Devil's Foundry Book 3: Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Cross My Back and I’ll Cross Yours

She wished they could meet in the same restaurant she’d taken that peasant woman to, but the nature of their liaisons required a certain level of discretion.

“She was very amenable after you sent her to me.” Verdant spun her thin stemmed glass with one finger. Glass had been much on her thoughts lately. She pondered the value acquiring a few more artisans and convincing them to change their classes to something useful to her. There had been few candidates of late, but House Orhlys could be most persuasive.

Prince Iax settled easily onto the settee across from her. This was an Orhlys property, and even then, they only dared meet when it was fully empty. Only the most trustworthy of staff was allowed the pleasure of serving them.

“I played my part.” He smiled at her, lips pulling back into that hungry smirk she so loved. “The brash, dismissive prince. Betimes it seems as though that is the only role I am called upon to play.”

“Were it so,” Verdant replied. “You have naught but your own skill at the part to blame.” At first, even she had been taken in by Iax’s indolent façade, before catching a glimpse of the keen and agile mind that lurked beneath.

“The burden of talent.” Iax took a glass of the shogu, inhaling the scent of the clear, sharp spirit before draining it in one pull. Even with his mask off, the man kept a hint of brashness about him.

Verdant rather liked that as well, and she liked it most of all when the prince left that insufferable little manservant of his behind. Coshe was often called Iax Vandri’s third hand, and while Verdant had enjoyed the touch of the other two, the mere thought of that pungent little ball of lard was enough to make her retch.

“But it seems you were not so talented to put her off collaboration with the crown entirely?” Verdant raised a brow. “That was not our plan.”

Iax waved his hand, even as another fresh glass was placed in front of him. “I would have had to push harder, and word might have found its way back to my dear cousin,” Iax said. “From thence, what eyes we might draw would be beyond my control.”

Verdant huffed, taking a sip of her own shogu. The burn was pleasant, and meshed well with her annoyance. Still, Iax was probably right that more scrutiny would be bad for them both. The Royal family’s power may be ebbing, but they still had loyal factors, and if Iax fell under suspicion of treachery, all of their plans would be for naught.

It would be a shame to cut that loose end; Verdant had long despaired finding a fair match, and would hate to begin again.

“We shall make due, with some adjustment.” She finished her drink and set the glass aside. “Did that woman mention the other trifles she wished to sell?”

“Something to do with lights.” Iax shrugged. “If there is aught else valuable, I leave it in your capable hands.”

“You shall be the first to know.” Verdant waited a moment for the question of her House’s goals, now that they would have access to looking glasses. They had danced around that topic before, but now that the prize was nearly in hand, she expected she would no longer be able to avoid answering.

Instead, Prince Iax smiled and leaned closer across the narrow table dividing them. “Enough talk of the little outworlder, Ver. The Senate has been a constant drone of questions and recriminations since she was granted peerage.”

Was this a sign that Iax trusted her to manage her house? It was an improvement over the careful questions she was forced to sidestep, if nothing else. Verdant mirrored the prince, setting a hand on his arm. Her voice took on a teasing lilt. “Why did the royal family give her that pesky little charter, then?”

He sighed. “My sweet cousin convinced our uncle that this outworlder’s assistance would be necessary in retaking Silverwall. I suppose, in that, she was correct.”

Verdant nodded. While there was little and less interest in the Northern parts of Vecorvia these days, she had heard how this woman had managed to singlehandedly oust Seneschal Hawkwright, just in time for Princess Ishanti to reclaim her city.

“A more politic decision might have been to withhold a reward no longer needed,” she said diplomatically.

Iax waved his other arm. “My cousin has ‘ever held a bleeding sparrow in her breast’.”

“I do so love when you quote poetry at me,” Verdant replied. The sparrow-hearted lady was a love ballad, about a woman who gave too much of herself. As a child, Verdant took well to her own heart the lesson. To give, one must first ensure that they receive.

“Shall I recite more for your pleasure, fairest?” Iax asked.

Verdant demurred, playing the part of the besotted lady. Leading men in this way was another lesson bestowed on her from childhood, though she rather disdained the thought of playing the same role for Comptess Via.

She much preferred to be the one chased, handing out tokens of attention to receive much more tangible rewards.

“Perhaps, instead,” Verdant began, “I could hear your poems in the palace gardens?”

Before, the Prince had always turned her away. And while she understood the need for discretion, it still galled.

“I suppose it would not be too difficult.” He smiled this time. “To engineer a reason for us to meet.”

“Oh my.” Verdant restrained her smile to something more alluring. “So forward of you.”

“Can you wait another moon, fairest?” His fingers upon her arm were almost too forward, but such indecorums added to the thrill.

Verdant sighed deeply. “If I must.”

They shared another drink before the prince left, ushered out through the servants’ corridors. Verdant had already arranged for a driverless carriage to be waiting at the exit. A moon until their next meeting? Were he not a prince, she would accuse Iax of being a boor.

Verdant relaxed in her chair as the servants cleared the glasses and changed the tablecloth. Once enough time had passed, she exited the restaurant through another passage, this one reserved only for the House.

Her uncle was waiting for her in their own carriage.

“The meeting?”

She refrained from reacting at his gruff tone, instead taking the time to settle herself appropriately in the carriage. “Good night to you as well, Uncle.”

If her voice sounded chiding, well, t’was only her right.

The man snorted, combing a finger through his thick beard. “The details, Niece.”

“Plans are proceeding as we discussed.” She tossed her hair. “We did not manage to divorce the crown entirely from the Looking Glass ‘network’, but more than enough shall remain under our control.” She paused just long enough for the older man to open his mouth, before adding, “Prince Iax has finally ceased prying into our plans and extended an invitation to formally meet in the palace.”

Well, the invitation was not yet formal, but embellishing one’s accomplishments was merely good business.

Her uncle snorted. “Your mother will be pleased, at least.” Implying he was not. “Are you so sure this prince of yours is the right peg to step upon?”

Verdant turned her head to the side. “It matters little. Once I am known within the palace, many much more palatable options will be made available to me.” Perhaps ones inclined to move a bit more quickly than Prince Iax. “And if none of those avenues become fruitful, why, perhaps there might be a nearby town in need of a proper Comptess.” Verdant allowed herself the first true smile of the night. “One of proper stock, who knows how to utilize the marvelous new inventions of House Orhlys.”

“Well done.” This time the man was pleased, of course. “Well done, indeed.”