Page 86 of Shadows of Winter

“Interesting.” Isla took a glass of the dry, waving for Kaylina to have some, and sipped, then nodded. “Thank you for the gift.”

“Our meadery and eating house opens tonight if you or anyone you know wants to come by.” Kaylina probably shouldn’t be marketing when she didn’t yet know if the castle would allow guests, but… she couldn’t seem to stop mentioning it. It was her dream, damn it. She had to figure out a way to make it work.

“Hm,” was all Isla said in response to that. “Take the tray upstairs, Helda. I’m going to show our guest a few portraits and have a chat with her.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Weren’t they already having a chat? What else was there to discuss?

Feeling the need for fortification, Kaylina took a long swallow of the mead.

“Come.” Isla cradled her glass without taking another sip. Maybe she wouldn’t be as easily won over as the horse and the maid. At least she hadn’t curled her lip and returned it to the tray. “I will show you a few things while we discuss the matter further.”

The matter. That she thought Vlerion was into Kaylina? Kaylina didn’t want to discuss that further. She’d hoped she had straightened Isla out on the subject.

“Is your estate attacked often out here?” Kaylina asked as she followed Isla through a couple of seating areas to the back of the manor where private wooden stairs led to an upper level.

“It has been attacked by Kar’ruk and packs of northern wolves and yekizar numerous times over the centuries,” Isla replied without looking back. “It’s only been the animals since I married Avaron and moved here. The Kar’ruk rarely send raiding parties these days. Pirates and bandits occasionally try to sneak in from the sea, thinking the Torn Towers mean the coast is defenseless. I know the king would like to rebuild them, but such projects are more expensive in these times when men must be paid.”

“As opposed to when the nobles had slaves?”

“Serfs.”

Kaylina wasn’t the history enthusiast that her brother was, but she suspected there wasn’t much of a difference between those two terms.

“As with most of the coastal north of the kingdom,” Isla continued, “this area was once inhabited by the druids. Thanks to the magic they left in the land, our harvests are still prodigious, with our farms and orchards very healthy and not prone to disease and pests. They also left a few traps to thwart intruders. Perhaps I should say to thwart anyone who was not of their kind, but those who grew up here know to avoid those places. Would-be thieves from far away do not. The manor hounds sometimes find bodies along the cliffs overlooking the Strait.”

“Our hounds are more into pheasants and squirrels.”

“Ours are fond of those as well.” After leading Kaylina through another sitting room, Isla extended a hand toward an open doorway.

A large four-poster bed occupied the center, and bookcases lined one wall with plush reading chairs next to it. Dark blue wallpaper sprinkled with the family crest in silver made the room dim, but maybe it suited Isla. Even without her dark dress, she would have carried the air of a woman in mourning, a woman whose wounds refused to heal.

An orange tabby cat lounging against the pillows sat up and looked at them.

“Vlerion can appreciate art and craftsmanship in many areas.” Isla waved to a glass cabinet with musical instruments from around the kingdom, and was that a Kar’ruk bone flute? “Have you heard him play?”

“No, he oddly didn’t break out a violin while he was arresting me.”

Isla tilted her head. “Ms. Korbian, are you being snarky with me?”

“No. I was told that isn’t allowed between commoners and nobles.”

“It is most certainly frowned upon.”

“There won’t be flogging, will there?”

“Since you brought a gift, I’ll refrain from springing upon you with a whip.”

“I appreciate that.”

The cat hopped off the bed and padded toward them. Kaylina couldn’t imagine that it would smell the mead and be interested—cats were almost entirely carnivorous, weren’t they?—but maybe it had been lonely and wanted attention.

“I suppose, since I brought you here to impart upon you the need to avoid my son, I shouldn’t encourage you to get him to play for you.”

Avoid Vlerion? How was Kaylina supposed to do that when his captain wanted Vlerion to train her?

“He is quite talented though,” Isla continued. “His father and I thought… We didn’t expect either of the boys to buck tradition and join the rangers. To involve themselves in battles and combat of any kind. We forbade it, of course, but once Vlarek was sixteen, he joined. And after he fell… Vlerion followed in his footsteps, thinking he could accomplish what his brother hadn’t. Hubris. Both of them were full of it. All the males descended from King Balzarak have been farmers, and occasionally poets and artists as well. They’ve been talented in that area. And it is… what is safest for their kind.”

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