Page 54 of Cursed

Silas, in contrast, looked positively haggard. All of Edeena’s carefully prepared phrasing fled as she blinked at him. “Father, what’s wrong?” she asked hurriedly.

It was a bad move. Silas drew himself up haughtily, his face turning stony as he scowled at her.

“What’s wrong is that, instead of standing where you are supposed to, in the bosom of the nobility who even now awaits breathlessly for you to do your duty at last, you’re sneaking around with your American lover and causing whispers wherever you go.”

Her lover! Edeena stared at her father, aghast, even as Vince bristled.

But Silas wasn’t finished. “You didn’t land your prince, but you can still do your part, Edeena. Take the first step toward reminding the people of Garronia of who the Saleris are, of all the undeserved misfortune we’ve experienced. It’s long past time that we took our rightful place at the royal family’s side, not at their feet.”

“I’m not your puppet anymore, Silas,” Edeena snapped, her voice shaking with anger. “I’m doing this for my sisters, not you. Even if the extended Saleri family does recognize it as some kind of end of the curse, you won’t get what you want.”

“You’re wrong,” Silas retorted, and once again she saw the whisper of anguish in his face, quickly quelled. “This curse has followed me since I was born, the same way it has followed past generations of Saleris since the Andrises usurped our position and rose to power. With its abolition, it will not taint the future.”

She stared at him, uncomprehending. “But Marguerite, Caroline and I are the future of the Saleris, yet you’ve done all you can to force us into unhappiness. What part of the future are you so desperate to protect?”

Vince made the realization before Edeena could. Silas no longer had any concern for his older, capable daughters. He was worried only for his unborn daughter. For what the curse might do to her.

“Sir,” he said sharply. “I think the important thing here is that it’s Edeena’s choice how to move forward. If you’ve finished with us here, I can help her return to the dais.

Silas swung to look at him, his black eyes almost verging on the edge of mania. Vince had never seen anything like it.

“I’ll make the announcement,” Edeena said quietly, drawing her father’s attention once again. “But I’m not going to make it from the dais inside.” She pointed to the small dance floor with its tiered sections that had been set up in the middle of the grassy courtyard. “I’ll make it there.”

Silas spluttered. “Oh for God’s—”

“Good,” Vince said, his booming voice making both Saleris jump. He held Silas’s gaze. “It’s the right call. She makes the announcement out here, and it’s symbolic of bringing all of the glitter from inside to mix with the general public. Even though there’s nothing general about this public. Every one of the families here is linked to the nobility in some way or another, I’m thinking.”

Silas drew himself up stiffly. “The Saleri family is one of the proudest traditions in Garronia. Of course every branch of it is linked to the nobility.”

“Well, her making her announcement in front of God, the world, and everybody is going to make that statement carry even more weight, then,” Vince said brusquely. “It’s a show, but it’s a show you guys have been waiting to put on for a long time. Might as well do it right.”

He wheeled Edeena away and she took a few steps, enough for him to turn back to Silas and speak to him in relative quiet.

“If you touch her or her sisters ever again, I will personally take you apart,” he said, watching as Silas’s perpetually morose expression was replaced by something else—indignation, and even the start of outrage. Good. “And I have the backing of the queen to make that happen.”

It wasn’t an empty threat, and Silas seemed to know it. Queen Catherine had not been idle during her turn around the ballroom with Vince. She’d spoken quickly and assuredly, and he had no doubt she’d meant what she’d said. Vince was hereby no longer to be paid by the Saleri family to ensure the security of Marguerite and Caroline back in South Carolina. He would be paid by the Crown. As such, he had the authority of the Crown to take whatever measures were necessary to ensure the safety of the two women.

He’d agreed, of course, but he couldn’t help being annoyed at the same time. The queen had seemed to assume that Edeena’s new husband, whoever he may be, would be enough to assure her security. That he’d have the money and social standing to oppose anything Silas might try. Vince wasn’t so sure about that, but there’d only been so much time for him to process and respond to the queen’s commands.

Still, Silas appeared unbowed. “There are four daughters in the generation,” he said, curling his lip. “The first three are damaged. Failures. I can do no more with them. Instead, I will lift up the fourth to restore the family to our rightful glory.”

Vince stared at him. “Failures?” He positively spat the word. “Seems to me Edeena’s doing everything you wanted.”

“Not the way I wanted it, not the way it should and must be done.” Silas held up an imperious hand. “The Saleris are a proud and ancient family, and we will prevail--eventually. But I’ll take no more part in this charade. It is finished.”

The older man pivoted on his heel and moved away, saving Vince the need to deck him. Edeena was going to prove her father wrong, of course. She’d save the family, no matter the cost to herself.

Vince moved beside Edeena protectively, shouldering them both through the crowd as she kept her attention on the gazebo. As they moved through successive pools of people, he noticed the attention of the crowd fixing them with increasing intensity. Edeena was certainly the woman of the hour, and the ball was well underway. They’d be expecting her to make her announcement soon, and her presence out here simply fanned those expectations.

The closer they got to the gazebo though, the slower Edeena seemed to move. Her hand gripped his arm tightly, and he realized she was trembling. Something shifted hard in Vince’s chest. Despite his dedication to helping her to be strong, he found his own courage was flagging. Not because he didn’t think Edeena couldn’t make the best of her situation, though. If anything, it was because he knew she would.

Just then a small space opened up between them and the gazebo. He hissed a sigh of relief. Almost there.

“Prince Rallis!”

Both Edeena and Vince froze as a voice boomed across the clearing, then they turned as one. How had he ever allowed that stupid nickname to take hold in a country where being a prince actually meant something? Back in the states, his name had been a benevolent joke, here it was rapidly becoming a liability.

Still, it had the effect of getting his attention, and he recognized the speaker at the same time Edeena did.

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