding toward them.

“Your Majesty!” The countess stopped much too close and leaned in to press her cheek against Lilac’s.

Despite her brown hair flecked with gray, her demeanor was lively and youthful.

She smelled of pears, precariously balancing a champagne flute in one hand as she curtsied.

“Emma Mènard, of Vannes. Pleased to meet you.”

“Rupert’s told me all about you. We’re friends from when he worked here,” Lilac added, returning the curtsey.

“And I’ve heard much about you.” Emma motioned at her, marveling at the way her sleeves caught every fragment of warm, muted light. “And that gown. One of Herlinde’s pieces?”

Lilac stole a glance at Garin over Emma’s shoulder. He was looking directly at them. “Yes. It was a generous gift from a friend.”

“It’s a shame Vivien isn’t here to see it. Would’ve ruined her mood to see a Daemon-made dress on the floor. Rest her soul, and good riddance.”

Rupert only ran a hand over his face. “Not here.”

“What?” The countess swilled her drink. “She was a terrible person born into serfdom, and still when she was raised with her parents’ restored ranks. She deserved to stay a servant.”

Lilac never witnessed anyone of noble rank voice such discontent with the Le Tallecs or Ermengardes.

“I was blindsided by Vivien,” Lilac said quietly.

Her family’s underlying strife with them had been made public after her accession, but it still felt taboo to admit.

“What made them reinstate her parents? Do you know?”

The countess gave a sly shrug. “Good behavior on her parents’ end.

They even left for a weeks’ long retreat to the Armor before resuming their duty on your grandfather’s court.

We all thought they were being banished, but they returned one day from Douarnenez and were welcomed back into their old quarters like nothing had happened.

Vivien then had her first taste of a life of nobility and hungered for the status that came with it.

And more.” She squinted, rifling through her memory.

“She loved spreading the rumor she’d heard from her parents about how your ancestor is the reason her family hadn’t been married into the monarchy. ”

Lilac’s forced smile faded. “I’d love to hear this rumor.”

“Of course you would.” Appearing to love the gossip, Emma looked around, ensuring no one was listening.

“Toward the end of the War of Succession, this kingdom saw many moving parts. There was a respected duke then, Geoffrey of Penthievre, whose family resided in what is the Le Tallec manor now. He had an only son, Alor, who was troublesome in his youth, but began training to spearhead the king’s armies when Geoffrey fell ill.

He became a fair constable at the king’s right hand.

Alor oversaw many, but there was a particular group of soldiers he trained himself, mostly stowaways and young men who were orphaned by the war.

He and his group of men were unstoppable until they met their fate. ”

“They were killed by vampires.” She didn’t know what possessed her to say it.

Maybe it was the fascination over everything.

She was tired of glossing over the real histories, once overwhelmed by everything she was taught under either systems of intentional or accidental ignorance—the truths she was left to find on her own.

Reddening, Lilac pulled a flute of champagne from a passing tray and sipped from it, hoping it would calm her nerves and help the dull ache in her lower back.

To her relief, Emma raised her own glass. “My,” she chuckled, impressed. “You know your history.”

In the Trevelyan farmhouse, Garin had told her all about Laurent’s attack that had cost his company their lives. Only a few were spared. “I had a good tutor. How did you know about the vampire attack?”

“Before he died, my father worked for your grandfather as an archivist and was interested in the histories. Studied it at Sorbonne. The nature of Alor’s last company’s fate is not widely known.

The battle was documented as an enemy victory, but Father said there were records of their camp being found littered with mutilated bodies, the snow streaked with red.

By the time they were discovered, most of them were unidentifiable.

Alor left behind a wife named Katella. At the time, your ancestor, the king, was betrothed to an earl’s daughter from France.

” She gave a wry smile. “Guess who she was?”

She shook her head in disbelief. “An Ermengarde.”

Emma hummed in confirmation. “But the king instead became smitten with Katella after Alor’s death and called off his engagement with the earl’s daughter, forfeiting not only a high-profile marriage, but a chance at a strengthened relationship with the French crown.

They were married within a month. After Geoffrey died, the duchy was then passed on to the Le Tallecs. ”

Fascinated, Lilac peeked up through wisps of her hair; Garin’s chin was resting on his knuckle, his eyes trained on his plate. Did he know ?

A prominent vein bulged at his temple, and she thought she saw his jaw flex. He no longer looked like he was enjoying her being down there with Emma and Rupert.

Alor had been his constable.