She was surprised to find that she'd been placed not too far down near the more prestigious side of the table, much to her cousin's displeasure, ... as if she were the heir to her father's estate and not her uncle. It made sense in a way, it was no secret she'd played the part of acting head of house while her father and brother were at war and she was technically her fathers only surviving heir with both her brothers gone. However it hadn't taken much for her aunt and uncle to claim she was still in need of guardianship and be granted authority over her and her father's lands by the king's decree, and there had been nothing she could do to fight it.
The position of Earl sat empty, but if anyone were to take bets on who would finally fill that vacancy the odds would be against her. Seating her here was a bold move; the Calums were practically announcing their support... of her. But why? She had no ties to them, did they dislike her aunt or uncle? or was there some connection to them she was missing?
She glanced wistfully at her friend halfway down the table, sad they couldn't sit together, and dug into her salad. She was not a big fan of plain salad, but it wasn't as if she could have offered up any of her kills to herself and the orphanage needed it far more than she did so she wouldn't complain.
One of the girls next to her, a marques's oldest daughter, commented about the fact she didn't have any meat. A sly insult that her chosen champion had obviously not managed to kill anything during the hunt. But she just shrugged it off, for one she didn't actually have a champion, and secondly, she was far from the only one without meat. At least a quarter of the single young men and women were also eating plain salad, the duke included, so she saw no reason to reply, it wasn't as if she'd asked a question and it wasn't worth debating an offhanded comment.
In his typical dramatic fashion, the duke arrived late looking more like a reaper than a nobleman at a banquet. The young prince who sat below him in the hierarchy, due to the fact he wasn't the crown prince who was already married, looked terrified to be sitting next to him. The highest-ranking eligible noble ladies at their table also looked supremely uncomfortable to be across from him. She couldn't believe he was still here and had actually shown up to this very public feast.
A salad was set in front of him and nearby conversations were hushhed. Due to her words at the end of the hunt, he was forced to eat nothing but greens... like the losers who caught nothing and the girls who hadn't had a man dedicate a kill to them... like her. Yet he didn't complain and demand anything else, he just slightly hunched over his food in a way that would have any etiquette teacher cringing and ate. The food disappeared beneath the gaping nothingness of his hood, but why did his hands look so pale? Was it just the lighting?
The sudden quiet was defining. People feared him, so no one would question his posture or make fun of his plate as they did hers and others. He ate in silence his hood hiding his whole face as all of high society seemed to stare. Was he sitting more hunched than normal? He must hate socializing, but then why come? Just because she'd claimed he'd attend in her forged letter? But she'd never planned on coming to any part other than the hunt itself as him, besides not attending things was more his style so she figured that showing up at the hunt itself was more than enough.
She glanced his way again, the prince looked unusually pale and stiff and wasn't talking. The girls across from them looked just as scared and only picked at their decent salads with various types of meat looking rather queasy as the duke simply ate his plain salad in complete silence.
She giggled accidentally drawing the eyes of those nearest her and seemingly breaking the awkward silence as conversations slowly resumed in hushed tones.
The boy across from her, the Marquis of Salvenbrig's second son, seemed to take pity on her and offered her some of his meat but she politely declined.
"That's kind of you to offer but I'm Quite alright."
"She'd probably just spew it back up on your shoes later like the last man who tried to help her, I was surprised to see her today since she was so sick last night." Lady Kathren, a Duke's youngest daughter chimed in unnecessarily.
"So true, it really hasn't been that long since I recovered and this feast will be long, I really wouldn't want to overdo it." she agreed picking at her salad. Now she had an excuse not to eat that much of it. She wasn't sure if the girl was trying to paint her as sickly, or a liar but there was no reason to deny her words.
"Oh, so you were sick yesterday, that must be why I didn't see you at the hunt or breakfast, I'm sure I would have noticed someone as lovely as you had you been there. But alas someone else must have had the luck to spot you first as I can see they have already laid a claim," he said nodding to her arm where the handkerchief hid her wound from the world.
She didn't take his flattery at face value rather it was more of a polite testing of the waters to see if he had any chance of snatching up an Earldom. As a second son, he wouldn't inherit his father's title so if he wanted one he'd have to work ridiculously hard for it and make a name for himself and be granted one from the king, or simply marry a girl whose father had no sons.
This was the last kind of man her aunt and uncle would set her up with, but the best choice for her as it would allow her to stay at the Earldom. Although, that doesn't mean he'd let her have any say in how it's run once she married him. She'd have to test him... a lot.
She smiled sweetly, "You flatter me, my lord, though I disagree with the notion of being claimed."
"You'd turn your back on your mystery sutier who went out of his way to help you when you were in need? I thought you valued loyalty?" the girl mocked.
"I do, and as such I know that loyalty can not be bought or sold like a person can't be claimed as they are both immaterial housed in the material. A body can be bought, sold, or claimed, but the heart, mind, and soul housed within know that both loyalty and love are immaterial, unmeasurable things that must be earned over time and through adversity.
"I'd be a fool to let a single experience claim all my loyalty or my heart and soul, but that also doesn't mean I'd ever overlook a debt I owe. I was simply stating that I disagreed with the notion of being claimed."
"What?" a few people muttered. Several stared at her oddly as if she'd uttered something in a foreign language.
"You sound so pretentious." a girl behind her muttered.
"I was simply trying to explain my comment since you clearly misunderstood before. If my explanation failed to clear up your misunderstanding I apologize, as you pointed out earlier it has been a while since I socialized and I've been a bit preoccupied." this statement seemed to confuse her and she didn't respond with anything more than a rude look.
"So... would you mind if I tried to claim your heart at the ball later tonight? I've been told I'm quite the dancer." this boy was an idiot, didn't he hear a word she'd said? Well, an idiot husband would be better than a controlling one. And she needn't give him love or loyalty in a marriage of convenience.