Page 44 of On Silver Winds
Adeline’s grip slackened and Mareda wrenched her arm free, stalking away.
Shit shit shit.
???
Adeline wanted nothing more than to go home.
Mareda knew.
Somehow, her sister knew she’d not only been spending time with their mother, but had been stupid enough to keep it from her, too. It lookedbad, but she knew her sister well enough to know that Mareda would need some space before they could talk; and Adeline could do with the time to decide what she was going to say. To figure outhowshe was going to explain that she’d kept it from Mareda only because she knew her sister would jump to conclusions - if she didn’t implode with jealousy outright.
Unfortunately, space wasn’t an option, and it would be hours before she could curl up in her warm apartment above the quiet murmur of Imogen moving about the store, the tell-tale rustle of the wind as she Wielded ice to weave into her creations.
Today, the Queen had made her swear she would finally attend her first Cold Council meeting. Her mother had been suggesting it for weeks now, but she had been particularly eager to rope her in this morning; she’d even sent Silas to plead on her behalf, and they hadn’t let up until Adeline promised she’d be there.
So, back in her childhood bedroom, Adeline washed up and changed into a moss green dress with long sleeves that covered most of her bruising. With about twenty minutes still to spare, she headed to the family dining room to grab a cup of tea and a scone before the meeting–training always left her ravenous, and today her stomach was gnawing anxiously at itself, hunger and stress warring uncomfortably in her belly.
But of course, Mareda had worked up an appetite too, and so she found the dining room occupied with the very person she most needed to avoid. Her sister sat facing away from her, a neat golden braid hanging down her back and bobbing slowly as she nodded along to whatever her father was saying across the table, his face pinched with concern.
Adeline tried to quietly back out of the room, but the old hinges groaned as she pulled the door to, and Edward’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. For a moment, he said nothing; his eyes flicked from hers, to Mareda’s, and Adeline wondered if he would pretend he hadn’t seen her at all. It was quite clear from the cool beat of silence that he knew something was going on between them.
She took another step back, just as Edward gave her a gruff smile and waved her into the room. Mareda hissed something under her breath, and he ignored her.
“Afternoon, Ade,” he called, gesturing to the free seat at the head of their table. “Tea?”
She swallowed a sigh.
No escaping now.
“Thanks, Ned.”
“Lots of milk and honey?”
“Yes please.”
She sat and he poured hot, steaming tea from the pot before him, then reached for the milk jug.
“I always say, Ade’s tea isn’t a beverage; it’s a dessert.”
He gave a stilted, uncomfortable laugh at his own joke, and Mareda rolled her eyes while Adeline prayed for the Winds to spirit her away.
As they drank their tea, Edward tried valiantly to keep the creeping chill between them at bay. He had been reading a book, he told the stony silence, about the political relationship between Caldbon and Eisalaan. When Adeline made the mistake of encouraging him with a polite hum of interest, he proceeded to detail the events for them both, ignoring the fact that they had covered the history extensively throughout their childhood tutoring – and the fact that they’d lived through the latest war, less than a decade ago.
He went so far as to whip the book out and read full passages from it, while the sisters quietly sipped their tea. He read to them about Caldbon, their powerful neighbours to the North who had once been their colonisers, many centuries past. They’d fought a brutal war against them, too, when Adeline and Mareda were little. Now, they were one of Eisalaan’s biggest partners in trade. All this, Edward mused, was the very reason the girls each had a scone on their plate, baked from flour made with Calbonian wheat.
After what seemed an age, Edward finally closed his book.
“Well, as I said, quite a read. Quite a read indeed.”
Still, neither sister answered. He cleared his throat.
“Marry and I had best be going. The Cold Council meets in a few minutes.”
Adeline set down her cup, bracing herself.
“I’m going too,” she said.
Edward glanced up at her in surprise, but his daughter merely scoffed.
