Page 116 of The Iron Flower

“Do you think she would talk to me?” I wonder.

Valasca lets out a jaded laugh. “Go on, Gardnerian. Why don’t you find out?”

I can’t decide if Valasca is serious or not. “She should know what happened to her son,” I insist.

Valasca smirks and goes about finishing her bowl of stew.

I glance back at Sorcha and make a split-second decision to be reckless. I get up and step around the groupings of women, their conversations dying down as I pass, quickly replaced by contentious stares and murmuring.

Sorcha visibly stiffens at my approach, and so does the blonde soldier she’s speaking with. The two of them pull themselves up to their full, intimidating heights.

“Sorcha Xanthippe,” I greet her, dipping my head respectfully, “I’m Elloren Gardner—”

“I know who you are,” she snaps.

I hesitate for a moment. “I was wondering if we could talk.”

She stares hard at me, golden eyes ablaze. She says something in another language to her companion, and the woman spits out a contemptuous sound as she looks me over. Sorcha walks a few steps toward the edge of the hall, then motions sharply for me to follow.

She leads me to a semiprivate, heavily curtained alcove at the edge of the large room and turns to me with an impatient, hostile expression.

“I’ve news of your son,” I tell her.

Now she’s looking at me with the same expression that was on Alcippe’s face—like she flat-out wants to kill me.

“I have no son,” she grinds out through her teeth.

“No, you do...”

“The Lupines,” she spits out venomously, “theyhave a son. I have no use for him.”

“Andras Volya is a friend of mine,” I explain, thinking that if I put it all into the right words, she’ll soften a bit. “He’s just met your little boy. He didn’t even know he existed until a couple weeks ago. So now he’s joining the Lupines this summer and...”

“I. Don’t. Care.”Her golden eyes are murderous.

Confusion takes hold and I bristle on Andras’s behalf. “Andras cares for you still, you know.”

“Then he is a fool,” she sneers. “I went to him for one reason, and one reason only. To conceive a daughter. And hefailedme.”

“It’s not right,” I blurt out, rapidly growing incensed, “the way you treat boys here.”

Sorcha’s face fills with incredulity as she looks over my black garb. “What wouldyou, a Gardnerian, know about what’s right? You, with your barbaric customs that enslave women.”

I draw back from her, realizing I’ve made a mistake in trying to reason with her. She’s right about Gardnerians, but she’s definitely not right about Konnor and Andras.

“He’s a beautiful little boy,” I tell her somberly. “I just thought you might want to know he’s doing well.”

Her eyes light with fury. “I don’t care if he lives or dies,” she snarls. “He’s a stain on Erthia, like all men. And like all Gardnerians.” She shoulders past me and strides away.

I watch her go, fuming. How could Andras love someone like her? Where is the woman from his stories? The woman who loved to talk with him about horses and the stars? Who preferred him above all others?

When I return to my seat next to Valasca, she’s gnawing on a chicken leg. She cocks one eyebrow in my direction. “Went well, then, did it?”

“She’s hideous,” I spit out, glaring over at Sorcha, but the menacing sound of Diana’s low growl distracts both Valasca and me. Valasca appraises the situation silently, her eyes following Diana’s gaze to Alcippe.

She sets down her food and springs to her feet, light as a cat. “C’mon,” she says, gesturing for me to follow. “Let’s get your Lupine friend as far away from Alcippe as possible before there’s a brawl.”

CHAPTER FIVE

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