Alfons had no idea why an heir of one of the Eight Great Families was waiting in a room of his own house.
He understood even less about why his father had met privately with the matriarch of House Nocthar.
Lady Lysaria au Nocthar did not cross another family's threshold for tea, soft smiles, and hollow words. Vampires rarely wasted a visit. Matriarchs wasted them even less.
Which meant there was a reason. A reason no one had thought to share with him.
'Another of those things that do not concern me,' he thought, the bitterness arriving before he could stop it. 'Like half of what happens in this house. Fine. I suppose I go meet the woman.'
He turned back to Roderic before leaving.
His father had not gone back to his chair. He stood beside it, the crimson lines of his robe catching the low light, red eyes fixed on Alfons with that same unreadable patience.
"I will go see her," Alfons said.
Roderic answered with a small nod.
