Page 37 of Tainted Reasoning

Chapter Seventeen

William

Isit at my desk in the study, watching as Tamara flicks around the screen on her desk. It’s been twenty-hours since her mother left, and she’s barely spoken to anyone. I don’t even think she slept last night because she’s in the same clothes as yesterday. Before we’d watched the film, she’d changed from her business suit into jeans and a jumper, and she’s still wearing them. Victoria and Nicholas huddle together over the other side of the room, reading through a document Nicholas drafted for the new constitution of the society.

I slide out of my plush leather chair, having done little more than play Roblox on my computer for the last hour, and pour a glass of water from the jug, which is resting on top of a seventeenth century sideboard. I take the glass over to Tamara and place it in front of her.

“You’ve not drunk anything for a while. It’s bad for you. You’ll get dehydrated, and then you’ll get a headache. If it gets really bad, you could end up in hospital on a drip. I know because I’ve read all about it.” I want to slap myself in the face for having verbal diarrhea, but the smile crossing her face makes me feel less stupid. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I do need to drink.” She looks back at her computer screen, then turns it to face me. I see it’s on the ancestry page she was looking at the other day, and I notice her name and Theodore’s on the screen. It says the probability of them being half brother and sister is high. “I guess we don’t need to do an official DNA test. This proves it.”

“I guess.” I shrug, wanting to comfort her, but the words fail me. My social sensibilities are virtually non-existent at times like this. It’s a curse but also a blessing. “Does that make you my half sister-in-law?”

“Possibly. I don’t know how it works. I’ll have to Google it.” Tamara pulls up a fresh browser and starts to type while I hum a thought. “What is it?”

“Well. It doesn’t make it illegal for me to fuck you does it?”

She can’t help the laugh that escapes her lips. It’s loud, refreshing, and much needed. Causing Victoria and Nicholas to look up from the document they are engrossed in.

“Thank you.” She laughs again.

“What for?”

“Being you.”

“I’m not always certain that’s a good thing but alright.”

“It’s exactly what I needed.”

“What’s going on?” Victoria inquires with enthusiasm.

“William’s being perfect,” Tamara responds, getting to her feet and embracing me.

“Should I even ask what he said?” Nicholas wraps his arms around his wife.

“The right thing. He said the right thing.”

“Cryptic. Definitely a lawyer.” Nicholas rolls his eyes.

“Well can I?” I bring the conversation back to my question. I want to know the answer. It’s important.

“Yes, William. If I say you can fuck me, you can. It’s not illegal because we don’t share any common blood.”

“Hey, who are you saying has common blood? I’ve got the blood of Dukes, remember,” Nicholas retorts with a chuckle. I like the fact the tension of the last twenty-four hours is starting to dissipate.

“I guess my blood’s not as common as I thought it was either.” Tamara sticks her tongue out at Victoria and my brother, her half brother-in-law. This is going to get so confusing and give me a headache. I’m going to have to develop a family tree to figure out how all the links work. It will bug me if not, and that only leads to trouble, or several hours spent distracting myself by trying to name as many facts as I can about space or the United States of America. My record is six hours discussing Florida with myself when I was trying to forget how Prince John was related to Marie Antoinette. Damn it. I’m going to get that thought in my head, again. I knew he was her fifth cousin seven times removed or something, and I drew a big diagram to prove it. Nicholas became frustrated because it took up too much space in the playroom, and in the end, he burned it.

Victoria bites her lip. “How do you feel? I mean…about us sharing blood? What my…our father did?”

“I can’t lie and say I don’t want to kill him with my bare hands for what he did to my mother. But, to be honest, I’m not surprised it was him. It makes sense being the type of man he is. He gave you up for financial gain to a society, which would’ve raped and killed you if it weren’t for Nicholas being the man destined to inherit the title. I’m worried sick about my mother still being in the house, and everything that could happen to her, but I understand why she’s gone back. Theodore is just as much an innocent in all of this as you and my mother were. He’s being manipulated by the Viscount, and we need to put a stop to it. I’ll never call him father but to know you’re my sister is the best news I’ve ever had. It cements what we’ve known all along.”

“I feel the same. I’m sad but happy at the same time. It’s confusing.” A smile breaks out across her face.

“Oh.” Tamara claps her hands excitedly. “I just thought of something.”

“What?” I ask at the same time as Victoria.

“The baby inside you. I know I was going to be its cool Auntie Tamara who let it get away with everything Mummy and Daddy won’t, but I ‘ll really be this baby’s aunt.”

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