Veracity (The Seven Cities Book 1) (17 page)

"That's an awful story!"

"It's just a fairy tale." he grins. "It's designed to scare children away from the lure of knowledge."

"I thought knowledge was a good thing?"

"In small doses it is, but if you are not careful, knowledge can change your life, and even end it. Knowledge can be a dangerous pursuit."

Travis walks in, flopping down on the window seat next to me, looking like he has been put through the wringer.

"Have you ever seen father so drunk?" he asks Grayson.

"Not since Mother died."

"What could have gotten into him?"

"Honestly I think it is the combined forces of Amber and Alana," Grayson says. "They have been working together all night to drive him crazy. I had grand plans of becoming smashingly drunk myself, but with father so out of it, I figured sobriety might be the better choice."

"What's Amber's problem?" Travis asks.

"She feels Alana shouldn't be delegated to being a servant, but you know father and his beliefs of class separation."

"Why did he pick Amber in the first place?" I ask.

"She was graduating that year and pretty," Travis says. "My father knew he would never love again so his standards were not too high. If it hadn't been law he wouldn't have remarried at all."

"She wasn't so difficult at first either," Grayson adds. "She wasn't charming but she was polite and not nearly as ambitious."

"I have been having a little trouble with Alana myself," I say. "Nothing I can't handle but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that family."

"I couldn't believe when father said she could join your staff," Grayson says. "I think he was just trying to get Amber to leave him alone and knew better than to room them together."

"I think part of the problem may be that Amber was looking to secure Alana a marriage with Travis." I say. "It took me a while to put it all together but I'm convinced that was her plan when I was taken."

"I've noticed the way she looks at him," Grayson says, grinning.

"Amber is very cruel if she truly led Alana on that way," Travis says. "She should have known better. Marriage was not in the cards for me. If you didn't return of course," he tells me.

"I am surprised she didn't try to fix her up with you, Grayson," I say. "You would have been a more available target, don't you think?"

"I was engaged at the time," Grayson says darkly. "It fell through soon after, but Amber knew I had no intentions of trying it again."

"Surely you want to be married!" I say. "You let one failed love ruin you for all others? Just wait and see, there will be a day that your heart is moved in a different direction."

"I'm afraid not," Grayson says walking out. "I have indeed been ruined for anyone but her. I die as her husband or I die alone."

I look at Travis, stunned after Grayson leaves. He just shrugs his shoulders and mutters something about young love and melodrama. I feel a terrible longing for Grayson then, seeing the pain in his eyes as he talks about his lost love. And here I thought he might be pining for me. Maybe I reminded him of her?

"Do you think he will be okay?"

"I am sure, one of these days," he says. "A first love can be powerful, but broken hearts heal and people move on. Besides, he has always had a flare for the dramatic. Completely obsessed with something one day, and then something different the next. It will take some time, but I know he will be fine."

"I hope so . . ."

"Hey!" Travis cries, jumping up and pulling me into his arms. "Let's not let Grayson's foul mood or my father's drunken stupor bring us down. There's music and dancing in the next room and fireworks soon. Let's go celebrate the Cleanse and let the past stay in the past."

GRAYSON

With the drapes pulled tight and the fire put out, my father's room looks like a cave, dark and cavernous. I feel my way through the murky room, cursing as I trip over his discarded boots and gear. Reaching the windows, I draw back a curtain to let in a small ray of light, which of course, he reacts to as if it were burning him.

"Father, wake up, I need to speak with you."

"Damn it son, can't you see that I'm unwell?"

"I think you mean hung-over."

"Tact is a virtue boy."

I sit next to him on his bed. In an attempt to be dramatic, he pulls the covers higher against his chest, trying his best to look frail and weak. I shake my head and he huffs, throwing back the covers to sit up.

"I suppose there won't be any peace until you have your say, although I would bet credits I know what it is."

"You and Lucas are wrong."

"That's what I thought you were going to say. Of course the girl's brother is wrong. He should have carried on with his father's wishes. Jonathan wanted to see her wed to you. He didn't want the life of a General's wife for his daughter."

"So we can end this?"

"No. We can't."

"But you just said . . . "

"I said I agreed with you that Lucas is wrong. I didn't say I would challenge him on it. I have sent letters explaining what I think, but he is ambitious. His mind is made up on this. She will wed a future General and no one else."

"This is insane. What if her memory returns one day? What if she remembers her love for me? What will you do then?"

"It doesn't matter what she remembers in the future. Once those papers are signed, she is married to Travis for life whether she likes it or not. I need this marriage to happen son."

"Then I will have to make her remember before the wedding."

"She won't. And you trying will only get you in trouble. Heed my warning, no good can come of this."

"Do you think either of you can really hurt me at this point? What threat could you possibly make? What more could you do to me?"

"I am not trying to hurt you."

"Well you are. Please, there must be something else you can try to change her brother's mind."

"Take her with you to Axiom," he says dismissively. "Your soldiers need wives and now is as good a time as any. Take her with you to pick them out, Travis and Laura too. He never specifically said not to bring her, but be warned that this could come back and bite you son. Lucas doesn't want the girl there, and who knows what will happen once you take her home? Best-case scenario is that she regains her memory. Worst-case scenario is that he keeps the girl and invades our city. Either way it's on you, I'm going back to bed."

KATHERINE

One thing I have learned since waking up in the tent with Jack is that mornings are not my friend. This alarming trend of waking up to surprising situations is enough to cause some serious sleeping disorders. It seems that every time I fall asleep, I have to wonder who is going to be staring at me when I wake up.

This, unfortunately, is one of those mornings. A smack on the cheek, and the decrepit face of an angry old woman are what I wake up to today. My eyes fly open at the sharp sting and I sit up so fast I bang foreheads with none other than the General's mother.

"Watch yourself, you damn fool of a girl!" she yells at me rubbing her head.

I am half surprised her antique skull didn't cave in.

"I'm sorry!" I cry. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"My idiot son tells me he is letting you go to Axiom with my grandchildren."

"And you don't want me to."

"Of course not. My son and I have worked too hard and given up too much to secure this alliance and if your brother says you should stay here, you should stay here."

"I have to go. I can't pass up the opportunity to see where I come from, to meet my family. Surely my brother will understand. You said we were close; I know that he will want to see me even if he is afraid for me to remember."

"You need to rethink who you classify as your family. You will visit him once a year, if that. You will share a home with me for the rest of my life."

"Threaten me all you want, but I'm going," I say, pretending I have some moxie.

She narrows her eyes at me and I can feel a long, cold shiver work its way up my spine. She is one terrifying old bat.

"As long as you realize what you are risking, and are prepared to be accountable should the worst happen," she says.

"I would risk it all for just five minutes worth of memories. To be able to see my father's face, to hear my mother's voice. If I have to watch them die a hundred times to remember seeing them for only a moment, I will do it without hesitation."

The old woman stares at me with a blank expression. She continues staring at me without blinking for several minutes, and I stare back, unsure what else to do. I decide she is either lost in thought, or she's dead. I jump a little when she finally blinks. She shakes her head as if she has made a decision based on elimination, casting off ideas until there was only one option remaining.

"Do what you will; I have better things to do than argue with a muddle headed child. You will see the true risk you are taking when the time comes."

"Yes, I imagine you do have a busy day ahead of you. If you start now, you may be able to hobble to the dining room by dinner."

"Ha!" she cackles. "I like you. You are an idiot, but I like you."

The old woman grabs her cane and creeps out of the suite. Maggie bursts in as soon as the door shuts so I know she has been listening by the door the whole time.

"I can't believe you said such a thing to the General's mother!" she cries.

"She started it," I say grinning as I head to the bathroom door.

"How can you laugh at a time like this? That woman is no one to mess with."

"I'm going to Axiom Maggie!! How could I not be happy?"

"Run along and have your bath, I'll start packing your things. Tell Sadie to do the same, wouldn't be proper for you to leave the city without a maid. Heaven knows she has more interest in going home than I do."

Sadie screams with joy for a solid minute and a half when I tell her we are leaving in two days.

"It's not fair," Alana says, filling up the tub. "I am sick and tired of sitting in this suite, my only purpose in life is cleaning out your bathroom and washing your hair. I should be the one to go to Axiom with you."

"Not a chance," Sadie says. "I am her official companion and I have family there. You will stay here and help Maggie manage the suite. You are supposed to be learning to take over for her."

"Ugh!" Alana cries in frustration as she bangs a bottle of oil against the counter. "This is not the life I was supposed to have. I am not meant to be a servant!"

"You are welcome to leave," Sadie argues. "I am sure they have room in the nursery and they are always looking to fill spots down in the "recreation" rooms. You are here by your own choice. No one made you take this job."

"Look Alana," I say. "I know Amber made you a lot of promises, and I am pretty sure they included Travis. That was cruel of her. Such an arrangement was never going to happen. I didn't steal your life because it was never yours."

"You don't know anything!" she yells. "Amber said it was as good as done, just a matter of signing papers. She wouldn't lie to me. You know nothing about it. You know nothing about anything! You are kept in this cage because you aren't allowed to know anything. You are just an empty headed girl with a pretty face, set to marry another pretty face and have useless, pretty faced children."

"Alana, listen . . . "

"No, you listen!" she rages. "This life has been wasted on you. You have no drive, no ambition. You don't even question when they plan your life out for you. You are perfectly happy to let them push you around. Not me, I would have been great. I would have been worthy of this position. Now I'm trapped here watching you waste the life I was supposed to have!" she yells.

"Alana," I say softly. "I want you to stay here with Maggie while I am gone, but when I return I am going to have to find another place for you. I won't say anything until we return so you will have some time to decide what you want to do, but you can't stay here anymore. I'm sorry."

Alana huffs and storms out, leaving Sadie to help me prepare for the day. Something deep down in my gut is telling me that I have made a mistake, but I push it aside. I have too many wonderful things to think about to let her bring me down. She will have time to cool off while we are away, and I am confident that I will be able to find her a suitable place where she will be happy.

"I never realized how easily I accepted my life here," I say.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know. Shouldn't I have something to say when a stranger tells me I am engaged to his son? Shouldn't I have at least asked questions?"

"Of course not. You were raised in this life. You may not remember it, but deep down you know how things are done here. No one questions the General. It just isn't done. Gracefully accepting your future was exactly the right thing to do."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Would it matter if I didn't? Now enough about this . . . we are going to Axiom! I can't wait to show you around."

"I am so ready," I say. "I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I can't help thinking I might remember something by seeing it."

"Wouldn't that be wonderful?" she says wistfully. "If being there returned all your memories of falling in love with Travis? All those little stolen moments you have lost?"

"I wish those feelings would return," I say. "I adore him, but there just isn't any chemistry."

"Forget chemistry," she laughs. "You are marrying the General's son. Whether you have real feelings for him or not, your life is going to be better than anyone else could hope for."

"I don't know about that." I joke. "I like your family's farm. Didn't you say you had an unmarried cousin?"

"Don't let Alana hear you say that," Sadie warns, "She would be all over it, coming up with some scheme to free up Travis."

"I don't know what to do about her," I sigh. "I have tried to be friendly, but she isn't having it. It's hard to believe anyone could be that spiteful."

"Are you really that surprised?" she laughs. "You have met Amber right? She is the worst."

"I think she dislikes me just as much as Alana, if not more. It's maddening."

"They are ambitious, the most dangerous type of person, if you ask me. Amber managed to number jump to the very top, and that is almost impossible to do."

"I might be impressed if I knew what number jumping was."

"You really need to start paying attention to people's marks," she says. "Amber's father has a low number of 30. They are one of the lowest merchant families, but due to her snagging the General, her children will have the highest. That's a big jump. If the General's wife hadn't passed, I imagine Amber would be cleaning those fancy rooms, not sleeping in them."

"I guess that was Alana's plan too. If I hadn't shown back up, she could have tried her hand at marrying Travis and getting into the Big House, even though Travis swears it would never have happened."

"We can make all kinds of plans in this life, but very rarely will they go the way we want. That's just a part of being a woman. That's just part of being alive."