Page 37 of Sanctifier

“I haven’t seduced your maid,” he said, “don’t be silly. We’re only friends, aren’t we Pearl? Someone’s got to look after you. Someone with style and taste. The characters you’ve taken up with lately… it boggles the mind.” Simon managed to make even a grimace look dainty.

“I haven’t taken up with any characters,” Ru said.

“Mmm.Character, singular, I suppose. Now then, I’ve much to say and little time to say it. Pearl, won’t you go and fetch us some tea?”

Still blushing furiously, the maid curtseyed and took her leave.

“You can’t be serious,” Ru said, following Simon into the parlor, where he availed himself of the entire sofa. He arranged himself luxuriously across it, like a lordling posed for a painting.

“About what?”

She waved her hands. “What do you think, Simon? Am I referring to that horrible shade of green you’re wearing?”

“It’s chartreuse…”

“I know we’re all walking on eggshells here, but you came in through thewindow.”

Simon was a creature of mystery, a stranger sometimes even to Ru, he was so deeply entrenched in courtly secrets. She had seen him leap out of a moving carriage, but to scale a wall as winter approached seemed foolhardy madness.

He only shrugged. “We’ve confirmed that I did.”

“We’re two stories high,” Ru insisted. “Did you scale the wall?”

He pursed his lips. “Well yes, obviously. Keep up.”

Lost for words, Ru studied her brother. His impeccably styled hair, his easy smile… even his shoes showed very little sign of damage for someone scrambling up palace walls for a lark. How on earth had he done it? Ru loved her brother but understood very little about him.

Simon moved over and patted the sofa cushion next to him. “Now that tea is on the way, we simplymustcatch up. Before your little…” he grinned, “pronouncement.”

“Pronouncement?” Ru echoed, not moving from where she stood, arms crossed.

“Don’t be thick,” he said. “Your formal introduction to court. I heard you’re set to say a few words.”

The raw glee on her brother’s face made Ru absolutely furious. “I’m glad you think it’s a joke,” she said. “Do you also find it funny that Regent Sigrun has been compromised, that her mind is gone? That the palace is under the thumb of Lady Bellenet? That I am, in fact, a prisoner here? Oh, and let’s not forget the most important bit… Taryel Aharis, theDestroyer, had dinner with me last night.”

Simon picked at a speck of lint on his sleeve. “Why are you yelling atme? I’ve nothing to do with any of this. I simply live here.” He looked up and patted the cushion again. “Anyway, I told you not to come. You should have listened.”

Ru wanted to scream. “Stop being so…Simon-y, and just tell me everything you know.”

“Sit down and I will.”

Exhaling angrily through her nose, Ru finally gave in and went to the sofa, sitting stiffly at its edge.

“Relax, Ru, for god’s sake.”

She grit her teeth. “I’m two seconds away from throwing you back out the window.”

The minstrel pursed his lips. “No need for threats. I’m on your side.”

There was a clatter from the bedroom as Pearl wheeled in the tea cart. Neither Simon nor Ru moved.

“Well?” said Simon, waving a hand at the tea. “We’ll need it for this conversation.”

Narrowing her eyes, Ru stood and retrieved the tea from Pearl with a muttered thanks. She laid out the cups and sugar and milk, and, finally, the steaming jug of tea, her movements all by rote, her mind elsewhere.

At last, they both sat on the sofa, teacups in their hands. Ru was about to vibrate out of her own body. The artifact didnothing to comfort her, and she found herself looking to her brother desperately for guidance. For support, a rock to cling to. He was all she had, just then.

And he gave her nothing in return. His smile was calm and practiced, his fingers motionless against his cup. As if he were a perfect doll, wound up and set free to roam the palace, gathering tidbits of gossip as he went, unharmed and unaltered. Untouchable.

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