Page 72 of Fragile Oath

Avani had spent several minutes teaching me commands for my potential new guard until I was comfortable enough bringing her along for tea.

“No.” Gwyn shuddered. “That thing on your finger.”

Oh. That.

Davin’s first gift of the day may have been a success, if you could call a guard dog a gift, but his second one was decidedly less so. Though it wasn’t really a gift, either, so much as a loan, delivered by his manservant, who I was beginning to suspect of hiding a wicked sense of humor under his dour expression.

I hadn’t yet dredged up the nerve to ask Davin what had actually become of my ring, the elegant ruby set into a delicately woven gold band that had felt at home on my hand from the moment he placed it there. This was not that ring.

“Blaine dropped it off,” I said, trying to ignore the substantial weight of the ring currently on my finger.

“Does Blaine hate you?” Gallagher asked. He had arrived with Gwyn, though he would be leaving to spend the afternoon with the lairds soon.

“It’s not outside the realm of possibility,” I said, inspecting the atrocity all over again.

Davin and I might not be precisely getting along, but he wouldn’t have wished this ring on his worst enemy, let alone someone he publicly associated with.

Every lantern in the hall, along with whatever rays of sunlight reached this part of the hallway, caught on each of the gemstones. The colors were reflected on the walls like an abstract painting done by a small child, all oversaturation and clashing hues.

There was, to be fair, a rather large ruby in the center, accented with every other gem in existence, including but not limited to a massive iridescent pearl on either side.

Gallagher cleared his throat. “Well, perhaps you could accompany me to my sparring match tomorrow and assist me in blinding Gwyn so that I might actually best her this time.”

Avani choked on a laugh, and Gwyn snorted.

“I’d still win,” she said casually.

Jocelyn walked toward us then, looking slightly more harassed than I generally saw her. She stopped short when she saw me, looking first at my furry companion with approval, then at my hand with rather the opposite emotion.

Her eyes widened with shock or horror, I couldn’t quite tell. She blinked several times as if to clear her vision of the unfortunate appearance of my finger.

“Is that Granny Siobhan’s ring?” she asked, her tone managing more neutrality than her features.

“It is,” Avani answered gravely.

Jocelyn’s nose wrinkled before she quickly smoothed it out. “She always did have…extravagant taste.”

That was one way of putting it. The ring was probably worth as much as one of my uncle’s priceless jeweled eggs.

“Blaine chose it,” Gallagher supplied.

Jocelyn’s eyes shot over to him, then back to the ring before she looked up at me again. “I suppose he thought he was being helpful.”

That was a charitable assessment, but I didn’t argue.

“In any event, it has already been spotted.” Jocelyn tilted her head subtly toward Lady Wilson, then squared her shoulders with all the outward appearance of a woman resigned to march into battle. “No matter. In Lithlinglau, we set the trends. So...” She trailed off, seeming to be at a rare loss for words that only this particular piece of jewelry could have garnered.

Gal sighed dramatically, placing a comforting hand on his aunt’s shoulder. “Steady on.”

She dipped her head in a nod, stepping through the door to the tearoom.

“Indeed, Lady Galina. We shall face this new challenge together, with bravery,” Avani said in an undertone. “For Lochlann.”

“For Lochlann,” Gwyn and Gal echoed.

The brief moment of levity ended the moment I set foot in the tearoom and remembered why I was here. I had a job today, one that involved spending quality time with at least two of Davin’s former bedmates.

Gracie MacBay tilted her head toward me before her soft brown eyes drifted to the dog at my side. Her eyes widened briefly before she let out a delicate sneeze, casting me an apologetic glance. Fiona Shaw, on the other hand, only arched a perfectly sculpted brow, her dark gaze taking my measure as she scanned me from head to toe.

---