Chapter 8
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Selma Zendle, Listan's nanny and head of housekeeping at Bliss Manor, swept her gaze across the parlor.
Separated from his mother at the age of eight, the prince of Robenia had been raised by her from the day he was born.
The child, nourished by cold attention, had grown up to be the coldest man alive. That saddened Mrs. Zendle more than anything else.
"Her eyes are so mysterious. I had never seen such eyes in all the years of my life."
They didn't seem to belong to anyone else, which made them all the more precious. Listan's expression didn't change at Mrs. Zendle's comment about the beauty of newness.
"I hope she’s useful."
As usual, seeing something beautiful and pretty didn’t inspire him. He could only think of his goal and run toward it.
Every cell in Listan's head and body was filled with nothing but anger and contempt for the Cliffrids.
"Mrs. Zendle."
At the terse call, Mrs. Zendle turned to look at him. As always, there was no wavering in his icy eyes.
"You'll have to educate her yourself."
Audrey was a commoner. She had no lack of common sense, but she would know nothing of the grooming and manners of a noblewoman. He asked her to fill in the gaps.
"She’s literate, so there should be no difficulty."
"That is most welcome news."
Mrs. Zendle smiled, relieved. She was naturally gentle and cheerful. Mrs. Zendle had once been a maid in a noble family.
She was wise enough to recognize the difference between right and wrong, and Listan trusted her with the servants and maids at Bliss Manor.
He glanced past her, relieved, to Aiden.
"Increase security and put an escort around her."
"Understood."
Amber Kaida was the means to an end. She was planned to be a living weapon for Listan Cliffrid. Protection and vigilance was obviously required.
***
Audrey sat alone in the parlor.
She gazed out the window at the dense forest beyond. The mansion on the outskirts of the capital boasted enormous grounds. Chandeliers and silk wallpaper. Blue velvet chaise lounges and beautifully carved tables.
Nothing in the vast drawing room was insignificant, and she couldn't even begin to put a price on it.
When Sophia left, the man alone felt a surge of nervousness. She shouted out that she was fine, but the anxiety she'd forgotten since she'd met his eyes a moment ago washed over her.
The temperature wasn't too cold against the gray branches of the trees. The crackling of the fire in the great fireplace was the only comfort she could find for her shivering.
As she stared at the blazing wood, she took a moment to reflect. She thought to herself that maybe the warmth of the wood burning against her body was a little bit like her own situation, and that was when the door opened.
The door opened and the man entered. Audrey pushed herself up.
He held up a hand to stop her.
"Sit down."
His words were as terse as his cold voice. Watching Listan sit down, Audrey lowered herself onto the chaise lounge.
"You must have traveled a long way to get here. Did you experience any discomfort?"
"I was well rested, thanks to your care."
The man sat back on the sofa and looked at her. His blue eyes were as emotionless as the day she'd first seen them.
The sunlight streaming through the window only made his blue eyes more brilliant.
"I assume you've been told by Arnold why you’re here, and why."
"Yes. I am aware."
The man's long, loosely crossed legs touched the table, and it was difficult to make eye contact with him. Audrey's lowering gaze shifted at the sound of a snap, muscular thighs that didn't compare to her own.
She wondered if his legs were as strong as his arms.
She remembered the iron arms that her hand had touched before she entered the mansion. For a woman who had never been with a man, Listan Cliffrid was a mystery.
She had Ryan, but he was like a friend of the same sex to her. She had never seen a man so young and strong in her life.
A spear, heavy and sharp. The man's aura was intimidating.
"It's a job that requires a great deal of determination."
A look of recognition crossed his eyes. Listan Cliffrid, royalty and commander of the army, was the head of the Revolutionary Army.
To dethrone the current Emperor, whose incompetent politics were sucking the lifeblood out of the people, and to do so, to get close, very close, to the suspicious coward, Emperor Dvor.
That was the job Audrey was given. In the name of Amber Kaida.
"And he knows it."
Dvor, like all kings, had a taste for the rare. It was a truism that men love beauty. Those who had the means to do so lust after the rare and beautiful. It was their privilege.
If such a mysterious being were a living human being. Dvor would pounce on her, no matter what.
Listan looked at the woman. Her black hair seemed to be inky blackness. Her eyes held a brilliant light, like a river of molten gold, and drew him in.
The black rim separating the whites from the pupils made the woman's eyes even more brilliant and vivid. Staring into them, he felt like he was trapped in a castle made of gold.
Black hair and golden eyes. He had heard it was a trait found in people of the East, whose skin color was different from his. It was a rare thing.
But this woman had skin as white as snow. A golden apple on a black tree, on a snowy field. It was something rare right before him.
An opportunity the Revolutionary Army could not afford to miss was right in front of him.
As he gazed at Audrey Eckbon, Listan felt strange. It was as if he were in the presence of a forbidden fruit that tightened his breath at the mere sight of it. It was like crushing a small, nameless flower on the side of the road.
Whatever it was, the undefinable emotion grated on his nerves.
"If you can't do it, you can go back now, there's no one to blame."
For a moment, the woman's face hardened.
There was no going back. She didn't know why he was giving her another chance to refuse.
He was just being kind, giving her one more chance to make a choice. Audrey cringed strangely at the thought of going back.
She'd lost her home and everything she owned in the fire, and she didn't know where her mother and sister were. She couldn't imagine a fate worse than that.
That her father would have taken them away. She pushed down the anxiety that washed over her moment by moment by endlessly telling herself that she would survive somehow.
She stared at the fragile flickering light, barely able to breathe, wondering if it would extinguish the flickering embers of hope. It was with this resolve that she made her decision.
But the man was urging her to give up so easily, and though the words came from a stranger to her heart, she couldn't help but feel a sudden twinge of disappointment.
Audrey thought back to yesterday, when she first came here. The excitement that came with the wariness of the unfamiliar had come as a matter of course, foolishly intoxicated by the splendor that dazzled her eyes.
She didn't feel like herself for being so easily moved by emotions, even though it felt so foreign and pathetic.
She threw herself into a feeling of abandonment. It was her first big decision in life. Going back to the way things were would probably cause her more pain and regret.
She had given up her name, so if she quit before she even started, she would have nothing left in this world, and that would be too much to handle. It would make it harder to get through the day.
“As the Grand Duke said, it was a decision that required considerable determination. That’s why I don’t even think about turning back. It was a difficult decision, so I can’t give up without even starting.”
She was surprised, even as she spoke, for the first time. Such bold words had never come out of her mouth.
It wasn't the obligation to find her mother and sister that kept her alive now. Ironically, the relief of having abandoned the reality of Audrey Eckbon outweighed the grief of losing her family.
As guilty as she was, she longed for freedom.
Audrey looked at the man. His beautiful brow seemed to narrow, but then it smoothed out.
"Unexpected."
The man muttered low, almost to himself, and then smiled. It sounded like satisfaction. A tug at the corners of his lips changed his frosty expression in an instant.
“I hope that determination remains unchanged.”
Listan paused. From the moment he'd named her Amber Kaida, he'd accepted her as a colleague, or so he had to think.
"Then, Miss Amber Kaida. Tell me what you want, anything you want."
Amber was a flame. A golden flame that would become the weapon of the Revolutionary Army.
But little did Listan Cliffrid know, Amber Kaida would one day become a spark of her own.
***
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