Page 42 of Elemental Truth (Mysterious Fields #3)

42

JUNE 15TH AT brYN GLAS

“ Y our mother was very—” Thessaly stopped, then tried that sentence again, as Vitus opened the door to her sitting room. They’d just returned from supper with his family. Mama and Papa had been very welcoming, and Lucas had been utterly charming. He’d filled the awkward moments with stories, teasing Vitus and, more importantly, making sure Thessaly relaxed and laughed.

“Mama has been wanting to meet you for months,” Vitus said. “May I unlace you, or do you need Collins?” He had become somewhat more competent with lacings over the past few months, but Thessaly had dressed with particular attention for this supper. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant for the underpinnings.

“See if you can manage?” Thessaly went ahead of him into the bedroom, dropping her gloves on the table by the door, then reaching up to undo the pins in her hair. Vitus had to pause. He loved the moments, rare as they had been so far, when she shifted from her public face to her private, how she let him see that.

He followed her, stripping out of his jacket and removing his cravat, before coming around behind her to see how the dress fastened. “Mama approves. If you weren’t clear. So does Papa. I’m sure I’ll hear more this week, but I have no doubt about that.”

“And Lucas.” Thessaly let out a breath. “Your parents welcomed me. And I don’t know how to feel about that. Not the part that’s about them, the part that’s about my parents.”

Who had not welcomed Thessaly, and who certainly showed no sign of welcoming Vitus or anyone like him. Vitus knew she’d had some conversations with Magistra Hereswith and her cousin in private while they’d been setting up yesterday’s meeting with the Fortiers. Thessaly hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Now Vitus cleared his throat. “Any thoughts about that?”

“I don’t precisely have an actual answer, but the Scali confirmed that Mother and Hermia’s inheritances from Aunt Metaia are well protected. Father’s put up quite a fight about both, but apparently Aunt Metaia was meticulous about the arrangements. The only thing I’m sure of is he’s desperate for money, not why. Debts of some kind, the kind where my marriage would have both solved the money and made him someone others wouldn’t threaten. Or he thought so, anyway.” Thessaly was none too sure that would actually have worked.

Thessaly sighed, but she didn’t turn around, letting Vitus continue with undoing the various fastenings. “Cousin Owain is applying some pressure. They’re not certain, but there’s some suggestion Father knew about what the Fortiers were doing, at least the outline of it, something that would ensure their power. And of course, now, it’d just be Garin left, and no.”

Vitus let his hand rest on her hip, over the layers of fabric. “What do you think of that?”

“If I weren’t thinking about what it meant for you, your work, at all, I’d want to be married.” She jerked her chin. “To you, to be clear. So that they couldn’t come up with someone else. But it’s, I don’t want to hurt your business.” This conversation might in fact be easier with her facing the other way.

He leaned forward to kiss the base of her neck before going back to his work. “Shall we talk about that? I haven’t wanted to press.” He swallowed. “I want to get interesting commissions. That seems likely to continue now, whatever the gossip does. There are enough people who know better, or who think my work’s worth it. Niobe’s made a few referrals, as have the Carringtons. So has Cyrus. I haven’t even finished the piece for his sister yet. I need to do the last piece of that solstice morning, and dawn.”

“And the income? You know I’d, I mean, money isn’t a problem on my end.”

“I want to make sure Mama and Papa are comfortable. Maybe see about Mama taking a trip, a month or so, to one of the healing baths on the Continent. And that sort of spending, that’s something to talk about. But it seems to me, that’s a kind of thing we could work out. Especially if, I mean, there’s this house.”

Now Thessaly twisted around, her dress gaping at the back as he got the last of the hooks. She wriggled out if it, leaving a pool of blue silk on the floor, followed by the bustle. She stepped out of it, moving to one side. “What do you think about the house?”

“For one thing, you have a portal. It’s quite stable. I can live anywhere, especially if I can sleep in the workshop on the rare nights the timing is horrendous.” Vitus had thought this one through. “I love the house. The colours, the decorations, the way everywhere you look, there’s something delightful. I want to see what you make of it, over time. It’s quiet, peaceful. Restorative.” He hesitated, then added, “I don’t have strong opinions about the decorations and such, but I’d like to be here, with you, choosing things. Admiring them. Whichever made sense.”

“We could build you a workshop here as well. Better protections, maybe?” Thessaly offered. “More space. Though maybe not better light, that depends on the weather. Or you could keep your flat. There’s no reason you couldn’t.”

“And no reason we need to decide anything about that tonight,” Vitus agreed. “What about the rest of it?” He felt her shoulders tighten under his hand, then he added, “Let me get you out of the corset and petticoats. We will be more comfortable in bed.”

Thessaly made a low sound in her throat, a sort of snort, but she turned around again to let him loosen the corset. It took him a moment to work through the knotted bow. “I’m furious at Dagobert. And Laudine, but mostly Dagobert.”

“Your aunt.” It wasn’t a question, it couldn’t be a question, of course Thessaly felt strongly about it. “And Philip?”

She was quiet at that, long enough for him to undo the bow, loosen the laces, and give her enough room to undo the hooks at the front. He let his fingers linger for a moment. He’d not expected, months ago, that they’d have this particular kind of intimacy, the quiet moments of having gone out together, come home, and undressing without any rush. They knew what would follow. He delighted in time in her bed, and he had no doubts about her affections.

It wasn’t until she’d undone the hooks at the front busk, laying it aside on the dressing table stool, that she turned. “Philip’s dead. And Dagobert didn’t say, I don’t think he can, but I can only assume that’s the Fortiers, their doing. I don’t know how to feel about him. I don’t think I know enough to know how much to blame him. I don’t like leaving it there, but I don’t know that answers are a thing we can have. Not there.”

“Yes. A family who kept their secrets well.” That had been nagging at Vitus for the last day, too. “What do you want, if you could have anything?”

“Never to deal with them again.” She said it, fast and fierce, as strongly as she’d duelled. “I just want to wash my hands of them all. Of all the Great Families, most of the Council.” She hesitated. “There’s Cousin Owain. And Cyrus has been very decent, and I do like the duelling.”

“All right.” Vitus turned around, sitting on the edge of the bed to undo his shoes and work them off his feet. “You can do that, you know.”

He looked up to find her staring at him, hands on her hips, her petticoat twitching slightly with the sudden movement. “I can’t.”

“You can. You could be here as much as you like. See who you wanted.”

“And as soon as I show my face in Trellech, people will talk to me. Worse, they’ll talk about me. Mother and Father would know. All of that.” Thessaly said.

Vitus grinned. “I have a very clever brother. Besides him being charming.” He spread his hands. “Lucas wondered, we’d been talking about finding time for you to meet more people, people you might actually enjoy being around. He wondered if it would be possible to set up a talisman that would hold a steady illusion. A face, something ordinary. As Lucas said, a woman with a few children at home, a cook-housekeeper. No one of particular interest, just going about her day. I checked the laws. I’d need your help to design the talisman, but I think it’s possible.”

Thessaly took a few steps, first sitting on the bed, then falling backwards on it. “That’s really something I could do?”

“Mmhm. You could go to your duelling. Merryn and Thirza have both encouraged me to invite you round to the Four Metals a bit, if you wanted company without bother on the street..” He hesitated. “And there’s the question of names. If we marry, you could be Deschamps. Much less likely to draw attention than Lytton-Powell.”

It made her laugh. “True.” She let out a long sigh. “My sister?”

“Ask your cousin about that. And Magistra Hereswith. They owe us rather a lot. I suspect they could work something out. Set up your sister to be a companion to someone who could mentor her properly, get her away from your family. Especially if there’s any leverage over your father. And then, of course, take some steps to avoid your father marrying Hermia off without her permission.” Thessaly made a thoughtful sound at that. Vitus added, “Talk to them about it, anyway. See what they think.”

Thessaly was quiet, long enough for Vitus to finish stripping out of his clothing. He tidied her gown and corset to where they could be tended in the morning, then offered her a hand up so she could get out of the remaining petticoats. “You really think it could work?”

“I think we won’t know unless we try. Unless we ask for what we want.” Vitus let out a puff of breath, then held out his arms to her. She stepped into them. He let his fingers run against her skin. “I want to make a life with you. I want the people we care about to be happy. The rest of it will come.”

“Children?” Her voice was quieter now. “Commissions?”

“Do you mind if I take commissions from the Great Families?” She shook her head. “More reason to keep the flat, or something like it. A neutral space, nowhere near here. I can be entirely mysterious about my beloved wife, who keeps busy with her own interests. My work does sometimes involve a dinner invitation or something like that, but it won’t be a problem to go by myself. Niobe’s never had that problem.”

“Huh.” Thessaly took a step back, closer to the bed. “You didn’t answer the other.”

“Children? If you are willing, I’d love that. I kept thinking, seeing you with Garin, what kind of mother you might be. What kind of father I might be? And Mama and Papa would be delighted, though they’d be the first to say such things should be our choice.”

“Do you, wait? I don’t know how to say this.” Her voice cracked. “Do you think they’d help me figure out how to do it properly? Warmly?”

Vitus turned to kiss her, taking his time with it. “I am certain Mama would be delighted. She always wanted a daughter. And she knows, a little, about how much it hurt you, people not telling you important things, not asking about them. I’m sure she won’t.”

“She was very kind at supper. Checking in advance about the meal, about what would make me feel at ease.” Thessaly pulled back again, just enough to look at him. “And she’s like that all the time?”

“Oh, yes.” Vitus grinned. “I’ll talk to her. And if you wanted to be somewhere else for a bit, while everything settles down, perhaps you and she could go to one of the baths and have time to talk, in a relaxed way. Away from Albion. Or not.” He wasn’t at all sure how Thessaly would take that.

“You worry about her.” Thessaly hesitated. “I don’t know how to worry about someone, kindly, like that?”

This, now, required another kiss, and Vitus nudging her to settle in the bed, the rearrangement of blankets and sheets and pillows. Once they were properly sorted, him leaning on his side, he said, as firmly as he could, “I am certain you know. And can learn more. You’ve done well worrying about me. Do you really think your family means you can’t?”

There was one of the longest silences yet. Finally, she just nodded.

“Your aunt was warm, your aunt loved you, your aunt worried about you and your sister and her friends. I am certain she taught you a great deal of that, by example. Mama— and Lucas, and even Papa— will be glad to help more. And I am quite able to tell you what I want, or if you do something I don’t like. Let me prove it to you?”

Her breath caught at that. “It’s just. I don’t want to do that. What I was raised to. I want to do something else. I want, I want something solid, stone and metal and the earth under my feet. Not illusions, not pretty words, not the show covering up chasms.”

“We’ll find that together.” Then Vitus grinned, suddenly. “And perhaps for the moment, a bit more earthy pleasure?”

It made Thessaly giggle, just as he’d hoped, the tension popping like a soap bubble. “Did you have something in mind, sir?”

“So many things it will take us a lifetime.” Vitus began with a kiss as his hand shifted between them, to arrange body against body. He planned to take his time, to work her to such delight she couldn’t think, before he fed his own desires. He’d wanted it since they left for supper, in fact. Before that.