Her father would make a powerful ally for a countess who fearedother nobles. And Countess Carisse might not realize until later that beingunder his arm was as dangerous as being in front of it.
Sylph schooled her face before entering the dining room, clearingher throat so Thana would also remember to stay calm. The room was asold-fashioned as the rest of the house. Larger than the chilly sitting room,this one reached high into where the second story would be. Exposed woodenbeams ran across the space, displaying tattered banners that didn’t brightenthe stone walls so much as fade into them, making a palette of drabness.
A long wooden trestle table dominated the room, but it stoodempty, leaving a smaller wooden table at the head of the room, the lord orlady’s table. The countess sat at one end with a bearded man on her right,facing the room. If they’d been having dinner when this manor was new, thecountess and her honored guests would all be behind the table, facing the room,and the long trestle table would be occupied by the countess’s vassals andmen-at-arms.
But the time for nobles keeping their own armies was over, thoughthe Troubles had proved that such troops could be raised quickly if needed.
The countess wore a calm expression, but Sylph could see her truefeelings around the edges: the slight pucker between her eyebrows, the pinchedcorners of her mouth. Maybe she feared Sylph had some mercenaries waiting inthe forest, a grab for power on her father’s bloody command. A foolish thought.Her father would never risk her that way, though not for sentimental reasons.
Countess Carisse and her companion rose, the countess gesturingto the other end of the table where two place settings mirrored hers. As shecame closer, Sylph’s insides stirred. She felt something from the man, somesense of danger. He peered suspiciously at both her and Thana and leaned towardthe countess as if ready to shield her.
A suitor? If he was noble, Sylph would know him. A servant?Surely not. The only reason Thana was allowed to sit with them was becauseSylph had lied about her heritage. Well, Sylph took comfort from Thana’spresence. Maybe this man provided similar relief for the countess.
She and Thana weren’t as unique as she’d thought.
“This is Timmony,” the countess said, offering no otherexplanation. He inclined his head.
Sylph glanced in his direction before pretending to dismiss him.Thana smiled awkwardly, then looked to Sylph. She fought the urge to narrow hereyes as the danger-sense continued, only looking down when the servants servedthe soup.
The silence was broken only by the sound of spoons against bowlsand the occasional slurp from Thana. Sylph might have been amused by the noise,but the warning inside her continued. There had to be a reason she was so illat ease, and when a memory came to her, she nearly dropped her spoon.
During her brief training session with Thana, she’d feltsomething similar to this from the table of pyramids. A sort of tinglyawareness, but not of any person.
Timmony had a fire pyramid.
Sylph kept eating, hoping the motion didn’t look too wooden. Shehad to find a way to tell Thana without alarming anyone. Perhaps Timmony was apyradisté. That might explain his presence. He was here as a protector.
Thana didn’t seem particularly afraid. She had no court face. Ifshe’d sensed the pyramid, she would have given a sign. When their gazes met,Thana’s was only curious.
After the soup, the servants brought a haunch of venison andbowls of greens. When everyone had a portion, Timmony cleared his throatloudly.
Everyone froze as abruptly as if he’d produced his fire pyramidand held it aloft.
“Tell me, Lady Sylph,” he said, the words brittle through apolite facade. “During your stay in Marienne, have you heard any rumors aboutrogue pyradistés?”
The question was so artless, she might have laughed, but CountessCarisse fixed her with a keen look. Thana sputtered on her wine, and Sylphnearly kicked her under the table. “I am surprised news of such events hasspread all the way out here,” Sylph said, hoping to convey that the countess’sestate was so remote as to be beneath Sylph’s notice and therefore safe fromher.
“Everyone knows,” Countess Carisse said. “Some pyradistés are dangerous.”
“Are either of you one of them?” Timmony asked, bringing thetable to silence again.
Thana froze with a forkful of greens at her mouth and stared atSylph, an obviously guilty expression on her face. Sylph dabbed her lips with anapkin. If Countess Carisse thought either of them a pyradisté, then theirnobility was in question. But surely everyone had heard of Lady Sylph Montague.
Sylph looked Countess Carisse in the eye. “I have heard that somepyradistés are dangerous, but I know none who are. Why would I?” She glanced atTimmony. “I know some nobles employ them, and I wonder what other roles theymight fill if they, for instance, eat at their employer’s table.”
She hoped to make the countess uncomfortable enough to change thesubject, but Countess Carisse said, “Indeed. If one were to live or dine ortravel so accompanied, it would no doubt be for protection from the very threatTimmony just brought up and not because they are looking to cause troublethemselves.”
Sylph put her hands on the table, trying to keep from reachingfor that pyramid and making it burst to life, but the more her heart pounded,the stronger the desire to ignite it rose inside her.
“I would expect someone wanting only to defend themselves wouldnot travel with too many offensive pyramids,” Timmony said. The countessbriefly turned a glare on him.
Sylph cocked her head. He couldn’t have gone through Thana’ssatchel, so he had to have sensed her pyramids, probably with one of theutility pyramids Thana had mentioned before.
“Okay.” Thana put her fork down. “Enough dancing around. First ofall, protecting yourself from an attack requires a weapon as well as a shield,but dinner requires neither. So that leads me to my second point.” She put herhands on the table, palms up. “I’m unarmed.”
Both Timmony and Countess Carisse took deep breaths and seemed torelax slightly. Sylph
