Chapter 11

11

Hope makes us easily led.

~ Talivaria, Daygarii wise woman

"You've dusted that table four times," Frayvar observed.

"I'm nervous about our grand opening tomorrow." Kaylina shifted her hair to make sure it covered the stitches in her ear, though she'd already told her brother about the adventure—the mis adventure—with Vlerion. Doc Penderbrock had sewn them both up the evening before.

"Are you nervous about that or about Silana coming?"

" Both ."

Between her concern that kidnappers would try to snatch her again, possibly in front of their sister, and that Vlerion's assassin would go after him again, Kaylina had a lot to be nervous about.

"I'm anxious too," Frayvar admitted.

He was also wiping tables when he wasn't tending a flatbread dish crisping in the oven. The scents of butter and garlic filled the castle, making Kaylina's mouth water.

"I hired a couple of servers to help us tomorrow," he added, "but if we don't get enough customers, paying for staff will put us in the hole. More in the hole. We've invested a lot in buying ingredients—twice now. I tried to find servers who would work for only tips, but the reputation of the castle made it hard to entice anyone, regardless." Frayvar sighed wistfully. "It's too bad the curse hates rangers."

"Why? Do you think you could press them into helping serve? For tips?" Kaylina snorted at the idea of her haughty Vlerion looming beside a table to take orders, then holding his hand out for liviti coins afterward.

"I thought their taybarri might help. They would do anything for you, and can you imagine how delighted people would be to see them carrying trays on their backs?"

"They'd eat the food instead of delivering it. And don't forget how drawn they are by mead—and the consequences."

"I suppose that's true. I?—"

"Hello?" came a familiar voice from the vestibule.

Silana.

Nerves assaulted Kaylina's stomach. She willed a silent message to the plant in the tower: That's our sister. Please don't attack her, give her horrible visions, or do anything weird.

Since she'd rarely attempted to communicate mentally with the plant before, especially from a distance, she didn't expect anything to come of it. But a vague sense of indignation or maybe affront wafted down from the tower.

"We're back here," Frayvar called when Kaylina didn't respond. He poked her in the arm and waved for her to go first. "She's going to hug me," he muttered under his breath. "I know it."

Though Kaylina had reservations about Silana's arrival, her smile was genuine when she met their older sister's dark brown eyes. Almost as tall as Frayvar, with more maternal plumpness, Silana wore an airy white dress and seashell bracelets that evoked memories of their island home.

"Kaylina, there you are." Silana crushed her in a hug. "Hiding in this humongous stone— Does this qualify as a castle? I've always wanted to tour one. They're all over the place up here. I kept seeing them along the coast from the ship. Oh, and the big castle perched on the plateau up there is where the king and queen live, isn't it? Frayvar! Are you eating? You're more gaunt than ever. Ah, but I smell something delicious cooking."

Their brother hung back, but that didn't keep Silana from releasing Kaylina and advancing on him with her arms spread.

He opened his mouth, either to say he had been eating or, more likely, to remind her of his hugging preferences, but he wasn't quick enough to utter either. Silana enveloped him— smothered him—and he gritted his teeth as he briefly returned the embrace.

"I told you," he mouthed to Kaylina.

She nodded. She hadn't doubted his prophesying. "It is a castle, Silana, and it's got an interesting history. According to the locals, there's a curse."

Kaylina felt disingenuous downplaying it—she knew all about that curse by now—but such things existed only in stories back home. She expected scoffing and dismissal from their sister.

"Yes, the driver mentioned that as he rudely hurled my trunk and bags to the ground outside the gate and urged his horses to leave as soon as my feet touched the ground." Silana released Frayvar and stepped back to look them up and down. "I thought it a rather extreme reaction, but the gossip on the ship was that there have been assassination attempts up here lately, and Port Jirador is on edge."

"It is." Kaylina didn't know where to start or how much to share.

"A shocking amount of information was not making it into the newspapers that are distributed to the southern province." Frayvar's voice dripped disapproval.

A meow came from the open front door, and a couple of cats sashayed in. Kaylina held up a finger, saying she would be back, and hurried outside. She intended to grab her sister's belongings and close the door before any more strays could wander in. The word seemed to have gotten out among the furred that she was a softy and often shared food.

Kaylina halted in the courtyard, spotting more than cats. A familiar black, silver-trimmed carriage was parked in front of the castle, with magnificent stallions nickering softly as they looked toward her.

At the gate stood the same tidy gray-haired chauffeur who'd once picked up Kaylina to take her into the country to see Vlerion's mom. When the man spotted her, relief flashed across his face. Maybe gossip about the recent deaths caused by the cursed castle had made it out to the estate.

The chauffeur bowed toward her and, without stepping through the gateway, called, "Lady Isla requests your presence at Havartaft Estate today, Ms. Korbian."

"She requests it?" Kaylina walked through the courtyard so they wouldn't have to yell. "It's not an order?"

"It is not, but she urges you to accept her invitation."

"I've just had a family member arrive, and our grand opening is tomorrow. It's not a good time."

The chauffeur blinked slowly, and she knew he couldn't believe a commoner would turn down a request from his aristocratic employer. He looked back to the driver on the bench, but the man didn't comment.

"Perhaps you will reconsider, Ms. Korbian. She has not given me the full details of that which she proposes, but I believe she is considering an investment in your business endeavor."

That surprised Kaylina. Isla had enjoyed her mead and proclaimed it of good quality, but, with everything else going on, it was hard to believe Isla had business investments on her mind. Hadn't Vlerion said his family's estate had been set on fire during the Kar'ruk invasion?

"Oh, that's quite promising," came Silana's voice from the courtyard.

She and Frayvar had come outside to listen in. Eavesdropping tendencies ran in the family.

"If there's a chance to receive funds from a friendly backer," Silana said, "you shouldn't pass it up."

Frayvar nodded but didn't add verbal support, maybe because he also found the timing odd. Even unlikely. Was this a pretext? Did Isla want something from Kaylina? Maybe to again request that she stay away from Vlerion?

"Don't you want me to stay and give you a tour? It is a castle, after all." Kaylina refrained from glancing toward the tower. With the sun out today, the purple glow wasn't that noticeable, but her sister would see it sooner or later. Kaylina hadn't yet figured out how she would explain the plant.

"I'm certain Frayvar can give me a tour." Silana gripped his shoulder.

He nodded and made himself smile, though it looked like more of a grimace.

"We'll catch up when you get back, and you can tell me all about your plans," Silana added. "Grandma is curious to know if you're adequately making the family recipes."

"The mead is very adequate, thank you," Kaylina said.

"We'll see." Silana smiled, but it was the I'll-be-judging-you smile of an older sister watching younger siblings for faults. "Help me with my luggage, won't you, Frayvar? There's honey and a few supplies to help make your eating house a success. Grandma didn't want to send anything until she heard a report, but I was positive she would want you to succeed, so I slipped a few key ingredients out of the pantry." She winked while she nudged him in the direction of the trunks.

Frayvar shot Kaylina a you'd-better-hurry-back-and-save-me look as he hefted one.

"I even brought you both personal gifts." Silana walked to one of the bags and unbuttoned a flap. "Here, Kaylina. You'll appreciate this on your ride. The latest Pirate Plunderer novel, a romantic adventure and most certainly not, as Grandma would say, trashy fluff."

Silana usually called the books trashy fluff too, but Kaylina was so delighted to have the latest installment from the southern publisher that she didn't mind. She managed a genuine thank you and another hug for her sister before pirouetting, her mood much improved.

"This way, Ms. Korbian." The chauffeur smiled pleasantly at Silana.

Kaylina held up a finger and hurried into the castle to pluck a bottle of her favorite semi-sweet mead from the root cellar. Whether Isla was a potential investor or not, Kaylina would bring her something to enjoy.

On the way to the carriage, she crossed back through the courtyard, receiving an approving nod from Silana, who was delving into her bag again.

"Here you are, Frayvar. I brought you an article recently published by Professor Zymollar on prehistorical accounting methods. There are also a couple of blank ledgers for the business or whatever other use you might have for them."

"Oh." Genuine delight infused Frayvar's voice. He might also have pirouetted.

Silana was annoyingly perfect, and Mom's and Grandma's favorite, but she did pay attention to what everyone in the family liked so that she could give good gifts.

"Oh, charts with data and footnotes with further references," Frayvar murmured, managing to read the front page of the article while tugging a trunk inside. "I wonder if I can find them in the university library here."

Feeling less guilty about abandoning Frayvar now that he had fresh reading material, Kaylina let the chauffeur give her an arm up into the carriage. With her book clutched to her chest, she sat back for the ride while hoping that Lady Isla genuinely wanted to back the business.

As the carriage pulled away, she glimpsed the tower and again willed the plant to be good for whatever tour Frayvar gave their sister. She trusted he wouldn't take her to see it, but the sentinel , as it had called itself during one of their communications, could make its presence known whether one visited it or not.