hawk & sable

CHAPTER SEVEN,

HAWK & SABLE | SEVEN

  THE NEXT COURSE was shark fin soup, brought up in a large porcelain basin, tastefully decorated with little blue flowers. A maid came forward to pour it into separate bowls for each of them.

Ciri turned to Danna, who was twirling her spoon around her soup. "Bad manners," Ciri mused.

Danna turned to glare. "You sound just like my sister."

"I admire your sister greatly, usually. It's bad manners to play with your food. You're sixteen, not twelve. Not that Iolanthe is acting like you are." To enforce her point, Ciri nudged her chin towards the younger girl, who was dutifully drinking her soup.

"I'm not hungry," Danna mumbled into her bowl.

Ciri glared. Danna huffed and broke off her stare.

"What got you in this bad mood?"

"My cousins." Danna's voice was glum. "They insist on tormenting me, as always." Not from her father's side. Her step-mother's nieces and nephews loved bullying Danna, following in their family's example. It didn't matter that Megara had left her step-mother with a comfortable pension and allowance after their father's death, despite their years of abuse at her hands.

"You know you're much more powerful than any of them." Her step-mother was the daughter of a viscount, and Danna the sister to a baroness, but Danna also had the friendship of royalty, dukes and duchesses. If any of them stepped up even once, her hellborn family would slink back into where they belonged.

Danna shook her head. "It's my fight."

"What happens when they go after Hebe?" Their soft, sweet sister, who let others words stick into her like bullets.

"Hebe will find herself backed by her sisters," Danna responded, voice curt, eyes warning Ciri not to say anything further. Ciri shook her head and turned back to her bowl. She understood Danna's intent to handle this herself, but there were issues that didn't require honour. In her view, this was one of them. But this was Danna's decision, not hers. She would not interfere unless asked to.

Maids came out to collect the bowls, so Ciri stopped talking. Next came the abalones, which made Ciri smile. They had spared no expense. The most expensive food was being served tonight.

A red sea bass followed. With the conversation broken up, everyone seemed a lot more relaxed. William was attempting to joke with Rhys, who returned every comment with a cold glance. Poor man. It could not be easy, being Rhys's paramour. Cool, composed Rhys who wielded silence better than any blade. William Hua had never been a person comfortable with silence. A good thing, then, that it does not mean anything more.

Dominic was smirking, obviously finding William's flustered state humorous. When Rhys turned her eyes on him, a brow arched, his grin vanished as if it had never been there. Ciri could swear Rhys snorted before turning to the fish on her plate.

Ciri turned her attention to Laurence, eyeing him from the corner of her eye. He was speaking softly to Asteria and Irina, eyes lowered to the table, faking demureness. It did not fit him. He was a hawk, soaring the skies in search of prey, not a pigeon feeding from a human's hands.

The next course was roasted chicken. Ciri only took a little, hoping to save some appetite for the final course. Laurence caught her eye across the table, and she gave an encouraging nod. You're doing great. She wasn't sure why she wanted him to know that, since they were technically on opposite sides, but it felt like the right thing to do.

He replied with a little beam. People found his smirks and wry grins charming, but Ciri preferred his true smiles. The ones he offered to people he liked. She was fortunately counted among those.