Arrival of the Traveler (Waldgrave Book 1) (17 page)

Breakfast the next day became a complicated matter. Lena refused to go down after the events of the night before, and asked Hesper to test the waters for her. Hesper refused, insisting that hiding would only make matters worse. If she appeared confident and collected, she would gain much more respect. So they went down together (after much fussing and makeup application), and Lena tried to appear aloof to the chatter that ceased—or rather, became inaudible to her—every time she entered a room. Hesper tried desperately to make casual conversation, and her friend Bianca even came to sit with them, but it was no good to Lena. She wasn’t Silenti; not in the sense that everyone here was. Every foreign place she’d ever visited felt more like home than this.

Just before lunch, she started looking for Howard. Her mother was talking endlessly with two women who were apparently old friends of hers, Mrs. Burr and Mrs. Perry, and didn’t have the time to dismiss her from her “social responsibility,” as Hesper called it. When she couldn’t find him on the first or second floor, or outside in any of the tents, she figured it was time for a new approach. Standing in the entrance hall, she concentrated as hard as she could.

Howard, where are you?

I’ll be down in a minute, and please don’t shout in the house!

She heard quieted laughing around her. A few of the teenagers were staring, including Serafina Perry, who was walking up to her.

“My, my, one would think a Daray would have better manners.” She crossed her arms; the flock of teenagers she had emerged from were all watching intently as the scene unfolded. Serafina had the sickly thin look of a high-fashion model; her arms were practically toothpicks, and her eyes looked sunken in. It wasn’t attractive, and Lena wondered what Martin saw in her.

“And I’m sure you’re bothering to tell me to be polite.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lena saw Hesper hurrying toward her.

“No. I’m saying it because no one else will. You’re a disgrace to your family,” She tossed her hair as Hesper arrived.

“I’m not a Daray. My last name is Collins.”

Serafina winked at Hesper. “Well, then I guess such behavior is to be expected.” She turned and walked away. Lena took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” Hesper smiled weakly, “I don’t like her. She’s elitist. And quite frankly, sometimes she’s a real—“

“Lena! Everything okay?”

Lena turned to see Howard walking briskly down the stairs. He was half smiling, still amused from her earlier blunder. Lena told Hesper she’d see her later, grabbed Howard’s arm, and led him to a quiet corner of the room.

“Do I really have to stay here?” She pleaded.

“Why? I thought you’d be overjoyed to have some people your own age around. I’ve been told you needed a friend, recently.” Howard’s smile was gone. He was looking at her sternly.

“What?”

“I understand. I was trying to keep two teenagers in a house with a bunch of old fogies.” She had only ever heard her father say the word “fogies” before, and smiled. “…It was natural for you two to become friends. I even encouraged it. But get this straight, Lena: no more secrets. David was a good friend. Griffin Corbett is dangerous—especially after last night.”

Lena frowned. She had barely even thought about the fact that she’d continued keeping the secret from Howard. Admittedly, it was a big secret, but up until last night, she hadn’t realized the magnitude of what she was doing. In her mind, Griffin was her friend—the only one she’d had, until Hesper. And in some immature way, she’d even relished keeping the information from Howard, because he had deceived her so frequently in the beginning.

“Howard, don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little? I mean, he’s really been…”

“No. No more secrets. Especially if someone asks you to keep them from me specifically. I need your promise.”

“Okay, I promise. Does he really have to move away?” Part of her had become lonely at the thought of David leaving, even if he was Griffin and not David. Even if her grandfather had sick delusions about their marrying later in life. Even if he continued to be an arrogant jerk, he was still the only person keeping her company. Without David, there were only adults who treated her like a child.

“Yes. And that’s not up for debate. Now, what were you going to ask me?”

Lena looked back over her shoulder at Serafina Perry. Children being children, as Mrs. Ralston would have said. It seemed too trivial a matter considering everything else that was happening in her life.

“It’s…nothing.” She shrugged.

Howard looked at her questioningly. “Are you sure?” Lena nodded quickly. “I’ll see you at lunch.” He set off, back up the stairs.

Lena, alone again, turned and faced the crowds. It was going to be a long few weeks.

The days passed slowly. Lena got to know Bianca, who was very much like Hesper, if not as politically informed and outspoken. They both loved gossip, clothes, and makeup, and while they were both very friendly, Lena had little in common with them. Eric, Master Mason’s son, introduced her around. Lena was sure this was at Howard’s asking, because Eric was twenty and seemed very concerned with being viewed as an adult. He did eat with her and Hesper, though, and was very polite about the entire situation. She managed to meet a few new people who were willing to talk to her. However, she missed Griffin, and she didn’t know why. Friends don’t lie to friends about secretly being your betrothed. While she questioned if the friendship had all been a manipulation, she missed him. Not the person he was now, but the person she had thought he was. She framed that fact very carefully in her mind because it was exactly as Howard had said; he had been deceiving them all, especially Lena. It wasn’t complicated. But at the end of the second week, while Lena brushed out her hair before bed, Hesper suddenly made things complicated again.

She threw a folded up piece of paper onto Lena’s cot. “He asked me to give this to you. Apparently he’s really coming home.” Hesper looked a little disappointed. Over the years, she’d been allowed a sort of freedom that most wealthy Silenti women were not afforded. With Griffin in the highest seat of power possible, she had never felt the pressure of needing to ‘marry up’—a concern that Bianca constantly expressed. With Griffin returning home, she was sure the greater part of her life, once filled by travel and study, would become a matter of painstaking business parties and propaganda for her brother.

Without speaking, Lena picked up the note. It only had her name on it, but just looking at it stunned her; it was an incredibly intimate and illegal gesture. She opened it, and read it quietly.

Lena,

Sorry it turned out like this. We lost at the trial that was held concerning my right to stay here with Master Daray. I’m leaving with the Corbetts. Howard doesn’t want me to see you again, and there’s some debate about whether or not he’ll win on that issue. For the time being, I’m not even supposed to speak to you, so don’t tell anyone about this. I hope you’re well. I’ll miss you.

Sincerely,

Griffin

“Did he really sign it ‘sincerely’?” Hesper was half smiling.

Lena looked up. “What?”

“You read out loud to yourself in your head. Is that really how he ended it? Sincerely? The second most powerful person in the world, and he can’t even write a stupid love letter. Somebody needs to smack him…” She started her routine to get ready for bed. The lengths she went to for something as simple as washing her face intrigued Lena; there was makeup remover (one for her skin and one for around the eyes), then exfoliation, several kinds of skin softeners, zit cream, lotion…

“It’s not a love letter. I agree that he needs a smacking, though.” Still holding the note, Lena read it over again.

“Oh please. He’s male. It’s amazing he even remembered to write—that means you’re special.” Cleansers, things to prevent wrinkles, stuff to put oils in where skin was dry, stuff to pull oils out where it was too oily…

“Tell him I don’t think we should be talking.”

“What?” Hesper almost dropped her makeup-smudged washcloth.

“I don’t know him. I don’t think I want to know him. He’s been lying to me ever since I met him.” Lena settled into the cot, and pulled the blankets over her. “You don’t know him either.”

“He lies to protect you. You’re right—I don’t know him. I think the last real conversation we had concerned who had the more awesome cell phone when we were eight, but you know what? You’re going to have to trust me on this one. You aren’t a quarter of the Silenti I am, and I know what he was feeling when he handed me that note. He’s concerned for you.”

Lena turned over and looked into the bathroom, where Hesper was watching her through the mirror. In the reflection, their eyes met. At that moment, Lena wished she could have read her friend’s mind. She wished she could feel people’s emotions, and know with such certainty who was lying to her. She wanted very much to believe Hesper, and she wanted a medium through which to do it; she’d lost all faith in blind faith since the time Howard had repainted the second floor hall. She was almost certain Howard hadn’t lied to her when he said Griffin was dangerous. She was almost certain she could trust Hesper, her friend. But she was also almost certain she couldn’t trust everything that she was being told by both of them at the same time. She looked back down at the note.

…so don’t tell anyone about this…I’ll miss you.

She needed advice, and she had no one who could give it in an unbiased fashion. She folded up the note and stuck it in her pillow case. Then, on second thought, she pulled it out and stuck it in the nightstand drawer. Without another word, she pulled the blankets over her head and pretended to sleep while Hesper finished the rest of her routine. Hesper probably knew she wasn’t sleeping, but Lena was beginning to become accustomed to the feeling of others knowing more about her than she did.

“Mom?” Lena had woken up early, hoping to catch her mother before she could start any conversations with her friends. Lena was surprised to find her up as early as she was, already picking out her clothes for the day and putting on makeup.

“Lena! Sweetie, why are you up so early?” She was wearing a bathrobe and holding different dresses in front of her while looking in the mirror.

“I need advice…”

“Do you think the blue, or the green?” Ava continued switching the dresses in front of her.

“I…the green one. I got a note from Griffin.”

Ava threw the blue dress onto her bed and smiled at Lena. She walked into the bathroom to change.

“Um…Griffin gave me a note…”

“Well, that’s great! You like him, don’t you?” Ava shouted through the bathroom door. She sounded somewhat disconnected from the situation.

“I don’t know. He’s kind of been lying to me for a while now, and I don’t think I really like him that way. We’re really kind of just friends…”

“Lying to you?” Ava opened the bathroom door and started applying makeup. “About what?”

“Don’t you think it counts as a lie that…” Lena walked into the bathroom and grabbed the lipstick out of her mother’s hand. “Please listen to me!”

“Lena!” Ava slapping her hands onto the bathroom counter in frustration.

“Mom, he never told me about the whole engagement thing! That counts as a pretty big lie, don’t you think?”

Ava stared at the lipstick, which was still firmly in Lena’s hand. Her eyes slid up to meet her daughters. She carefully reached out and took back her lipstick.

“We didn’t tell you because I thought it would upset you,” Ava replied.

“Well, yeah. Arranged marriages have a tendency to do that to people. And another thing—isn’t that illegal in this country? In most countries, for God’s sake? And you 
knew
? How can you possibly be okay with this?! I’m not marrying him. I’ll go to the police.” Lena was shaking. She had never been so angry in her life; finding out that her mother not only knew, but was partially responsible for the whole ordeal, was almost too much for her.

“
Forced
 marriage is illegal, Lena, not 
arranged
 marriage. It’s years and years from now. Don’t you think you could consider it? He’s grown on you a little, hasn’t he?” Ava had gone back to doing her makeup. She set her gaze into the mirror as she talked, and refused to make eye contact.

“No. I don’t think I can consider it.”

“Don’t be so stubborn!” Ava scoffed.

“Mom, do you—“

“You think I don’t know what this is about?! I know what it’s about! You’re a stupid teenager. You can’t make your own decisions! Sure, I could let you do whatever you want, but do you know, can you even possibly know what will happen to you?” Lena shrunk back against the wall. Ava’s eyes were livid, and her face was red with shouting. “Do you want to be me? You’ll take that marriage, and you’ll be happy with it! Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but you won’t be me!” Quivering, Ava stopped to take a breath, and seemed about to start again but then didn’t. Her form seemed to collapse slightly, and she started to cry. Not knowing what to do, Lena remained frozen in place. When Ava looked back up at her and spoke, her voice was filled with abhorrence, not sadness.

“My father hates me, Lena. He hates me. I killed Aaron by marrying him…and I buried a child for it. I’ll live in fear until my death. I’ve lost everyone’s respect—even yours. I used to be you, and I should have listened to the people who knew what was best for me. I ran off with Aaron just to prove I could, and you know what? You’re the unfortunate consequence. This all happened because of two weeks of misguided independence.” She grabbed a washcloth of the counter to blow her nose. “Don’t make my mistake. Take the arranged marriage.”