After a half an hour or so, she turned to the house and motioned Brennan to her side. “I’m ready to be shown to the study now,” she said.
“Of course, your highness!” the steward said. He rubbed his hands together, perpetually washing them. “I will be delighted to show you whatever you like!”
It was impossible to believe him. Even her rudimentary truthsense snorted in disbelief. Brennan wasn’t delighted about anything at the moment. It was clear he was overcome with anxiety. No doubt he was afraid he was about to lose his job. She tried not to let her repulsion for him show. She wanted to snap at him to stop what he was doing and to slap his hands apart. The poor man looked like Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons. She gestured for him to lead the way.
As they stepped into the cool, elegant interior of the house, Tiago said suddenly in her head, Be honest. How angry would you be with me if I squashed this bug?
She glanced over her shoulder in startled glee. That thing he’s doing with his hands is making me crazy. But he must be a very effective steward to have survived under Urien’s rule, and we cannot kill everybody we don’t like.
What if I don’t kill him? Tiago said, his mental voice thoughtful. I could mash him up a bit around the edges and make him a size smaller.
She pinched her nose hard until her eyes stung and managed to turn her laugh into a cough. This was what had been missing during their quiet drive from the hotel, all the sentinels talking smack. Even though Rune and Aryal were traveling with them to Adriyel, everyone had been feeling the impending separation.
She got a blurred impression of the grand staircase, foyer and the halls as they followed Brennan toward the back of the house. Polished wood shone everywhere. Marble floors gleamed. Every time she took a step, she could see the soles of her shoes just before her feet touched the floor.
An outrageous fortune in rare Dark Fae artwork decorated the foyer and the downstairs halls. The paintings focused on nature scenes from Adriyel. One painting in particular made her catch her breath. It depicted the palace and the spectacular waterfall of the Adriyel River behind it, the scene so unexpectedly familiar, it brought tears to her eyes. The slender flowing pieces of sculpture were all metal. They graced the air by achieving impossible heights and tinkled with a delicate virtuoso of Power that was as refreshing to the mind as the physical shape of the sculpture was to the eyes. Thanks to Urien’s tight control of Adriyel’s crossover passageways, Dark Fae art was difficult to get and fetched high prices at Sotheby’s and other auction houses.
She wondered what statement Urien had been making with the artwork. Everything about the property was controlled, precise, from the Georgian-style mansion to the manicured grounds. The display of Dark Fae art here, in his property in Chicago, seemed as deliberate in its planning as was the rest of the estate. He would have entertained allies and business associates here. Had he offered them glimpses of Adriyel as an enticement, or had he merely been displaying so much artwork as a statement of his own wealth and Power?
She sighed. She was being haunted by a dead man. She hated how much time Urien occupied in her thoughts when all she really wanted to do was to jump up and down on his grave and sing “Ding-dong, the witch is dead.” She suspected he would overshadow her thoughts for a long time to come, as she second-guessed the decisions he made and chose which of his laws she would reverse.
The thing was, and she hated to admit this to herself, Urien had been a very intelligent man. She wanted to despise everything he had done, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to. The Dark Fae artwork decorating the front of the house was quite lovely. Now Niniane was no longer sure about many of her opinions. Maybe she needed to employ a count-to-ten policy whenever she encountered something she knew was Urien’s creation. She needed to assess things on their own merit, not just reject them out of hand because her uncle had something to do with them.
Whatever Urien’s taste in art had been, what Carling had said was still true. To most people, politically and financially the Dark Fae looked like they were in a strong position with regards to the other demesnes. However, those individuals, like Carling, who had an educated sense of the Dark Fae’s real unmet potential, knew better.
They reached an open paneled doorway, and Brennan stood to one side of it and bowed to her. She thanked him and, without thinking, started to walk into the room first. Tiago’s Power clenched on her even as he grabbed her by the arm. Brennan stared at Tiago, openmouthed.
Niniane rolled her eyes at the steward’s reaction. She stepped back to let Tiago go in first as she said in his head, Sorry.
Don’t sweat it, faerie, he said. But just so you know, if the bug expires from shock, I’m not giving him mouth-to-mouth.