Avarice | Sample 10 Chapters

A v a r i c e | S i x

S i x

❝A man will never know of his arrogance;

lest someone show him of his carelessness.❞

"MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR THE DISRUPTION, Your Grace," the man's voice was just as I remembered it: deep and gravelly with a slight accent. His hands fell to his sides. They'd been out when he pushed open the door so roughly.

The king, unlike the rest of us (including his own kin) was not disgruntled by the man's appearance. "You are forgiven. Please, have a seat." The man walked with proper poise all the way to his seat, not even acknowledging the many stares he was receiving.

He sat straight across from me in one of the open seats. He gave a seat of space between him and the youngest prince out of respect, just as anyone would. One of the servers filled up his plate and wine.

We all stared in bewilderment at this foreign man.

"What kept you?" the king asked, as if they were old friends.

"I thought I spotted a lycanthrope, so I went after it." Hearing him say this so casually, while he lifted wine to his mouth no less, was like a slap in the face. I was certain everyone's jaws dropped. My mother even gasped, but she wasn't alone.

The king smiled. "I see. Well, dig in," he encouraged. He turned to look at his other guests. "Everyone. Dig in."

We did as we were told. Everyone began to eat or drink, but no one talked and hardly anyone stopped looking at Mystery Man. The king must've gotten fed up with it, because after a long sigh he waved the seneschal over to him, whispering something in his ear.

The seneschal pulled back, straightened out his shoulders, and said loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? His Gracehas asked me to introduce you to our new arrival." The Mystery Man glanced up for once and glanced at everyone. When he reached me, his eyes stopped, and I was certain my heart did the same thing. "This is Sir Cain. He has come a long way to help our kingdom with our lycanthrope problem."

So he was knight.

Interesting.

And his name was Cain?

I shot a look toward my mother to see how she would react to that information. Just as I had figured, she was appalled. Cain was not a common name, and for good reason.

The seneschal took a step back and went silent. In contrast, the entire dining hall erupted in murmurs and whispers about this oh-so-mysterious Cain. I heard Mother whisper to Father, "Cain? Cain? Only heathens would bear a child named Cain."

Sir Cain had to have heard my mother's harsh words, but he acted as if he hadn't. Sir Cain stared into my eyes intimidatingly, even while he sipped his wine. I had to break eye contact a few times, but he never deterred. It was unsettling.

Chatter went back to normal soon enough, but only indifference was shown to Cain. No one asked him any questions or even so much as glanced at him. I wanted to ask him questions, but my parents wouldn't approve and they were sitting right beside me. So, I did my best to ignore him and my parents, instead giving my unwavering attention to the suitor who had sat next to me.

"...what about you?"

I blinked at the suitor, coughing on my wine while I tried to rack my brain for what he'd been talking about. I set my glass down. "Oh, uh, what did you say? I'm sorry." He waved my apology off politely and retold me the story he'd been telling me. And this was why I forgot, I thought to myself as I listened to him drone on.