Page 5 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

It’d been a bit mean of me, but I knew that they’d never share anything we talked about, so I tended to let my inner catty self out around them.

I needed the break from having to constantly measure out my words and watch my tone every day. Besides, they knew I was joking.

During one of our many chats via shadow magic, Demetri had walked in from the washroom completely naked, unaware that I was talking with Rynn and Cali, and gave them both an eyeful.

Truthfully, there wasn’t anything wrong with Demetri. He was a perfect specimen of a Moroi male in every way.

Everyway.

Unfortunately, he was rather uninspired in how he used that perfection.

There’d never been any kind of passion between us, but at least we didn’t outright hate each other like some of the other married couples I knew.

Maybe once I got Marvina to take me seriously, I could spend more time with Demetri, and we could figure out how to get some spark in our relationship. Give my poor fingers a break.

I breezed into my study, pleased to see that everything was exactly as I left it. Chaotic.

I knew it made the servants nervous to leave the room in such a state, butIknew where everything was, and that was all that mattered. Settling into my favorite chair by the window, I picked up the thick tome from where I’d left it on the windowsill and plucked out several papers.

The musky smell from the pages made my nose twitch as I carefully unfolded the map and stretched it out on the low table in front of me.

House Laurent was located on the coast and had the most mines out of any of the Moroi Houses. At least half a dozen deposits of gold, silver, and iron wound their way under the House itself before stretching far out, and the coastline that was less than an hour’s walk from where I was sitting was lined with basalt.

It was these metals and minerals that allowed us to safeguard our territories against the monsters that roamed these lands, but there was one crucial resource that House Laurent didn’t have. Malachite.

The Velesian packs in Narchis territory had plenty of it, though.

I wasn’t able to get the exact numbers, but I was reasonably sure that our stock of malachite was running low. Likely to run out within the next year, in fact.

In the past, House Laurent had gotten the resource from other Moroi Houses, but it made far more sense to go to the Velesians because they had so much of it, and the few Moroi Houses that had it would demand far more in trade.

The wards that were used by the Houses to keep out the wraiths were created with blood magic and various metals like gold or silver, but minerals were required to keep them powered up, and malachite was the best. Other minerals like quartz could be used, but they had to be replaced every few weeks, whereas malachite could be powered up to last for almost a year.

Footsteps sounded from the hallway, and a moment later Rose entered with a steaming cup of tea in one hand and a plate of pastries in the other.

“Thank you,” I murmured as she set everything down on the table, taking care not to disturb the map or the teetering stacks of scrolls and books.

“Can I get you anything else, my lady?” She studied the map curiously but didn’t ask about it. When she felt my attention on her, she quickly cast her eyes to the floor and hunched in her shoulders.

“I realize that telling someone you can trust them doesn’t mean much. Trust is something that can only be earned through actions and time.” I reached over and broke a piece off one of the pastries. “But if there is ever something… amiss about how you or any of the staff are treated here, please find a way to let me know, and I will help.”

A slight tremble ran through her, and she opened her mouth, only to snap it shut.

“All is well,” she said finally before turning to leave the room. As she arrived at the doorway, she slowed and rotated her head slightly, not completely turning towards me. “Thank you for your concern.”

Disappointment weighed heavily on me, but she was gone before I could respond. I popped the pastry morsel into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Rose seemed like a naturally shy person, so it was hard for me to get a read on her. The servants here were much more reserved and timid than theones at House Harker, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything was wrong.

Maybe I was just looking for something that wasn’t there, and they were all intense introverts who wanted to retreat to their rooms and read. Perhaps my being nosy all the time was what set Rose on edge.

A smile tugged at my lips. If only I had Kieran’s charm. My childhood friend could talk to anyone and put them at ease.

I sipped my tea for another hour, the floral blend my favorite because it was good even after it had cooled. My argument for why we needed to improve our trading with the Velesians was sound and my proposals perfectly reasonable.

Confidence firmly in place, I rose ten minutes before the meeting was due to start and made my way to the second floor.

There was a large room dedicated to assemblies, but that was mostly used when representatives from other Houses or from the Velesian packs visited. I strode past that room and instead headed to Marvina’s study where she ran all the meetings with her advisors. It was easily four times the size of the cozy one I preferred to work in.

Almost everyone was seated when I entered. There were six chairs with thick cushions and tall regal backs spaced out in a half-moon shape, all facing a massive desk with a single chair behind it.

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