glance. “No.”
Lena nodded curtly. “Then date whoever you want to. I don’t care.”
She did care, but not the way she expected to. Probably not the way he expected, either. After a great deal of introspection, she had decided she cared merely because she liked the attention; not because she liked him that way . It was because there was so little to do around Waldgrave, and Griffin provided entertainment, and if he started being interested in anyone else, her distraction of having him around to entertain her was done for. For this reason she had a vested interest in his remaining single—not for any other reason.
Griffin took a deep breath, let it out, and nodded. “Well. Goodnight then.”
He turned and started back down the hallway. Lena watched him go, then walked into her new room; it dawned on her that she had left her overnight supplies in Mrs. Corbett’s room. She grabbed the pillowcase off the foot of the bed and tied it around the outside door handle to be sure she could find the room again, retrieved her things, and came back. She made up the bed, read for an hour, and then fell asleep.
“And you play cards with them? Lena, please tell me you win…” Hesper made a face that was caught somewhere between horror and pity.
A week later, the Council had worn itself out fighting and a vote had been taken to take a day off. Lena was using her spare time to talk to Hesper and play with Maren, who was much louder than she ever remembered Darius being, but was still filling the gap of familiarity that she missed since his departure. Maren was still so little, but Hesper was trying to get her to participate in what she called “turtle time”—laying her on her belly so she would learn to hold her head up.
“Well, yeah. It’s fun really. You should play with us sometime.” Lena knew that Hesper would reject the offer; she didn’t seem like the poker-playing type.
“I don’t play cards. It’s too easy…You don’t think it’s easy? Can’t you tell what everyone else has?” Hesper looked concerned.
“No…” Lena replied, feeling stupid.
“Well…That’s the reason most Silenti don’t play each other. You might as well be playing with exposed cards. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how some of the families got started financially—playing humans. They wouldn’t have a chance.”
Maren’s big, quizzical eyes explored the room. They eventually landed on a bottle half sticking out of her diaper bag and she whined until Hesper got it for her and flipped her over on her back so she could drink it.
Hesper changed the subject. “So how are the meetings going, then?”
Lena sighed. She hated going to Council; it made her depressed. The idea that Griffin could have been bringing the portal back had inspired enough votes to garner Council time to decide on the reinstatement of current travel policy or on the instatement of a new policy.
Under the new policy, members of the Daray house, and descendants of it, would not be allowed to leave the property at all unless if extreme extenuating circumstances demanded it—and even then, if somebody had to be rushed to the hospital the request would have to meet with emergency Council approval first. There would be no guests outside of yearly Council meetings, either. Lena was fairly sure the new measures wouldn’t pass, but all the same it was going to be a closer vote than she preferred. It was getting ridiculous; she was never going to leave Waldgrave again.
On top of it all, Howard had vetoed her plan to sleep in the small room on the fourth floor because he was afraid other Council members wouldn’t like the idea. Lena was bunking in Ava’s room on the second floor until Council was out, and she really wasn’t happy about it.
Hesper gave her a sympathetic look. “Surely it can’t be that bad. I mean, your biggest deal two years ago was being sure you didn’t marry Griffin, right? And you managed
Lena nodded curtly. “Then date whoever you want to. I don’t care.”
She did care, but not the way she expected to. Probably not the way he expected, either. After a great deal of introspection, she had decided she cared merely because she liked the attention; not because she liked him that way . It was because there was so little to do around Waldgrave, and Griffin provided entertainment, and if he started being interested in anyone else, her distraction of having him around to entertain her was done for. For this reason she had a vested interest in his remaining single—not for any other reason.
Griffin took a deep breath, let it out, and nodded. “Well. Goodnight then.”
He turned and started back down the hallway. Lena watched him go, then walked into her new room; it dawned on her that she had left her overnight supplies in Mrs. Corbett’s room. She grabbed the pillowcase off the foot of the bed and tied it around the outside door handle to be sure she could find the room again, retrieved her things, and came back. She made up the bed, read for an hour, and then fell asleep.
“And you play cards with them? Lena, please tell me you win…” Hesper made a face that was caught somewhere between horror and pity.
A week later, the Council had worn itself out fighting and a vote had been taken to take a day off. Lena was using her spare time to talk to Hesper and play with Maren, who was much louder than she ever remembered Darius being, but was still filling the gap of familiarity that she missed since his departure. Maren was still so little, but Hesper was trying to get her to participate in what she called “turtle time”—laying her on her belly so she would learn to hold her head up.
“Well, yeah. It’s fun really. You should play with us sometime.” Lena knew that Hesper would reject the offer; she didn’t seem like the poker-playing type.
“I don’t play cards. It’s too easy…You don’t think it’s easy? Can’t you tell what everyone else has?” Hesper looked concerned.
“No…” Lena replied, feeling stupid.
“Well…That’s the reason most Silenti don’t play each other. You might as well be playing with exposed cards. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how some of the families got started financially—playing humans. They wouldn’t have a chance.”
Maren’s big, quizzical eyes explored the room. They eventually landed on a bottle half sticking out of her diaper bag and she whined until Hesper got it for her and flipped her over on her back so she could drink it.
Hesper changed the subject. “So how are the meetings going, then?”
Lena sighed. She hated going to Council; it made her depressed. The idea that Griffin could have been bringing the portal back had inspired enough votes to garner Council time to decide on the reinstatement of current travel policy or on the instatement of a new policy.
Under the new policy, members of the Daray house, and descendants of it, would not be allowed to leave the property at all unless if extreme extenuating circumstances demanded it—and even then, if somebody had to be rushed to the hospital the request would have to meet with emergency Council approval first. There would be no guests outside of yearly Council meetings, either. Lena was fairly sure the new measures wouldn’t pass, but all the same it was going to be a closer vote than she preferred. It was getting ridiculous; she was never going to leave Waldgrave again.
On top of it all, Howard had vetoed her plan to sleep in the small room on the fourth floor because he was afraid other Council members wouldn’t like the idea. Lena was bunking in Ava’s room on the second floor until Council was out, and she really wasn’t happy about it.
Hesper gave her a sympathetic look. “Surely it can’t be that bad. I mean, your biggest deal two years ago was being sure you didn’t marry Griffin, right? And you managed
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