The Rashet clan ranked among the wealthiest in the Tenusa Empire. It owned vast lands of corn, sugarcane, spices, and palm. But the iron mine made them important. Despite that, they stayed neutral. Never touched politics. But it didn't matter over time. Everyone still tried to claim them.
"Marriage?" Nyasia blinked.
"Daughters from lesser families marry earlier than ours. Even so, you're of age. Sixteen or seventeen. That's the time," he replied.
Hah. She forgot this part.
"The Third Prince insists he'll attend the banquet. His faction too. You can't uninvite the son of His Majesty's favorite consort," Ezekias sighed. "I don't like the idea of you tied to any member of the imperial family."
Was this why Father kept her hidden? Never let her leave the manor—aside from her illness? She thought.
"This is something you'll face soon enough, whether you attend the banquet or not. But your appearance in our banquet will accelerate it," he added.
She looked at her father's heavy sighs.
Before her visions, she once questioned his love for her, until she saw how he broke at her grave and died a month later.
Maybe their complicated relationship was because he hadn't moved on from her mother. The woman he had fought for, married, yet lost shortly after.
"So..." Her voice lowered. "You kept me away because of the imperial family?"
"Sia, the palace is a dangerous place. As your father, I would never put you there." He paused. "Even your mother's spirit was lost to the clan's schemes. You need men of knowledge and science, men suited to your prodigious mind. Not men of power and ambition."
She almost snorted.
Too late for these moral lessons.
One dangerous man, capable of burning all of Tenusa, had been climbing her terrace for years.
...
NYASIA woke the next morning, still turning over her father's words. She wondered if attending the banquet was truly wise. Her primary motive had been to change her fate—to secure her place and Levon's within the Rashet clan. 'But she had forgotten she was of marriageable age.'
After breakfast, Fay entered with a letter.
Nyasia opened it.
'You may come to our store, but you'll stay half a day only. Wear a veil. Yours, Father.'
Nyasia smirked faintly.
A win.
Last night, she had argued with him about going to the capital to choose her own dress for the banquet. Her father had hesitated, offering to summon seamstresses to the manor. Ultimately, he said he would think it over when she pressed.
Now this.
"You're really going to the capital, my lady?" Fay said, worry creeping into her voice. "I mean the sun... Are you even alright to go to the capital?"
"Fay, the sun doesn't have a personal grudge against me. It's the same sun in the garden, the courtyard, and the capital."
Fay said no more and helped her lady with the dress. An hour later, they were ready. A carriage waited at the entrance. Levon paced the portico, his face twisted with worry as if he'd already decided this was a terrible idea.
"Why did Father agree to this?" Levon said as soon as she approached.
"Because I'm stubborn," she said, with a faint smile. "Don't come with me. There's no point."
He frowned. "No point? Now you've learned to say things like that. Don't you know how dangerou—"
"Brother." She exhaled. "It's a dress shop. Owned by us. What's the worst that could happen? The seamstresses hide needles in the sleeves? Attack me with a tape measure?"
He stared at her.
"You know what kind of danger I'm talking about, Sia. Father doesn't know about that wolf yet," he said, voice lower.
Her gaze turned toward the carriage where the maids waited by the door.
"Wolves live in the forests."
"They're highly adaptable. Many of them live in the capital, my dear, innocent sister," he said stiffly.
"I didn't realize wolves had developed an interest in fashion." She smirked, walking past him, then glanced back once with a softer smile before stepping into the carriage.
*