How To Fall From Grace [MxM]

Step 36: Fall into a grey area

Meeting with Ethan and Abram had taken longer than Frey had expected. Perhaps vampires didn't have the same perception of time as mortal humans. Nevertheless, Abram's title as captain had turned out to be helpful despite Damien's claims, and Frey could hurry to the meeting he wasn't invited to without much concern.

He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of thinking he'd been running there though, so he stopped one corridor away to catch his breath. The sudden lack of air was not the main source of his hands trembling but it certainly did not help, and the discreet inhalations were not just to keep his heart from pounding through his chest. He had to overcome it. He couldn't let them trample over him again.

So he flung the door open before the butler could lock it, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

But he had to remain calm.

"Lord Clausson?" Carrigan raised an eyebrow where he sat at the far end of the table. "I was not aware you would be a part of this."

"I'm here to put an end to this." Frey dropped the bag he was holding onto a chair, drawing a quiet breath before eyeing the others. "I'm getting West Kerilia back on its feet, and you're all going to help me."

The amused glances shared between the lords, aside from Damien who rather looked tired in advance, were expected, so Frey paid them no mind. What bothered him most was the fact that his heart stabbed at him as soon as Carrigan opened his mouth.

"As I've told you before, we're letting West Kerilia rebuild without any worries about—"

"Yes yes, you've told me and I've had to pretend to roll over." Frey waved his hand to dismiss his words. "But let's say we would drop the transparent lies and address the real purpose of your overseas purchases, because it would save us a lot of time."

"You must realise your claim about assisting you with... whatever you're planning..." Lord Felek gestured vaguely. "... it will with all likelihood be counterproductive to what we're already doing."

"Well, I think I can change your minds." Frey flipped the cover of his bag open. "See, I've realised it's high time I start doing my job properly again so without further ado, since you spoke last, Lord Felek..."

He sorted through the papers, intentionally letting the others wait in satisfactory silence.

"Now, as I understand it, your wife is actually the larger source of your household's income." Frey landed on the correct bundle of documents. "She's from a nice family and the dowry was generous, not to mention her regular earnings."

"And what about it?"

"It's just that I heard a peculiar thing the other day, about a maid who quit her job here after getting pregnant." Frey didn't even bother to look at Felek's reaction. "It seemed strange to me that someone of her class would leave a well paid, not to mention prestigious, job here and then not even look for a new one, so I paid her a visit."

"So you're here to gossip about servants?" Carrigan laughed softly. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"Interestingly enough, she could not tell me who the father of her unborn child is, but with some convincing she did show me the bank note that had allowed her to stop working." Frey laid out his papers. "See, the problem is whoever signed this note does not exist. This extract from our population register would have shown it, so I had to do some investigation..."

He added a smile.

"... Just to make sure she wasn't committing any fraud or anything, of course. Nothing else." He moved on. "So I did what any logical person would do and began comparing handwriting based on the fact that she used to work here."