Ladies, Lords, & Liars

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Viper

   The end of the hall was coming in sight before he finally stopped abruptly in front of a door just like any of the others. He didn't know how the guy could pick it out from any other door they'd passed. Aeric certainly couldn't tell the difference.

   The servant sent one last glare Aeric's way before opening the door and promptly leaving the way they'd come. Aeric watched him go for a moment, then entered the room, not knowing what to expect.

   The room was smoky, that was the first thing he noticed. Then he saw the source of the smoke. Standing and sitting around the spacious room, dozens of men ranging from his own age to ancient were smoking pipes. There were exactly three women in the room, immediately jumping out at him because of the sharp contrast between their bright dressed and the more subdued suits of the men.

   Tall, arched windows were the only source of light. The sunlight hardly managed to pierce through the thick smoke, though. The result was a hazy, dim room. He could see bookshelves and tables, an empty fireplace, armchairs. The center of the space was completely taken up by a big, square table. He could make out maps and charts sprawled haphazardly across the solid wood.

   Just like always, everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. It wasn't a meeting at all. It was just another excuse to hang out and split off into their little groups to chat. There wasn't a hint of organization. No one even noticed him come in.

   He walked into the room. His lungs filled with a big breath of smoke and he started coughing, though he did try his best to suppress it. It made his eyes sting and the stench permeated his nose.

   He found a chair in the corner that seemed to be in the only pocket of fresh air in the whole room. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and sat down, coughing out as much of the foul smoke as he could. He didn't know how any of them could take it.

   He took a deep breath of the fresher air and looked around again. His eyes locked with a pair of ice blue ones across the room. Quintin Faust was staring at him from the hazy gloom in the corner opposite his own.

   He suppressed a shiver and averted his gaze, his eyes flicking somewhere—anywhere else to avoid the gaze of the other man. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but something was very, very off about Lord Faust.

   His roving eyes suddenly locked on another target when he realized that the seat next to him wasn't as empty as he thought it was.

   And then he realized something else.

   The olive green uniform that blended so well with the neutral colors of the room was familiar, and not in the best way. And now that he recognized her, it became easy to see that the familiar golden curls belonged to none other than Kyra. And she was now staring back at him.

   "Kellen...? I thought..." she trailed off, her mouth hanging open with words that didn't come to her lips.

   "Thought what?" he tried to keep his voice down, though he wasn't exactly sure why.

   "It's just that I've never seen you here before." Her eyes moved away from him, but he couldn't tell where she was looking when she followed her gaze. Maybe she was just zoning out? Her face twisted into either a grimace or a sneer, he wasn't sure which.

   "I was invited today. I don't know why." He sighed. He already regretted coming. Any hope he might have had about this meeting had disappeared as soon as he saw that it was exactly like every other gathering they held. Everyone was chatting about stupid nothings, and not a single one was doing anything productive. He doubted he could even start a conversation with anyone other than Kyra, as they were all already engaged.