The waiting area that House Thorne set aside for their guests’ retainers was a drawing room of the same quality as the Blue Dragon Room back at Sturm Manor. It somewhat depressed me that the best room my family had to offer for guests would be considered adequate for servants by House Thorne.

The room was called the Yellow Rose Room, and like the Blue Dragon Room, its color scheme matched its name. The walls, the furniture, and the carpets were all a light yellow. However, rather than look tacky, it all looked bright and cheerful. The scent of roses filled the air. I felt refreshed just by walking into the room. It was the kind of place I would go to in order to read books, or even paint.

No one in the Yellow Rose Room looked to be in the mood for either of those things. There was tension in the air, and it looked like a fight would break out. In fact, that had already happened. Some of the furniture was destroyed, and people had sustained injuries.

A young man in his early twenties sat on one of the few remaining chairs. He cradled his arm with a grimace on his face. The arm looked broken. Like Lord Asher, he had light brown skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. However, he wasn’t as large as Lord Asher, nor did they share any other features. I don’t think they were related, but I could be wrong.

Two others stood in front of him, another young man and a young woman, as if to shield him. They looked similar enough to the young man that I assumed they were siblings, or at least cousins. Both were roughed up and covered in bruises.

On the other side of the room, leaning against the wall, stood Lorelei. She had the beginnings of an impressive shiner on her face. Her right eye was swollen and bruised. By tonight, it would be an ugly shade of purple. Despite this, she held her head high and glared at the trio. The trio glared back, though the young man with the broken arm trembled.

Neither side would receive treatment for their injuries until the situation was resolved, which was standard for this sort of situation. While callous, it ensured that no one dragged things out.

Retainers belonging to House Thorne stood between the two groups, making sure that neither side would try anything. Doris, Elizabeth’s handmaid, stood in a corner, quiet and unobtrusive, as if she wanted everyone to forget she was there. Retainers belonging to House Rhodes and House Brant stood off to the side with smiles on their faces, as if they were watching an entertaining play.

“Will someone explain to me what is going on?” Annabelle demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.

Earlier, when Madilyn led us to the Yellow Rose Room, the entire tea party, minus Lord Derek, had come along. Lord Asher and I were needed, since our retainers were involved, but Elizabeth and Lady Isabella had no reason to come. I guess they wanted to witness events as they unfolded, rather than hear about them later on.

When we arrived, I went to Lorelei’s side to check up on her. Lord Asher did the same with his retainers. Elizabeth joined Doris in the corner, while Lady Isabella joined her retainers. Annabelle stood in the center of the room, and Madilyn joined her. Meanwhile, Lord Derek was still busy with whatever was going on with him.

My expression turned ugly when I saw Lorelei’s injuries.

“Are you all right?” I asked in a quiet voice.

“I’m fine,” she said in a clipped voice, before jerking her chin towards the House Griffin retainers. “Better than those fuckers at least.”

My eyebrows went up at her words. She must have been really pissed. The only times I ever heard her swear were when she was angry.

The House Griffin retainers heard her words and their faces twisted with anger. One of the young men, the one without a broken arm, opened his mouth to say something but Lord Asher silenced him with a gesture.

Annabelle asked her question right afterwards.

“That crazy woman attacked us for no reason!” the young man with the broken arm yelled.

I decided to call him Fucker One in my head, for the sake of convenience, with the other young man being Fucker Two and the young woman being Fucker Three.

“That’s a lie, you little shit!” Lorelei yelled back. “You started it, but since you got your ass beat, now you’re acting like the victim.” She sneered. “What a sniveling little bitch.”

Fucker One’s face grew at the insults. I resisted the urge to smirk as Lorelei channeled her mother.

“Silence!” Annabelle commanded. “The next person who speaks without my permission I will punish myself.”

“You can’t do that-…” Fucker Three started to protest, but didn’t get to finish.

Annabelle flicked her wrist, and the green bracelet she wore whipped out to strike Fucker Three’s hand. That was when I realized that the green bracelet didn’t just resemble a thorny vine, it was a thorny vine. I hadn’t paid attention to the bracelet after I first noticed it, but it turned out that Annabelle had been armed this entire time. Clever.

Fucker Three cradled her injured hand, but bit her lip and remained silent.

“I said silence,” Annabelle said. “Do not test me again.”

The House Griffin retainers looked at Lord Asher with pleading expressions on their faces.

“Lady Annabelle,” he said, his tone filled with warning. “Don’t you think that resorting to violence is excessive?”

“Given that your people committed violence in my home, Lord Asher,” Annabelle said. “No, I don’t think so. Consider it part of their punishment for causing me trouble.”

Lord Asher nodded towards Lorelei.

“Then shouldn’t you extend the same punishment towards Lord Gabriel’s retainer? If only for fairness’ sake.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get to her. However, first I want to hear about what happened from someone who wasn’t directly involved.” She looked at the House Thorne retainers. “Did any of you see anything?”

The House Thorne retainers shook their heads.

“We came in when we realized that there was something going on,” one of them said. “The fight was already in progress when we arrived. We don’t know how it started.”

From the expressions on their faces, it looked like they were telling the truth. While House Thorne had messed with me, they hadn’t resorted to anything too underhanded. Not out of any consideration towards me, I assumed, but Annabelle’s sake.

“What about you?” Annabelle asked, looking at the House Rhodes and House Brant retainers.

The two groups shared a look, before shaking their heads.

“We didn’t see how the fight started,” a House Brant retainer said.

“We were too busy conversing amongst ourselves,” a House Rhodes retainer said.

Either the two groups of retainers were blind and deaf, or they were lying. My guess was the latter. They didn’t want to get involved, and possibly antagonize either Lord Asher or myself; more of the former I assumed. If House Rhodes or House Brant insulted me, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Still, it was a bad look so it was better to plead ignorance.

Annabelle grimaced. She must have come to the same conclusion.

“Fine then,” she said. “I guess I have no choice then.” She looked at the House Griffin retainers. “Tell me what happened. Keep it short and to the point.”

Why didn’t she ask Doris? Even if she chose not to get involved like the other retainers, it was still worth asking her. Had Annabelle not noticed her? Or was Annabelle up to something? Given what I knew about my beloved, it was the latter.

I resisted the urge to smile.

“We were talking amongst ourselves,” Fucker One began. “When that…woman over there started to insult us. We asked her to stop, but like the mannerless boor that she is, she refused. After that, we tried ignoring her, but then she insulted House Griffin. We couldn’t let that stand, so we decided to teach her a lesson.”

Lorelei clenched her fists, but kept silent. I put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, letting her know that I was on her side. She gave me a grateful look, before glaring at the trio of House Griffin retainers once more.

“Is this true?” Annabelle asked, looking at Fucker Two and Fucker Three.

They both smirked.

“Yes, Lady Annabelle,” Fucker Two said. “It is as my cousin said. That woman over there insulted us and House Griffin, so we had no choice but to respond with violence.”

Fucker Three nodded, but remained silent. I guess she was still scared of Annabelle’s bracelet.

I glanced at Lord Asher. He wore a stony expression, making it difficult to read his thoughts. Still, it was clear that he was unhappy about the entire situation. So was I. What a goddamn shit show.

Annabelle turned to Lorelei.

“Tell me what happened in your own words,” she said.

“When I first arrived, I tried mingling since I figured we might as well talk while we waited,” Lorelei began. She nodded towards the trio. “Those asshats gave me the cold shoulder when they saw that I was a retainer for House Sturm. The others were snobby about it too, but at least they weren’t rude. A little while later those three started to insult me, while pretending to whisper about it.”

Fucker Two opened his mouth to say something, but a glare from Annabelle shut him up.

“I ignored them at first, but then they started insulting Lord Gabriel,” Lorelei continued. “I confronted them about it, we got into an argument, and the one sitting put a hand on me. That’s when I punched him, before breaking his arm.”

Fucker One stood up, wincing as the movement jostled his broken arm.

“You can’t believe a word she says, Lady Annabelle,” he protested. “She’s lying to save her own skin!. Lowborn trash like her will do anything to avoid punishment. Don’t fall for her tricks.”

From the look on his face, Fucker One expected Annabelle to side with him. To be fair, his confidence wasn’t unwarranted. Not only was he of higher status than Lorelei, but he served a Great House as well. He also had two other witnesses, for a total of three versus Lorelei’s one.

With a few exceptions, it looked like everyone else expected the same thing; for Annabelle to side with the House Griffin retainers and punish Lorelei. If Annabelle spared her without a justifiable cause, it would foster resentment between House Thorne and House Griffin. The truth of the matter was nothing compared to that, or so they thought.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Idiots.

Annabelle looked between Lorelei and the House Griffin retainers, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“After hearing both sides,” she said. “There is only one course of action to take.”

She paused for dramatic effect. In that moment, Fucker One gave Lorelei a triumphant smirk.

“And that is to hear from the last possible witness,” Annabelle said.

Everyone gave her a surprised look, caught off guard by her words. I just smiled.

“You there,” Annabelle said, pointing at Doris. “What happened?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the corner where Doris stood. The woman herself glanced at Elizabeth, who gave her a slight nod, before stepping forward. When she raised her eyes, I sucked in a breath.

For the first time since I’ve known her, I got a good look at Doris’ face. In all the times I’ve seen her before now, she always kept her head down. That’s why I never realized that she had green eyes. Not only that, but I never noticed that she also shared several facial features with both Corie and Elizabeth.

Green eyes. Tall and lean build. Pale skin.

I was a fucking idiot. A blind idiot. How could I not have noticed that Doris was Elizabeth’s sister? The two spent almost all of their time together, yet Doris managed to keep the truth of her heritage hidden all this time. Or maybe she was able to hide because she spent most of her time with Elizabeth, acting as her shadow. Few would pay that much attention to a mere handmaid.

I wasn’t the only one who realized this. Lorelei let out a gasp, though she didn’t say anything.

“It is as Lord Gabriel’s retainer described,” Doris said in a quiet voice. “The retainers from House Griffin insulted her first, before insulting Lord Gabriel. When she confronted them about their words, one of them put his hand on her and she struck out in retaliation.”

When she finished speaking, Doris stepped back and lowered her head again. Elizabeth stood in front of her, as if protecting her from everyone’s scrutiny.

“Well?” Annabelle asked, facing the House Griffin retainers. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”

Lord Asher stepped between her and them.

“I don’t know if we can believe that woman’s testimony,” he said.

Excuse the fuck out of me?

“Excuse me?” Annabelle said, her words mirroring my thoughts.

“She is Lady Elizabeth’s handmaid,” Lord Asher said. “Given your friendship with Lady Elizabeth, and your relationship with Lord Gabriel, it’s possible that she is lying to protect Lord Gabriel’s retainer.”

Wow. Talk about grasping at straws. Protecting and supporting one’s retainers was a House scion’s duty, but this was taking it too far. At this point, it would have been less shameful to admit fault and move on from there. Doubling down like this would just make things worse.

From the looks on their faces, everyone else agreed with me on this. Even the ones who decided to stay out of it, such Lady Isabella and her retainers as well as the retainers from House Brant.

“Madilyn,” Annabelle said, glaring at him. “Have Lord Asher and his retainers escorted out. Make sure their injuries get treated. I wouldn’t want anyone to say that we are poor hosts.”

Lord Asher and the House Griffin retainers blinked at her in surprise.

“What?” Fucker One said.

“Yes, Lady Annabelle,” Madilyn said with a bow, before gesturing to the House Thorne retainers in the room.

They surrounded Lord Asher and the House Griffin retainers.

“You would go this far over such a trivial matter?” Lord Asher asked, incredulous.

“You all but accused me of lying to my face,” Annabelle said. “I don’t consider that a trivial matter. Not only that, but it’s clear that your retainers are in the wrong here. Until you apologize for your behavior, you will no longer be welcome here at Thorne Manor.” She gestured to the House Griffin retainers. “And those three are banned for life.”

Lord Asher’s expression turned ugly.

“Wait until Lord Thorne hears about this. I doubt he will feel the same way.”

Annabelle let out a scornful laugh.

“Do you think my dad isn’t watching us now? If not, let me assure that he is. Since he hasn’t done anything about it, that means he agrees with my decision, Lord Asher.” She jerked her chin towards the door. “Now get out and don’t come back until you’re ready to beg for forgiveness.”

The House Thorne retainers started to politely, but firmly, lead Lord Asher and his retainers out of the room.

“House Griffin won’t forget this insult,” Lord Asher said, keeping his eyes on Annabelle.

“Neither will House Shelton,” Fucker One spat out.

Oh, that was just rich. I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. Well, I could have, but I chose not to.

Everyone stopped and stared at me, including Lord Asher and his retainers.

“Oh, you three are from House Shelton?” I asked. “History does repeat itself after all.”

“If I had known that,” Lorelei said. “I wouldn’t have stopped at breaking just one arm.”

“My retainer’s family has a history with House Shelton,” I explained. “Why don’t you introduce yourself, Lorelei?”

My disciple stood a little taller, holding her head high. She exuded a presence, as if the power of the earth itself flowed through her veins.

“I am Lorelei Sinclair,” she declared. “Daughter of Charity Sinclair.”

Most of the others looked confused, since they had no idea why this mattered, but Lord Asher and the retainers from House Shelton did. Their eyes widened.

“Also known as Charity the Crusher,” I said. “If you’re more familiar with that name.”

A few peoples’ faces lit up with clarity and understanding. They looked at Lorelei with newfound appreciation in their eyes. Lord Asher looked stricken. I’ll admit, I was petty enough to enjoy that.

The House Thorne retainers escorted him and his people out of the Yellow Rose Room. Silence followed their departure.

“You know what?” Annabelle said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “You might as well all leave. This farce has gone on long enough. Everyone go. The tea party is over.”

The House Rhodes retainers looked at Lady Isabella.

“Go,” she commanded, before turning to the House Brant retainers. “I suggest you go find your master and let him know what happened here.”

They all filed out. Lady Isabella walked over and stood in front of Annabelle.

“For what it’s worth, Lady Annabelle,” she said. “I think you did a great job handling everything. I look forward to getting to know you better.”

With that, she left. Elizabeth and Doris started to follow her out, but stopped right in front of me.

“Lord Gabriel,” Elizabeth said. “I would like to speak with you before you leave.” Her eyes flickered to Annabelle. “There is something I wish to discuss with you.”

I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Aren’t you leaving as well?” I asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

“I’m staying in one of House Thorne’s guest rooms. I have been for the past week.”

Huh. That was unusual, but not unheard of. Still, I doubted that Elizabeth was merely Annabelle’s tutor. I suspected that they had a deeper relationship than that, though I wasn’t sure.

“Very well,” I said.

Elizabeth nodded, before leaving the Yellow Rose Room, with Doris in tow. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Annabelle giving my former fiancée a dark look. However, when I turned to face her, the look disappeared, as if it had never been there in the first place.

“Lorelei,” Annabelle said, rushing over to my disciple’s side. “You poor girl. I’m sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

She inspected Lorelei’s bruise, concern written all over her face.

“You don’t need to apologize, Lady Annabelle,” my disciple said. “But thank you for your concern.” She smiled. “Besides, I dished out more than I took.”

Annabelle grinned.

“Hell yeah you did.” She turned back to Madilyn, who was the only other person in the room. “Madilyn, take Lorelei and make sure that she gets tended to.”

The butler bowed.

“Yes, Lady Annabelle,” she said, before turning to Lorelei. “Please follow me, Miss Sinclair.”

Lorelei nodded and followed the butler out, leaving me and Annabelle as the only ones left in the Yellow Rose Room. As soon as the others left, Annabelle pulled me into an embrace and sagged against me.

“Fuck,” she said in English. “That was exhausting. I hated it.” She looked up at me. “Is this what it’s like to be a House scion?”

I gave her a gentle smile.

“Not all of the time, but yes. Sometimes you’ll have to deal with situations like this, or worse. If it makes you feel any better, I agree with Lady Isabella. You handled that well. A little heavy handed, but you could’ve done worse.”

Annabelle smiled at me, before her expression morphed into one of concern.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was so concerned about myself, that I forgot to ask how you’re holding up. You’re the one who got roasted out there. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I said.

Annabelle narrowed her eyes at me in disbelief.

“Really?” she asked, her tone skeptical. “The tea party stressed me out, and I wasn’t even the one they were targeting.”

“Really, I’m fine,” I said.

Well, except for the headache, but that was milder than I expected. Of course, the day wasn’t over yet. I still had to meet with Annabelle’s parents.

“Mostly fine,” I amended at Annabelle’s continued disbelief. “Even if I wasn’t, holding you would go a long way towards fixing that.”

Annabelle leaned her head against my chest.

“Then hold me,” she said. “Or maybe I should be the one holding you.”

I pretended to think about it.

“Laying down with my head on your lap does sound heavenly right about now. Especially if you were to stroke my hair.”

“Tsk,” Annabelle said. “You big baby.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, I guess I could do that.”

I looked around the Yellow Rose Room.

“It looks like we’ll have to do a rain check on that,” I said. “The couch here is in pieces.” I looked down at her. “Sorry about that. House Sturm will help pay for any damages.”

“No need. House Griffin is at fault. I’ll send them the bill.”

“A House Sturm retainer was still involved. It’s only right that we help make it right.”

“But-…”

“Just let me do this,” I said, interrupting her. “If nothing else, it will score me brownie points with your family.”

Annabelle took a moment before responding.

“Fine,” she huffed. “You’re lucky that you have a cute face. Otherwise, I would have kept arguing.”

“Truly, your generosity knows no bounds,” I said in a sardonic tone.”

“You’re damn right.”

We fell silent after that and just held each other, lost in our own thoughts. I wondered if we passed the test set by her parents. I wasn’t sure. While things took a turn for the worst at the end, things went well overall. I hoped that was enough.

My thoughts turned to Elizabeth, and I wondered what her relationship with Annabelle was. Annabelle said she considered her a friend, but there was the dark look from earlier to consider. Had Annabelle lied? Or was there something else going on?

“Gabe,” Annabelle said, interrupting my thoughts. “What did you mean earlier?”

“About what?” I asked.

“About you knowing all of my secrets.”

“Ah. That.”

Annabelle tensed. Should I tell her about what happened? Or should I continue to pretend to be ignorant? I mean, it happened a while ago. A few years for her, and an entire lifetime for me. Still, that night stood out in my memory, if only because I saw a side to Annabelle that I never knew existed before that point; a side that she wanted to keep secret from me.

Eh, I’m sure it’ll be.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal,” I said. “We just got drunk one night, back when I was Brandon, and you revealed some of your fantasies to me.” I grinned. “I hadn’t known you were so kinky before that point.”

Annabelle looked both relieved, and worried, by that statement. Odd.

“What sort of fantasies?” Annabelle asked, her tone laced with concern.

I opened my mouth to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted me.

“Come in,” Annabelle said, still holding me.

The door opened and Madilyn walked in. If the sight of us embracing each other surprised her, she didn’t let it show.

“Miss Sinclair is being tended to now,” she said. “Lord Asher and his retainers refused treatment, and have left Thorne Manor.”

“Thank you, Madilyn,” Annabelle said. “Impeccable service, as always.”

“Thank you, Lady Annabelle.” She paused. “Lord and Lady Thorne wish to see you. They want to discuss the altercation with Lord Asher, and its potential consequences.”

Annabelle paused.

“I see.”

“They wish to see you alone. The meeting with Lord Gabriel will occur right after.”

Annabelle sighed and pulled away from me.

“Feel free to enjoy Thorne Manor’s hospitality while I meet with my parents,” she said with a tired smile. “Madilyn can show you around, if you wish. At the very least, she can assign a servant to act as your guide.”

I glanced at the butler, who nodded.

“I’ll see you later then,” I said, brushing a loose hair away before kissing Annabelle on the cheek. “I look forward to seeing how you’ll pay me back for today.”

I said that last sentence in English, since Madilyn was listening in.

Annabelle grinned and wagged her eyebrows at me. Without another word, she turned and left the Yellow Rose Room.

“Would you like me to guide you to another, more intact drawing room, Lord Gabriel?” Madilyn asked. “Or would you like to go somewhere else? I am at your service.”

I took a moment to think about it.

“Bring me to Lady Elizabeth,” I said. “There is something I wish to discuss with her.”

Since I had the time, I might as well find out what she wanted to talk about. I also had plenty questions of my own.

“Very well. Follow me.”