“My lady, in this case Lord Sean can’t help.”
“Then get Tardik on it.”
“Lord Tardik has returned to the House of Picard, my lady.”
“He’s gone? But why?”
“My lady, now that the Lord Sean has been made a member of the House of Beck, there is no need to keep Lord Tardik here as a hostage. Lord Tardik is highly ranked in the House of Picard, my lady. His family wanted him back.”
“Why didn’t Leonie go back to the Picards with Tardik?” I asked, unable to keep the attitude out of my voice. “What’s she waiting for?”
Circle kept her eyes on the ground. “While your ladyship was away, Lady Leonie’s status as Sworn Enemy was removed by His and Her Majesty. She is now of the Great House of Beck and will never be able to return to the House of Picard.”
“What has it to do with me?” I asked, unable to hold back the flood of resentment at Leonie for coming to the House of Beck as a permanent resident.
Circle gestured toward the hallway between the Sworn Asset building and the palace, the one that Sean and I used to go to the lake. “She’s not in her apartment, my lady. She’s off by herself.”
“Are you seriously saying she’s on the beach?”
“She is, my lady.”
No wonder Circle was concerned. For a highborn person, seeking solitude was aberrant behavior. With all the Discards to attend them, from babyhood on, they were almost never alone and rarely sought to be. I walked quickly toward the double doors, almost too fast for the footmen to get them open. Just as Circle had reported, Leonie sat at the water’s edge, her knees to her chin and toes in the water. She looked like a drunken debutante, careless of her lovely tunic and bejeweled sandals as she had slumped down on the damp sand. All she needed was a bottle of vodka to go along with her mussed hair and haute couture clothes.
“Leonie?” I asked softly so as not to startle her.
“My lady,” she replied, her words dull.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, my lady. Thank you for asking.”
I thought how the habit of courtesy was strong upon her as I sat down next to her. “Then what are you doing out here?”
“I am enjoying the waterfront, my lady.”
“You’re lying.”
Leonie’s furious turquoise eyes flashed at me. “What do you know? You can’t sense me. No one here can except for Lord Sean.”
“I don’t need to be able to sense you. On Earth people use their eyes and their ears to discern what others are feeling. It’s a skill that can be useful here too.” I wiggled my toes into the sand. “But we also tell each other when it’s important.”
“In Geminay the lords and ladies of our Great Houses tell us what’s important.” She looked away. “As for me, I do as I am ordered.”
“Did someone order you out here all by yourself?”
She used her finger to draw a design in the sand. “Whether I’m alone out here or in the palace, what’s the difference? I am unable to sense anything from anyone in this House but Lord Sean. I am as alone in the palace as I am out here.”
“You have a mouth to communicate your feelings and needs.”
“Aren’t I lucky? I can strive to be like a human.”
Her voice was full of accusation that I couldn’t deny. “Look, I’m sorry your life has worked out this way. I wouldn’t have chosen this for you.”
“But you did choose it, didn’t you, when you contrived for Lord Sean to become a Beck? In the same way you chose to kill all the other Sworn Assets and drain all the missusans and come between Judah and Arlee. Hooray for you.” She got up and gave me a stiff bow. “My lady.”
“Sean and I didn’t want any of that to happen.”
“It did.”
“I didn’t ask to be a Sworn Asset.”
“Ask? Who said you had to ask? You are a creation and you have a duty to your creators. You have a duty to Lord Sean that doesn’t involve staring at him out of windows when he’s in the courtyard or calling him or sending him messages over your human devices when you’re on the surface.”
My face burned. How had I forgotten that she was an expert in human technologies? “So have you been spying on us?”
“He’s my betrothed. Lord Judah is yours.”
“He may be your betrothed, but you would run back to the House of Picard in a heartbeat if it would have you.”
Leonie’s face twisted in fury. “I do as I am commanded. I have a duty to my people.”
My palms began to burn as if I were holding hot coals. “Yeah, you have your duty, but it won’t keep you warm at night. How are you different from one of those crystals that Sean and I just filled—all stone and stolen emotions? Did you ever think that maybe what Sean wants is genuine love?”
“I know that. You remind me all the time.”
“And does it break your heart because you can’t fulfill your duty?”
“No! Duty is all that is left.” She began crying. “If you weren’t here, he would be able to love me. You have taken away from me the last and most important thing that is left for me.”
“Really? And you think that Sean wants a wife who’s being forced into his arms? A wife who’s there only for the sake of duty?”
“And you think your love for him is genuine?” Leonie asked in disbelief. “It’s not. You’re a creation even if you are the most powerful Sworn Asset ever. Lord Sean and I will grow to love each other in time. In Geminay we build our relationships bit by bit. What do you have to offer him as wife?”
Her words cut me. “Myself.”
Leonie’s pretty eyes blazed. “I am the best of my generation in the House of Picard. I am more like Lord Sean than you ever could be because we come from the same stock. We can sense each other in a way that you never will be able to. I will be a better wife because that’s all I’ll ever be.” She took a long, shuddering breath. “Please don’t take him away from me because you know you can.”
Leonie left, but I stayed on the beach for a long time. Sean came to find me, walking up wearing a killer smile, blue jeans, and a button-up that strained the cuffs of its sleeves over his biceps. He was everything to me. But as I looked out across the water, I realized that both Sean and I had a purpose in this life that was bigger than the two of us. I had come to a decision, and it was time for him to hear it.