Heart Fortune

“Humph.”

Eventually dinner ended. While the Family proceeded slowly to the sitting room for more conversation, Jace retired to his rooms on an errand. He asked and received instructions from the Residence on how to send the small gifts he’d selected to Glyssa’s friends. A cache teleporter was built into the fancy desk. He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he’d included gifts for the Licorices, too . . . but he’d expected to stay at T’Hawthorn’s. Should have chosen gifts for the Licorices anyway.

A knock came at his door and he opened it to Glyssa’s father.

Fasic T’Licorice gave Jace a direct stare. “Come into my personal library, why don’t you, son?” the man asked.

Twenty-seven

Jace knew T’Licorice’s offer was more of an order, but kept his posture easy as he followed the man downstairs. “How many libraries are there in the Residence?”

Laugh lines crinkled around the lord’s eyes as he smiled. “There’s the main library, the hereditary GrandLord or Lady’s . . .”

“That would be your wife’s,” Jace said. This man had married into the Licorice Family and become the Lord that way, just as Raz Cherry had wed Del D’Elecampane to become T’Elecampane.

“That’s right,” GrandLord T’Licorice said mildly, but his smile had vanished. He gestured to an old but expensive-looking furrabeast leather chair in gleaming deep red. “I sense you’re very wary of my wife.”

“She’s a very good manager.”

As he sat in another chair angled toward Jace’s, T’Licorice hooted, grinned again. “That she is. Some people don’t know how to handle those types.”

Jace said nothing. If there’d been a way to handle his mother, neither his father nor he had learned it.

Glyssa’s father studied him in silence, and the truth was, Jace didn’t feel uncomfortable with the man, or the quiet. The guy had his own strength, his own confidence, and Jace bet that people would look at the couple and see—as he had before this moment—a very opinionated woman and a man who seemed to let her set the terms of their marriage. Perhaps a woman smarter than her husband, definitely sharper in manner—as his own had been.

Those conclusions didn’t feel right to him now.

“My HeartMate is a strong-minded woman, a forceful woman. She’s the PublicLibrarian of Celta, and that’s an honor and a position that carries some weight here in Druida City, even all of Celta. Something that she is always aware of. Our daughter, Enata, will be the next GrandLady D’Licorice in her time, something she’s been trained for and is always aware of, too.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? I come from a noble GraceHouse myself, one with a small but fairly loving Family.” He shrugged. “The Licorices are as you see us—me, my HeartMate, our two daughters. Rhiza is a lot less . . . formal . . . than she was when we met. I take pride in that.” He glanced around the room. “And the Residence is beautiful and healthy.”

“Yes.” Something they could agree on.

“It’s always interesting to know one’s in-laws’ backgrounds. For instance, Rhiza’s father died quite early in her life and her home life, and this Residence, deteriorated.” A hard note entered Fasic T’Licorice’s voice. Jace raised his brows.

“Neglect bothers me, as it does Rhiza. HeartMates usually hold common views. She and I have worked hard to restore the Residence.”

Jace didn’t know what to say, so made a show of studying the library, really a nice and welcoming place for a guy, then murmured, “Good job.”

“My darling Rhiza didn’t have much of an example on how a strong woman should lead and behave when she was growing up. Her mother is a kind but selfish woman, very vague, constantly misplacing things, and, as I said before, this Residence wasn’t kept up in the manner that it should have been.”

“So Glyssa’s mother reacted to her own mother,” Jace said, as he continued to react to his own.

“That’s right,” T’Licorice said. “And I believe we have done much better with our daughters. I am very proud of Enata and Glyssa.”

“Where’s Glyssa’s MotherDam now?” Jace asked.

“She is living quite happily in Toono Town, the artists’ colony. Rhiza’s father was the hereditary Licorice.”

“Oh.”

“The PublicLibrary was lucky to have a couple of FirstLevel and SecondLevel Librarians to keep faith with the people of Druida City and Celta during my HeartMate’s minority, but she tested for her FirstLevel Librarianship as soon as she became an adult at seventeen, and was confirmed by the testing board then, of course.”

“Of course.”

“I deeply admire Rhiza’s dedication. And she’s my HeartMate. I love her, though I can see her faults when she tries too hard to be perfect.”

“Uh-huh.” So much revelation made Jace uneasy.

“Enata doesn’t have a HeartMate and that hurts her. You wouldn’t know about that,” Fasic ended softly.

Jace flushed but didn’t answer.

“Now, speaking of in-laws’ backgrounds . . .” the man prompted.

“I don’t think—”

“Whether or not you intend to marry into this Family—and I am quite sure my daughter will win you over despite my wife and any other problems that lay between you—I do want to know more about you.”

“Who my family is?” Jace asked with more bitterness in his tone than he’d anticipated.

T’Licorice blinked. “Not that so much as how they might have affected you . . . for instance, why you might react more negatively toward my wife than many.”

Jace remained silent.

“Or I could hire Garrett Primross to check into your background. He would probably speak with the Elecampanes first.”

“And you know I’ve been having trouble at the camp.”

T’Licorice shrugged a shoulder. “I know you’re an honorable man. The Lady and Lord wouldn’t give my daughter a HeartMate who didn’t share that trait. Whatever happened or happens at the encampment will not affect my opinion of you.”

“I have no Family.”

Sighing, T’Licorice said, “That is an all too unfortunate occurrence here on our beloved world.” He reached out, offered his arm like one man to another of his own rank. “Think about this, Jace Bayrum with no living relatives. You can have a Family. A Family who will admire and respect you. A Family of name and status that will stand by you. Always.”

Jace took his arm, got the clasp over with as soon as possible. “Sounds too good to be true.”

“You don’t trust easily, do you? Well, we can work on that.” T’Licorice smiled as if liking a challenge. “What you might not see is that my wife is fully aware that her brusque manner can make people wary of her, but behind that shell of professional and personal competence, she is tender and easily hurt.”

“Ah.” Jace fought not to squirm. “I do not care to be ordered around.”

Another smile flashed from the lord. “Who does? Just stand your ground.” He winked. “Or slide out of her request, or ignore it. All three options will work. Perhaps.”

“Uh-huh. I think you’d find it easier than I.”

“Because she loves me. And despite what you might have surmised or thought, she loves our daughters very much. She’s like all parents.”