Half of Ruby

Chapter 27

Lord Tivas. 

Ember's eyes rose to meet the dark, unfathomable gaze of the barrel-chested man before darting back to the cobblestone. 

Her heart pounded as she struggled to keep her breathing under control. 

Is this he? I thought that he'd be...dark-haired, yes, but leaner. Without the beard, with cheeks gaunt and white rather than red and ruddy. 

"Shall we go?" said Lord Tivas. His dark eyes searched over Ember, and a tremor ran through her body, a tremor of fear. "The household isn't far from here." 

"Y-yes," stammered Ember. "I-i-it's n-n-not—" Damn stutter! 

A scowl shadowed Tivas' faces, darkening the sky with it. "I don't like young ladies who stammer. It really is frustrating." 

Heat shot through Ember's cheeks, burning her pale skin as shame and fury raced through her. How dare he. 

Nobody had ever commented on her stutter before. Nobody had ever pointed it out so blatantly. 

"Y-yes, sir." 

The words escaped her lips in the barest of whispers. Tivas nodded, obviously satisfied, and gestured down the street. The crowd which had gathered around muttered uneasily, backing down the street with swift glances over their shoulder.

Without a word, Lord Tivas set off down the street, Ember scampering behind like a lost puppy. The pounding of her heart roared in her ears, angered drowned out only by fear. So what if she had speech problems? His own daughter had vanity issues of her own. 

The mass of gray cobblestone below her shoes evened out, the bumps in the street smoothing out. Ember raised her gaze upwards, staring at the household as it appeared over the tops of the buildings. 

Tivas is Ronan's French tutor. 

Lord Tivas...would be teaching Ronan French? She imagined a person who wanted her dead—Arnold—trying to stress the rolling r's and the silent h's to her, and a strange urge to laugh welled up in her throat.

He just wants to get to you. 

Ember took a deep breath as Tivas neared the gate, speeding up her gait to keep up with him.

Oh, Ronan. How do Elizabeth and Samuel not know?

And then she remembered Ronan's words. That Samuel, too, wanted him dead. 

Shock coursed through Ember as she stared at Tivas' back. No. Impossible. 

Tivas halted at the front door, eyes traveling over Ember as he raised the knocker. 

Boom. Boom. Boom. 

A strange sense of deja vu swept through Ember, and she swayed on the spot. 

I didn't know what to do when I first arrived. I had Ronan's protection...but now I don't, and I don't know what to do now, either. 

Ronan's protection. 

Despite her fear, she scowled at the thought. She didn't need anyone's protection. 

It wasn't just because of the witches' supposed superiority, though their lowered status and reputation spoke otherwise. It was because she was independent. Strong. 

Or she was supposed to be. 

And then the door swung open. 

For a moment, Ember could only gawk at the figure in the doorway.