Page 73 of The Sovereign: Part One
She took it, lightly dabbing her under eyes.
“It’s truly fine, Bellam.You’re okay.Just… slip into your unctuous persona, the one you use with the pious neanderthals from The Citadel every day.”
She nodded.
“We have to get back out there before Roan comes to check on you, and you know he will.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes.With one last dab, she turned toward the threshold.
The walk back to the table stretched longer than it should have.Not in a literal sense.The distance was the same, the lighting just as dim and warm, but something in my stomach knotted as we approached.Maxim noticed and stood to pull out both of our chairs.
“Welcome back, my love.”
“Thank you,” I said, seating myself at the same time Bellam did.
Maxim’s gesture not only subjugated the awkwardness of our arrival but kept Roan in his seat.
I scanned the table for expressions.Lourdes was suspicious.Roan was only relieved that Bellam had returned.
“Did you find a solution for the zipper?”Lourdes asked.
“We did,” Bellam said, settling in.
“Are you okay?”Roan asked, leaning toward her.
Bellam looked at him and smiled.“Fine.Thanks for asking.I noticed the gardens on the way here.The seasonal rotation has shifted fully into spring.”She scanned the table.“They seem to be opulent this time of year, don’t you agree?”
Roan steadied himself, clearly confused, but I’d seen Bellam take control of a conversation before.She could steer them with such finesse, even Leopold would be impressed, had he realized what she was doing.
Lourdes offered an assured smile.“Oh, without question.There’s something almost poetic about the way the blossoms emerge right on schedule, as if nature itself were honoring Chiron’s vision.”She smoothed a hand over the table’s polished surface, the movement as fluid as her tone.“I do find the symmetry of it all rather… soothing.”
I shot a side glance at Lourdes.She knew exactly what Bellam was up to—and playing along.
Bellam nodded, her eyes brightening at the sight of the server, sure to distract Roan for at least a while longer.
“Andress,” Lourdes said, also grateful for the disruption.“Good evening.”
“Primara Vasthane,” Andress said with a polite grin.She carried a tray of drinks, distributing them around the table.
“Your usual,” she said to Lourdes, setting down a stemmed crystal leir.“And for you, Primar.”Andress lowered a short leir of amber liquid with a ball of ice in front of Roan, though he barely looked at it.She turned to me with a patient smile, placing another stemmed leir in front of me.
“The gentleman ordered for you, Senior Advisor Poeima, but if you’d like something else…” she trailed off.
“This is fine,” I smiled at Maxim in appreciation.“He knows what I prefer.”
Maxim leaned over to kiss my temple.“Yes, I do.”
“I ordered your usual,” Roan said to Bellam as Andress set her drink before her.
Bellam shot a glance at me, desperately trying not to shrink away from Lourdes’s narrowing glare.It wasn’t aimed at Bellam, though, but at her brother.
“And finally, Primar Vasthane and Maxim,” Andress said, lowering their deep, stemmed leirs.“Vinterra Nocturne 2218, deep pour, precisely decanted at sixteen degrees Celsius.Structured body with a layered finish.”
“And?”Leopold prompted.
Andress grinned.“Supplicant-friendly, of course.”
Satisfied, Leopold swirled the deep ruby liquid, peering into the leir as the legs of the wine crawled back to the bottom.He took a whiff, then a small taste.
