“We should have debriefed her,” Con murmured.
“Yes, but—” Andrei stopped, looked at me. Then he shook his head. “It wasn’t necessary. There were only a handful of reasons Coal District malcontents would have taken her.”
I shivered. “Lord Ashlyun isn’t behind the Ixnie, is he?”
He lifted a long brocade duster style jacket from an empty chair. “That would be extremely foolish of him. No, he simply has the misfortune of being the Lord who oversees the only slum in Casakraine.”
“Well, maybe you should do something about that, Andrei. The slum, not Ashlyun,” I added. “I like Ashlyun.” Philea snorted.
The stare he fixed on me was cool, hinting at raised hackles and shiny teeth.
“What’s the point of ruling an entire city if you let it go to the weeds?” I asked.
“Several points,” was the crisp, haughty reply. “And if you think rule is so simple, soeasy, consort, why don’t we?—”
“My Lord,” Mathen said.
Andrei subsided, muttering something in Cassanian, his ruffled fur smoothing back down. “One day I will answer these challenges she flings about like water drops,” he said, giving me a dark look under his lashes.
For the first time that morning, I noticed his attire. Green silk and velvet, gold accents at his wrists and on his fingers, a shimmer of gold shadow on his lids, eyes lined in a darker shade. He caught me looking, a glint in his gaze as he held my stare.
“Do not let her out of your sight. She is not entirely herself yet.” Slowly, he extended a ringed hand and brushed the edges of hisnails along my cheek, then turned away. “I’ll answer to Issahelle for the lapse in our security as well today. At least I can answer that my bonded is truly suffering for the risk to the House.”
“We’ll take care of them,” Mathen said. “Focus on what you need to.”
“Her,” Philea snarled, “not them. I amnotenduring another rut cycle. I’ll go stay with Mia. At least she can lick a clit without getting fangs and feelings involved.”
Andrei nodded and left, Theland and Esseum at his sides.
Philea stood and turned her chair around then sat in it backwards, draping her arms over the back. She shoved the half-eaten muffin away.
“You know that’s why he had to bring the hammer down, right?” she said. “If the High Lord thinks he’s going soft, she’ll take over.”
I shrugged. Made a sad face shape with bits of meat I’d cut up.
Philea watched me as Constin sat on the table next to her, swinging his feet. She ignored him.
“Look, Anah, I like you. You’ve got that dainty thing going on, but you’re one cold bitch—my kind of girl. But if you don’t eat all this food, I’m going to take you out to the courtyard, and it won’t be pretty. You get me?”
“I’m not hungry.”
Her expression darkened. Constin grabbed the muffin and put it back in front of her. Then twisted and looked pointedly at my plate.
“Fine. I’m eating.” I cleaned the plate, then pushed it aside. “Happy?”
“We’ll all be happy when you learn your place.” She focused a gimlet-eyed look on me. “We all have a place, Anah. We all follow the rules—or if we break them, it’s for a damn good reason and we know what we’re doing. No one is trying to oppress you. You’re a baby. Do humans let their babies play in the street?”
“I’m such a baby that your Lord is fucking me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean, and I think that’s the second time you’ve spoken that particular insult. Do it a third time. I dare you.”
I settled my attention on the table.
Philea let out a breath and softened her tone. “Do you want to do something besides curl up in your bed and pretend to die today? We can go spend a lot of Andrei’s money if you want. He’s got it to burn, and it might make you feel better.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“That’s not the point.”