Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

Shots Fired

Ava wished she could say that after the night in the gardens with Viv, it hadn't happened again. She especially wished she could say that given Viv's obvious lack of remorse about intercepting her letter. But her wish was just that. The truth was that it had happened again. And quite a few times after that as well. It was never planned and as all the gods as her witness, she tried to resist it.

She always failed. Most of the time, it wasn't even Viv making the proposition. It was her. Not only was she doing something she knew she shouldn't have been, but she was also the one seeking it out. Yet, it felt good and it felt risky and she kept chasing that high. It broke up the suns that melded together with much of the same miseries night after night.

At the end of the cycle, as promised by her father, they resumed their meetings. More discussion of upcoming reforms was commonplace in these meetings; with her and her father making meaningful progress while Killian derailed them with less-than-ideal proposals. No matter what Killian said though, Ava maintained her composure. She had bitten her tongue so many times it was a wonder it hadn't fallen off.

While it earned her favor with her father, it meant there was pent-up irritability within her. Emotions that she began to take out during her time with Viv. The decorum she had to display in meetings was gone in the bedroom. Ava never went into an interaction with the intention of sleeping with Viv, but it kept happening anyway. Most of the time, initiation was unspoken. If Ava was in a mood or stressed after a busy meeting with her father she practically would corner Viv when they were alone. Not that Viv minded much, she seemed to appreciate the forwardness.

Even then, the blame couldn't be solely placed on Ava. Viv never stopped teasing, insinuating, or goading her. She even made the first move every once in a while. In the cycle since she had failed in her attempt to deliver the letter, she had gotten into a habit she couldn't seem to break. And she had told no one. Her many encounters with Viv were her darkest secret and she couldn't imagine what the others would say.

That morning had been a busy one, Ava had been in the city at the loungehouse with the ladies. She would hesitate to call them her friends, none of them knew her in that way, but Ava had grown fond of the loud and often tactless women. It reminded her of the lower decks in some ways. Still, having to don a fake persona was exhausting and all Ava wanted to do when she got to the carriage taking her back to the estate was to destress. Viv was more than happy to oblige her request for help.

Ava sat up on the bench of the carriage as she was catching her breath, "This carriage needs to be faster. I'm going to be late."

"In a rush to get out already? You are just using me like a cheap whore," Viv sighed.

"You love the feeling," Ava laughed as she slipped her undergarments back on and adjusted her dress, "if you didn't, you wouldn't keep agreeing to this."

"Am I better than Theo?"

"You ask me that almost every time. My answer won't change," Ava laughed as she finished pulling her shoes on and making sure everything was ready to hop out of the carriage and go straight to her father's office.

"I still think you're lying," Viv shrugged and sat up, "do you know what you are going to be telling your father at the meeting?"

"Without Killian there, I can make my argument for women's liberties more easily. That is my angle this aftermorning," Ava said as she fixed her hair on the few reflective surfaces she found in the confined space.

"Are you getting close to him agreeing?"

"I would say he isn't far from agreeing, I don't think he's ever been totally opposed to the idea of women's rights. Where he is getting hung up is the backlash for the reforms," Ava explained, "I am trying to convince him that the support he will gain from women he helps will outweigh the loss of support from men."