Palatine First (The Aurelian Archives) by Courtney Grace Powers Page A

himself together and glanced back at Gid and Hayden. He scowled as the jibe sank in. Abigail had as much tact as a teapot.
    “Reece,” Liem greeted dryly, recovered from his start. For only being stepbrothers, they shared a remarkable amount of genes, but today Liem’s eyes looked darker even while the rest of him seemed strangely paler. Reece thought he looked feverish.
    “We were just discussing your test.” Abigail’s eyes flickered to the fading bruise on Reece’s forehead. She raised the fan she’d been holding by her side, spread it artfully, and fluttered it before her face. “It’s just as well. Perhaps now you’ll consider a worthier vocation.”
    “You’re absolutely right, of course, Mother,” Liem said smoothly. “If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times…there’s nothing worse than a man who has to put his head in the clouds to find a stable job.” He raised his cup to smell his tea—and hide his smirk, if Reece wasn’t mistaken.
    Trying though it killed him to keep his face neutral, Reece shrugged. “Gideon might be able to teach me some guncraft. That’s a pretty stable market.”
    The strange girl hadn’t turned to face the conversation—she was still staring off into space, motionless save for the hand on her necklace.
    Liem must have followed Reece’s eyes, because he put down his tea and cleared his throat loudly. “Nivy,” he said, and clicked his fingers at her.
    Slowly, the girl turned, and Reece was struck by her. Not just by how pretty she was, but by how lean and scrawny, like someone who hadn’t seen bread in a while, and especially by her eyes. They weren’t the Pantedan blue, but they were bright, clever. And a little cold.
    Reece could only stare as Liem shuffled forward, raised his arm, and settled it stiffly around the girl’s shoulders. “Reece,” his voice cracked, “this is Nivy. She has been my guest here at Emathia these last few days while we’ve been waiting for Mother to return from her stay in Olbia. We’ve just told her the good news. Nivy…has agreed to marry me. We’re engaged.”
    Silence, except for the gentle swishing of Abigail’s fan, moving faster than ever now.
    “Congratulations,” Hayden said timidly, reminding the lot of them he was there, a small shadow next to the frowning Gideon.
    Reece just kept staring. It had to be a farce. Liem was the Palatine First, heir to Honora’s dukeship. This girl was…
    “Well. Nivy.” Abigail’s tone was nothing short of patronizing. She had to be a tempest inside.  This ordeal (if it wasn’t a hoax) was probably giving Reece an edge over Liem for the first time in years. “You’ll have to introduce me to your parents so we can arrange a proper date.”
    Something in Nivy’s eyes flickered, but her face remained blank, perfectly controlled. When she said nothing, Abigail pressed testily, “What are their names? I may recognize them.”
    Reece’s mouth opened in surprise when Liem pulled Nivy a little closer into his side. His darker-than-usual eyes shot Reece an unreadable glance.
    “Nivy doesn’t speak,” he explained.
    Abigail looked as if she’d been slapped. “She’s a mute?”
    “She doesn’t speak,” he repeated, voice tighter than before.
    And then Abigail’s dam broke. In a huff, she threw down her fan, actually showing teeth as she growled, “How dare you, Liem Cage Sheppard! How dare you bring this upon your father and me! I would never have expected this of you! Marching her in here in those rags, presuming to call her your fiancé, just moments after I’ve arrived! When I speak with Thaddy—”
    It was enough to make anyone want to plug their ears with local vibration dampeners. Reece glanced over his shoulder at Gideon and Hayden and nodded for them to follow him out of the parlor, carefully creeping around the wailing Abigail, whose tantrum had evolved to include foot-stomping.
    Just before he passed from the parlor into the dining hall, Reece looked