The Ruby in the Storm

Chapter 16: Judgment

Chapter 16: Judgment

Leila took a sip of the wine and watched as Jarrel moved with grace about the room, lighting incense, lighting candles, and running his hands over the drapes. The world seemed a wonderful blur of colors and smells, it was hard to separate them with a clear mind. Of course, she didn't have a clear mind, not at the moment. No, everything was a haze, a lovely haze of blissful ignorance, as if nothing was wrong with the world.

"Edward Worthington is an awful bore," she slurred when Jarrel sat down next to her. "So dry... Like a desert. Like a desert in high summer. Dry. Arid. Boring. He's handsome, but not like Samuel."

"You think your husband handsome?" Jarrel quirked an eyebrow.

"Now that he is gone I am seeing quite clearly how handsome my husband can be," Leila laid back and sighed. "He has a hard face, his smiles are rare... But his lips are quite lovely. His voice is poetic when he's not criticizing everything. He has beautiful hands... Oh, and when he tries hard enough those hands can do wondrous things."

"Is that so?"

"Mmmm... Indeed..." Leila wondered why she was showering Samuel with so many compliments. She didn't think their marriage was nearly as happy as she was imagining it. She felt miserable more than she felt content, but it was the right thing to do. If she had not married Samuel, then finding a husband like Gerald Bryce—despite his lack in extreme wealth or status—for her sister would have been near impossible. The son of a merchant would have been a Holy Grail. Now, it was easy, because she was married to Samuel. Their lives weren't thrown into chaos upon her brother's departure. Still, despite all that, Leila always thought her marriage to be anything but happy. Why was she so convinced it was now?

It's not as if I miss my husband.

"More wine?"

Leila didn't reply, so Jarrel poured it for her. "Edward Worthington... Why is he here?"

"Did you not say it was to keep an eye on your husband's estate?"

"My estate."

"Either one," Jarrel drawled.

"And yes, that is why he is here. Our paths rarely cross, but I am forced to dine with him every night and it is a trial not to fall asleep in my soup."

"Tragic."

"And he asks that I sit with him very bloody night while he reads."

"How dare he?"

Leila placed the goblet of wine down and ran a hand over her dress. "Such a sad, dull man... But alas I must return home now."

"Or..." Jarrel ran his knuckles over her cheek. "You could stay a while longer."

"No..." Leila mumbled, standing shakily to her feet. "No, no, I should go."

Jarrel sighed. "You know, I am getting quite bored of our arrangement."

Leila frowned down at him. "Excuse me?"

"I did not mean to insult," he said. "It is just the truth."

"If I am boring you then perhaps you could give me your wine and I can be on my way," she replied, but she wasn't entirely sure if her words had come out in the proper order. "Just give me the wine."

"For?"

"What?"

"Exactly, for what price?"

Leila scoffed. "I'll leave and you can stop being bored."