Page 93 of Twisted Kings

"Thank you," she says, voice soft and folded-down. "It's hard to host these kinds of events and not feel exhausted with the managing of it all. So having you there will be a comfort."

"I couldn't possibly wear one of your dresses," I say, because she can't mean it. It might be something for me to be waiting behind her, in the shadows, as she entertains. But not in a ballgown.

"You must," she says with a sly smile. "It's all a part of my plan. A grand plan." Those words hit my heart with a spike of dread. I cling to my tea-cup, as if it's an anchor that will keep me upright.

"A plan, my lady?"

Her eyelashes flutter.

"You'll see. Drink your tea. And tell me all about Maddie's progress in her lessons," her tone tells me there's no arguing with her. The glint of iron in her eyes says that she may seem to be a delicate, gently-reared noble woman, but she is made of the same granite as her brothers.

There will be no getting out of this. I only hope nobody asks too many questions, about why I'm having tea with her, or why I'm going to be dressed up in silk and lace and displayed at a masquerade, when I should be sitting with my charge in her room, reading books and singing lullabies.

And if I'm lucky, there are three men that won't notice the attention Lady Ruby is giving me. I have a feeling that the King brothers won't like it, at all.

36

Eva

Having the twins at home has changed nothing and everything. The family now has breakfast with each other, all at once, in one of the less formal dining rooms. Madeline is expected to attend and sits next to Ruby, who supervises her meal choices.

I’m left to stand up against the wall, watching them as Ruby talks to her niece, and Maddie, excited to have her uncle and aunt back in residence, chatters at them both. She brightens up everything, and a breakfast days later, she saves the entire thing from being mortifying and uncomfortable for everyone.

“Good morning, love,” Ruby says as she sits down in her seat, taking Maddie by the hand and helping her into her chair. “Did you dream well?”

“I dreamt about a flying pony,” Maddie replies, laying her napkin across her lap and beaming up at her aunt.

“That must have been magnificent,” Ruby says and smooths a hand over her lap. She’s dressed in a magnificent day gown of peach silk, drop-waisted and dripping with beads. Not the sort of thing that would be practical for me to wear, but I can’t help butstare at it with longing.

Ruby catches me looking, and she flutters her eyelashes.

“The peach would suit your complexion,” she says, and Maddie looks up from her breakfast to see who Ruby is talking to. “Myvalaidis quite good with a needle if you think your uniform could use some decoration.”

The door to the breakfast room opens, and Mason steps in, already in suit and tie, ready for a day of receiving local businessmen or attending to some paperwork. My cheeks blush immediately at the sight of him and I step back, trying to sink into the shadows.

Stupid of me, to think he wouldn’t see me. To think he wouldn’t notice me.

He looks at me immediately, pausing, as if he’s surprised to see me. He hasn’t been at any recent morning meals, not since Lady Ruby returned.

Was he thinking I wouldn’t accompany Lady Madeline to breakfast?

“I can’t imagine what she would do dressed in glitter and beads like you do every day,” he says drily, his gaze finally breaking from mine as he smiles at his younger sister, and his daughter. “Although she seems a good deal more practical than you. I can’t fathom her running through her clothing budget the way you do,” there was a hint of rebuke in his tone, but Ruby beamed at him.

“What’s the point of a budget if you don’t spend it,” Ruby countered, then nodded her head toward Maddie, watching all of this back-and-forth with rapt attention. “Take note, and don’t letyour future husband dictate to you what you spend your money on.”

“Ruby,” Mason’s voice is whip-sharp and fast. Her shoulders fly back, and the air in the room stills, frozen for a moment. Footmen stand at attention, unsure of what to say or do.

Maddie breaks the moment, laughing.

“That’s silly, I am never getting married,” she says with the absolute certainty of a child who hasn’t been beaten down by life yet.

The icy moment shatters open like an egg, and Mason laughs, eyes screwing up tight. I feel like I can breathe again. It’s also one of the rare times I’ve heard or seen him laugh, and my heart thuds unevenly in my chest.

He sits and immediately a footman is at his side, serving up breakfast to him without more than a *good morning, your grace*. Mason doesn’t give me another look for the rest of the meal, and Benedict and Noah are conspicuously absent. Ruby lingers over her toast, and Maddie is fidgeting to go, when Ruby turns to me.

“You wouldn’t mind if my brother took Madeline out for a walk, would you? Does that disrupt her morning classes much?”

Mason makes a noise in the back of his throat, raising an eyebrow at her like he disapproves. But before he can swallow the mouthful of coffee he’s just consumed in order to argue with her, Maddie sits up, clapping her hands together with a squeal.

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