Page 87 of Hollow Court
“You heard back from your uncle?” Jocelyn said once we were alone.
I nodded, still not trusting my voice to speak.
“Is there anything we should know?” she asked.
I had a suspicion that she was already aware of the letter’s contents, even if it had been sealed when it arrived, but I shook my head anyway.
“More or less what we expected. Threats to return. Attacks on my sense of loyalty and duty.” I tried to say that last part without inflection, but Jocelyn’s sharp gaze told me I had failed.
“I see,” she said in a deceptively casual tone, gesturing for me to face the mirror.
“Oh, you don’t have to—” I began, but she shushed me.
“If I can tame a squirming Rowan’s hair into submission, I’m quite certain I can manage yours.” With gentle hands, she separated out sections of my hair.
“You spoke of duty,” she said neutrally. “Yours to marry Lord Alexei?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “All marriages in Socair are arranged, but of course, mine held special significance.”
She grabbed a small pin from the vanity to secure the braid she had already finished. “Things weren’t so different here when I was a girl. Even now, many families arrange marriages.”
Something in my shoulders eased. I had been expecting judgment, to have to defend the ways of my kingdom yet again, but there was no censure in her words.
I nodded my understanding, and she went on.
“I wonder, though, if your duty is obedience, what is Lord Alexei’s?”
“To shelter me, care for me…protect me.” The words tasted bitter on my lips.
She nodded again, moving on to another braid. “And your uncle’s duty in arranging your marriage?”
“To find someone who will do those things, I suppose, and in his case, also to serve his clan.”
“And did he?” she pressed.
I might have wondered what she knew, but her tone was merely curious.
Perhaps that’s why instead of defending him automatically, I took a moment to consider her question, to admit that the answer was a resounding no on all counts.
Some unshakable, long-held belief fractured inside me.
Where had my uncle’s responsibility to me been when he all but sold me to a man like Alexei? Where had his responsibility to his people been when he used my marriage to secure a war that accomplished little outside of the slaughter of his soldiers?
And Alexei…
I didn’t answer her outright, instead posing a different question. “But what does it say for my loyalty if it is contingent upon their actions?”
“A fair question,” she allowed, braiding another golden strand of hair. “Did Davin ever tell you why I was not married to his father at the time of his birth?”
I hesitated, wondering if I had offended her with my talk of loyalty when this entire upcoming vote hinged upon the fact that she, by all accounts, had not been.
“No,” I finally said.
She nodded, like that was the answer she had been expecting.
“My parents also raised me to believe in loyalty,” she began. “To them and to my kingdom. So when I found myself expectant with the crown prince’s child, knowing that he needed to marry another, I agreed to keep it secret. I was somewhat more reluctant to marry the late Laird Anderson, as he was solidly four times my age, and a lecherous monster. But marry him, I did.”
The tight set to her mouth would have told me this story was going nowhere happy, even if I hadn’t known the man had died.