Chapter 7: The Empty Chair

Tavrian found his name attached to a chair he hadn't agreed to occupy.

The card said GUEST OF PARTICULAR HONOR.

Darian had added a ribbon beneath it.

The duke removed both before sitting anywhere.

A servant hurried forward with a second chair.

Tavrian thanked him and asked whether he needed it for another guest.

The man looked toward Darian before answering.

That glance explained more than the ribbon did.

"I'll stand," Tavrian said.

Darian came over carrying a glass.

"You needn't be so modest about her gratitude," he said.

The duke looked at the glass and left it in the cousin's hand.

"Did she ask you to say that?"

Darian smiled.

"Family can interpret what a lady leaves unsaid."

Tavrian disliked the phrase before finding a proper answer to it.

He knew what Maerielle had been capable of.

He'd seen her turn another person's humiliation into a party entertainment.

He'd also thrown her offered dance card into a fountain where people could watch.

He could have refused it quietly.

Her wrongdoing hadn't required him to enjoy the audience.

The memory made Darian's glass less welcome.

"You haven't answered me," he said.

The cousin adjusted his grip.

"She is trying to make a fresh impression."

"Then don't make it for her."

Maerielle stood across the room, moving a chair so a guest could sit by the window.

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