Page 96 of Iris
“But I want to come. I’ll be an asset. And, I can fill you in on all the gossip that’s hitting all the Stitch feeds. You?—”
“Rue,” Mari says, “we need you to keep an eye on Heath, make sure he doesn’t follow.”
Or set up dates for me. But I keep that to myself.
“And maybe see if there’s any good gossip we need to know.”
“I’m not five,” she says. Then she stops. “I can read all the gossip for research?”
Her eyes go round and light dances as she grins big.
“Yes,” Mari says.
Rue gives a little scream of joy, and honestly, I don’t know if we just created a monster.
The Monarch keeps me waiting. I’m alone.
Again.
Which is good because our walk was full of looks and sneers and whispers behind hands.
Thank goodness there weren’t too many people out and about the morning after the ball, but while Mari tried to smile and keep a cheery conversation going, I know it got to her. An up-front and center feel of what it’s going to be like for her in a couple of years.
But she’s lucky she’ll have longer to wait than me to make her debut into society. And Rue’ll have the longest of all. Or maybe that’ll be Dahlia.
I drag in a slow breath. I need to calm, just focus on the next steps.
“The Monarch is ready for you,” Fredrick says with a slight sneer.
It’s the same room as when I was last here, and yet it seems bigger, grander. Maybe that’s because it’s stripped back to nothing more than the chair and the raised platform.
Sophine sits on the chair, a workpad in one hand, a stylus in the other. She finishes making notes on the screen before closing it and looking at me as she sets it all down.
I stand, as there isn’t a seat for me. And she doesn’t rise.
The off-white suit she wears looks insanely stylish as she reclines, taking me in.
Finally, I drop my eyes and head, like I’m submitting to her, and it sticks hard in my throat. No amount of swallowing can make me okay with that.
“I’m sorry, Monarch.”
She doesn’t answer for a long time, and I force myself to keep my head down.
Finally, she speaks. “For what?”
I wince. “The first interview.”
“Not for last night?”
“No.”
She makes a small sound. “You might not be the Luxe, but you’re still one of my selected girls. I expect more from all of them. Disappearing, running around, mouthing off and taunting boys…”
This time I raise my head.
“If you wanted a mate, I’m happy to set you up with a distant relative of mine. He’s a little problematic, but then again, so are you. Who knows? Maybe it’s a match made in heaven.”
I bite down on what I want to say, because I don’t think she cares who I mate with. Though I doubt she’d actually set me up with family. We’re already close enough to that to suit her.
