Page 37 of Avaritia

Swallowing thickly, I finished my list of proposed punishments and made my way downstairs to the dining room. I bypassed the door, following the pull of the mating bond down to the first floor and along the corridor that led to the kitchens.

I hovered outside the archway while Verity spoke to Wilder, seemingly unaware of my presence.

“Did there used to be parties here?” Verity was asking him. “Like balls and such?”

“Not in my time,” Wilder laughed, making me startle. Since when did he know how to laugh? “But back when this was a functioning palace, yes. Of course. There is a ballroom on this level, though it’s been closed up for many decades now.”

Verity hummed. She made such pleasant, soothing sounds. “What a waste. Surely, some of these rooms could be opened up again? I wouldn’t mind cleaning them.”

“I’m sure His Grace wouldn’t be opposed to taking on more staff for such a task,” Wilder replied, sounding vaguely horrified at the notion of Verity scrubbing dusty floors herself.

“Oh no, that would defy the point. I want something to do.” Her voice was changing in pitch, as though she was moving around the kitchen. “Shall I bring these dishes upstairs?”

“Really, I can do that—”

“That’s okay, Theon can help me carry them, he’s hovering in the corridor like a weirdo.”

Ah, I hadn’t been as discreet as I’d thought. I had to give my little mate credit, nothing in her tone had given away her awareness of my presence. Her easy charm and unflappable nature would serve her well when she was crowned queen at my side someday.

Chapter 12

“Hey,” I said, pulling Aderith aside after breakfast. “Could I have some cleaning supplies?”

She looked ready to pass out on the spot, which was an even more dramatic response than Wilder’s look of horror in the kitchen yesterday.

“I just thought I’d spruce up the library a little. It’s such a nice spot, and even though I can’t read any of the books, I’ve been enjoying looking at the illustrations—”

“I will clean it, Your Grace,” Aderith said hurriedly, fidgeting uncomfortably. “That is my role.”

“No, please, I really want something to occupy my time,” I insisted.

She fidgeted again. “Well, okay. If you’re certain.”

“I am.”

“The only reason I haven’t maintained it is that His Grace closed up most of the rooms to reduce my workload.”

“Of course, that makes total sense,” I reassured her, not wanting to think I was criticizing her. “And it also makes sense that if I’m the one opening those rooms up, then I should be the one to take care of them. Deal?”

I smiled, but it didn’t seem to ease her mind any. Theon walked past at that moment, heading down to his basement man cave to do… whatever he did all day.

“Honeycakes,” I called out sweetly, reveling in his sigh of irritation. “Would you mind terribly if I cleaned the library?”

He shot me a disgruntled look, probably at the term of endearment, already slinking down the stairs. “No.”

“Well, there we go. It’s settled.”

Aderith still looked vaguely disgruntled as she led me to a cleaning closet, and I grabbed whatever was within reach before scurrying upstairs to the library, not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was. Clearly, I was disrupting the order of things here, and I felt pretty bad about that.

But I also had a short attention span and as soon as I was absorbed in my task, I forgot about Aderith entirely. The leather-bound books on the shelves were caked in dust, and I’d wrapped a scarf around the lower half of my face to minimize how much of it I inhaled, but it was totally worth it because the job of cleaning them was incredibly rewarding. Beneath the years of neglect were beautifully engraved covers, some shimmering with silver foil, and I carefully rubbed at the surfaces with a dry cloth, getting into all the crevices until they came up looking shiny and new. Well, maybe not new. Maybe just less ancient.

There were hundreds of books in this library at least, and it was probably going to take me several years to get through the entire room. But what else did I have going on? Maybe getting this manor back to its former grandeur would be my newfound purpose.

Besides, there was something kind of symbolic in it. The manor was interesting and grand and beautiful, but it had been neglected and shut away for a long time. Much like its owner.

Okay, maybe I was romanticizing Theon a little too much. At least some of his neglect seemed to be self-inflicted. Sure, Damen was pretty antagonizing when it came to Theon, but I didn’t think he’d have actually objected if Allerick had insisted on having Theon around more. The tension between the two older brothers had definitely been evident at that dinner, but it didn’t seem like a simple matter of Allerick banning Theon and that was that. I was pretty sure they’d both been avoiding each other.

Maybe I could be a positive influence by helping Theon build bridges with his brothers?

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