It was one of the prized jewels of London.
Aurelia wasn’t sure how she felt about her cousin, to be truthful. She was beautiful – too beautiful and Aurelia didn’t like the attention being taken off of her. She was sweet and obedient, but that’s where the problem was – she was too obedient. There was no nerve in the woman, no bravery. She seemed to cry easily and didn’t seem very happy.
Aurelia suspected that Gavriella had been sent here for a reason.
But what reason?
Her mother wouldn’t tell her, nor would Gavriella. But it just seemed strange that the woman would show up one day like a beaten dog. Something about her seemed… crushed. Defeated. She seemed too meek and quiet for Aurelia’s taste, but rather than be understanding of that trait, Aurelia had turned into a bully.
Everyone at The Asher did as she wished. Gavriella would be no different.
There would be consequences if she were.
“You will not tell my mother because if you do, I’ll tell my mother than you have been stealing and lying and demand she send you home,” Aurelia fired back. “You will listen to me, you little country mouse, and you will listen well. You are going to do as I say or there will be trouble. Why did you even come here, anyway? We have not seen you for ten years and, suddenly, you show up unannounced? Why? Why did you even come?”
Gavriella didn’t back down, but she also wasn’t going to answer her bossy cousin’s questions. She’d never had much of an opinion of Aurelia because she’d never spent an inordinate amount of time around her, but the past week had seen that changed.
She wasn’t sure she liked her cousin.
“Please, Gavy,” Camilla pleaded softly. “We’re going to a place that is full of fun and music. Don’t you want to come?”
Fun and music.
Gavriella wasn’t sure such things existed anymore. Did they? Ever since her life changed last year, things like joy and laughter didn’t exist in her world anymore.
Was it possible that people here still laughed and enjoyed themselves?
Camilla seemed to think so.
So did Aurelia.
“Fun and music?” she repeated. “Are we going to a feast, then?”
“In a way,” Aurelia said. She’d spent enough time discussing the point with her killjoy cousin. “Come with us or don’t come with us; ’tis all the same to me. But if you don’t come, you’ll not say a word to my mother or I’ll have her send you back where you came from.”
It was a threat, pure and simple. Gavriella eyed her cousin as Camilla pulled the shift over her head. Whether or not the threat was real, returning home at the moment wasn’t an option.
She was relegated to London until her father sent for her.
“Come on,” Camilla said, pushing her to move. “Hurry and dress. We’re going to have such fun!”
At that point, Gavriella didn’t have much choice. She had already implied that she would comply simply by getting out of bed, and she honestly wasn’t strong enough to fend Camilla off. Therefore, she stood there while Camilla dressed her in the beautiful red silk with the pearls. Gavriella didn’t own anything quite so fine and, in truth, she was a little intrigued by the soft and lovely garment, and the way it emphasized her full breasts.
Breasts that so recently had been engorged with milk for a baby they no longer needed to feed.
In fact, her entire body was a curvier version of the slender woman she used to be before … before the event that changed her life forever.
It was something she would take to her grave, something so horrific that it wasn’t anything she could ever repeat, and especially not to her cousins. Aurelia had asked her why she had visited unannounced, or in her words, simply showed up. Gavriella couldn’t tell her the truth.
The truth was too horrible to even speak of.
She’d been sent to London because her father couldn’t bear to look at her anymore. That was the truth of it. Merek de Leia knew that sending his daughter to his sister in London would get her out of his sight, but it was only a temporary measure until something more permanent could be arranged.
And that is why Gavriella was here.
She hated every minute of it.
Now, her bossy and disobedient cousin wanted them to go gallivanting around in the middle of the night. Gavriella wanted to get back into bed, but that wasn’t going to happen. Therefore, she stood still as Camilla dressed her in the beautiful gown that was just a little too snug. Her full breasts popped up over the top and then some. As Gavriella tried to minimize that pop, Camilla pinned back the front of her hair and then braided it with red ribbons woven into the braids. The gown came with a matching cap, sewn with tiny seed pearls, and Camilla pinned that on the top of her head.
As Aurelia sat at a small dressing table and primped before a polished bronze mirror, Camilla took great delight in primping her country cousin. She, too, had noticed how beautiful Gavriella was with her long, blonde hair and gray eyes shaped like a cat’s eyes, but unlike her sister, Camilla wasn’t threatened by it. She knew that was why her sister was being so mean to their cousin.
It was pure jealousy.
Timid Gavriella had only been there a week and Camilla was fairly certain her sister’s nastiness was only going to get worse, especially when the young men started taking notice of Gavriella more than Aurelia.
“There,” Camilla said, satisfied. “The red color is beautiful on you, Gavy. You look very beautiful.”
Aurelia, hearing her sister’s praise for their cousin, glanced over her shoulder and saw the magnificent woman. But she downplayed it. “She’ll do,” she said. “Come on, now. We must hurry. If it becomes too crowded, they’ll close the doors and will not let us in.”
Camilla put a black cloak on Gavriella’s shoulders as she grabbed her own blue cloak with white rabbit lining. Aurelia was already moving into the adjoining chamber, gathering her things, including her coin purse. Slinging her cloak over her shoulders to cover up a gown the color of emeralds, she faced her sister and cousin.
“Now,” she said softly. “We must be very quiet. Follow me and do not speak. Is that clear?”
Both Camilla and Gavriella nodded. Satisfied that they were going to do as they were told, Aurelia slipped out.
The Asher was something of a labyrinth. It was built just like any other manor house in London, with a central courtyard in the middle of the house. There were four levels to it and a myriad of staircases, making it a large and complex structure.
Aurelia led her sister and cousin down a darkened corridor. She came to a halt at one point, putting her hand on what looked like a wooden panel, but when she pushed the panel, it swung open to reveal a narrow staircase. The women traveled down the staircase in the dark, trying not to fall in the darkness, as they made their way to the level below, which happened to be a servant’s pantry.
The pantry was connected to the scullery which was connected to an inner hall with a fortified exterior door. The door led out into a side yard, which was used for tradesmen when they came to do business with the manor. Because of this, there was a postern gate lodged into the massive wall that surrounded The Asher. The postern gate was guarded by a pair of soldiers, but Aurelia was prepared. She slipped the soldiers each a coin, ensuring their silence and cooperation, and they opened the gate for her.