Veracity (The Seven Cities Book 1)

by Lindsey Stell

  At least it all makes sense now. Alana hates me because she believes I took the life she was supposed to have. By returning, I had cast her down to a servant when she would have been so much more. In her eyes, I was her downfall; and now the rock in her shoe, a constant reminder of what she would never have. How cruel Amber was to bring her here. She knew Alana wouldn't be able to control her actions around me. She knew she would cause trouble out of spite. Amber had no issues breaking her own cousin's fragile heart further, as long as it meant I would be unhappy. Was Amber's jealousy of me really that strong?

  I tighten my grip on Travis, suddenly needing his support. He shoots me a concerned look but I smile, and he grins back, glowing with the attention we are receiving. We reach the others and the General swoops me up off my feet and spins me around in the air before setting me down again.

  "My girl you are a sight to behold!" he bellows. "My son couldn't have done any better, heck if the timing had been different, I would have snatched you up for myself."

  I grab for Travis, unsteady from the unexpected assault. He runs a soft hand over my hair laying down the wayward strands.

  "Father," Travis says. "I see you have been drinking already this evening."

  "It's a party isn't it? What's so wrong with telling my beautiful daughter-in-law how lovely she is?"

  "Nothing at all father," Travis sighs, "But maybe your own pretty wife could do with a little attention?"

  "Oh, mufflefluff. . . that grumpy woman puts me in a bad mood."

  "Mufflefluff?" Travis says looking concerned. "Father I think we need to get some food in you, Kat if you would excuse me for a moment?"

  "Of course," I say embarrassed.

  I feel like I am on fire from the stares I continue to get from Grayson, Amber, and Alana. As Travis drags his father out of the ballroom and into the dining area, I look around the now hostile environment for a way to escape. I doubt it could get any worse at this point, so without a word, I spin on my heels and hurry across the room, ducking through the door leading to the library. I am more concerned with getting out of there, than what anyone might think of me. True to form, Katherine the brave is the first to run in a delicate situation.

  So much for my exciting night! I can't even enjoy a ball around here. Everyone in this family is completely nuts. I hope it doesn't take Travis long to deal with his father and can find me when he does. I am not venturing back out there without him.

  I curl up in a window seat, my skirt and petticoats tucked under me the best I can manage, and bury my face in a book. In just a few minutes of reading, I am completely enthralled by the story. I can't help but find the main character, a Queen named Elizabeth, absolutely fascinating. Standing before her entire country, she had the courage to swear to her court never to marry. How bold and outrageous something like that would be today. There was a woman with that much power? I don't even get to decide what I eat for breakfast, much less who I am going to spend my life with. I devour page after page as the party goes on in the next room. I ignore it all until a voice makes me jump out of my skin.

  "I have been standing here a good five minutes without you noticing," Grayson says.

  "I didn't mean to ignore you. I was waiting for Travis and got caught up in this book. It's fascinating."

  "You remind me of Beauty."

  "I remind you of what?" I ask blushing.

  "Not what, who. Beauty is a woman in a fairy tale. She was by far the most beautiful woman who lived in her village."

  "I don't see the connection."

  "Should I finish the story or start trying to convince you how lovely you are?"

  "Finish the story please. If I blush any harder I may just pass out."

  "It is an adorable habit, but I would rather you stayed conscious, of course."

  "I appreciate that."

  "Beauty loved books," he says pulling up a chair next to the window seat. "She craved them, with a passion she reserved only for the pursuit of knowledge. She let the conquest of learning take over her entire life and left no room for anything else. Men from all over the country would try to win her love, but she turned them all down."

  "And this reminds you of me?" I laugh.

  "A beauty in a library is what I see before me. That is what reminded me of the story."

  I feel the heat in my cheeks again. What is wrong with me?

  "Be careful," he teases, "I would hate to have to carry you back to your room."

  "Oh don't be silly. Tell your story."

  "One day," he says, "Beauty heard of a grand library, the largest one for a thousand miles. She was obsessed with finding it, almost driven mad by the thought of it. Everyone warned her not to go but she wouldn't listen. Determined to find it, and absorb all the knowledge it held, she traveled through a dark and dangerous forest until she found a castle. She snuck inside and wandered the halls for hours until she finally found the library."

  "Was she happy then?"

  "For a few moments, but then she heard a great growling from behind one of the shelves, and a giant beast stepped out from behind them. He walked toward her, his teeth bared and dripping, his claws scratching against the bookcases. She begged him to let her go, but he snatched her by the arm and dragged her away. He took her down into the deepest parts of the castle and left her there. She spent the rest of her life slowly rotting away in the dark without so much as a few words to sate her famished mind."

  "That's an awful story!"

  "It's just a fairy tale." he grins. "It's designed to scare children away from the lure of knowledge."

  "I thought knowledge was a good thing?"

  "In small doses it is, but if you are not careful, knowledge can change your life, and even end it. Knowledge can be a dangerous pursuit."

  Travis walks in, flopping down on the window seat next to me, looking like he has been put through the wringer.

  "Have you ever seen father so drunk?" he asks Grayson.

  "Not since Mother died."

  "What could have gotten into him?"

  "Honestly I think it is the combined forces of Amber and Alana," Grayson says. "They have been working together all night to drive him crazy. I had grand plans of becoming smashingly drunk myself, but with father so out of it, I figured sobriety might be the better choice."

  "What's Amber's problem?" Travis asks.

  "She feels Alana shouldn't be delegated to being a servant, but you know father and his beliefs of class separation."

  "Why did he pick Amber in the first place?" I ask.

  "She was graduating that year and pretty," Travis says. "My father knew he would never love again so his standards were not too high. If it hadn't been law he wouldn't have remarried at all."

  "She wasn't so difficult at first either," Grayson adds. "She wasn't charming but she was polite and not nearly as ambitious."

  "I have been having a little trouble with Alana myself," I say. "Nothing I can't handle but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that family."

  "I couldn't believe when father said she could join your staff," Grayson says. "I think he was just trying to get Amber to leave him alone and knew better than to room them together."

  "I think part of the problem may be that Amber was looking to secure Alana a marriage with Travis." I say. "It took me a while to put it all together but I'm convinced that was her plan when I was taken."

  "I've noticed the way she looks at him," Grayson says, grinning.

  "Amber is very cruel if she truly led Alana on that way," Travis says. "She should have known better. Marriage was not in the cards for me. If you didn't return of course," he tells me.

  "I am surprised she didn't try to fix her up with you, Grayson," I say. "You would have been a more available target, don't you think?"

  "I was engaged at the time," Grayson says darkly. "It fell through soon after, but Amber knew I had no intentions of trying it again."

  "Surely you want to be married!" I say. "You let one failed love ruin you for all o
thers? Just wait and see, there will be a day that your heart is moved in a different direction."

  "I'm afraid not," Grayson says walking out. "I have indeed been ruined for anyone but her. I die as her husband or I die alone."

  I look at Travis, stunned after Grayson leaves. He just shrugs his shoulders and mutters something about young love and melodrama. I feel a terrible longing for Grayson then, seeing the pain in his eyes as he talks about his lost love. And here I thought he might be pining for me. Maybe I reminded him of her?

  "Do you think he will be okay?"

  "I am sure, one of these days," he says. "A first love can be powerful, but broken hearts heal and people move on. Besides, he has always had a flare for the dramatic. Completely obsessed with something one day, and then something different the next. It will take some time, but I know he will be fine."

  "I hope so . . ."

  "Hey!" Travis cries, jumping up and pulling me into his arms. "Let's not let Grayson's foul mood or my father's drunken stupor bring us down. There's music and dancing in the next room and fireworks soon. Let's go celebrate the Cleanse and let the past stay in the past."

  18 – Fools

  GRAYSON

  With the drapes pulled tight and the fire put out, my father's room looks like a cave, dark and cavernous. I feel my way through the murky room, cursing as I trip over his discarded boots and gear. Reaching the windows, I draw back a curtain to let in a small ray of light, which of course, he reacts to as if it were burning him.

  "Father, wake up, I need to speak with you."

  "Damn it son, can't you see that I'm unwell?"

  "I think you mean hung-over."

  "Tact is a virtue boy."

  I sit next to him on his bed. In an attempt to be dramatic, he pulls the covers higher against his chest, trying his best to look frail and weak. I shake my head and he huffs, throwing back the covers to sit up.

  "I suppose there won't be any peace until you have your say, although I would bet credits I know what it is."

  "You and Lucas are wrong."

  "That's what I thought you were going to say. Of course the girl's brother is wrong. He should have carried on with his father's wishes. Jonathan wanted to see her wed to you. He didn't want the life of a General's wife for his daughter."

  "So we can end this?"

  "No. We can't."

  "But you just said . . . "

  "I said I agreed with you that Lucas is wrong. I didn't say I would challenge him on it. I have sent letters explaining what I think, but he is ambitious. His mind is made up on this. She will wed a future General and no one else."

  "This is insane. What if her memory returns one day? What if she remembers her love for me? What will you do then?"

  "It doesn't matter what she remembers in the future. Once those papers are signed, she is married to Travis for life whether she likes it or not. I need this marriage to happen son."

  "Then I will have to make her remember before the wedding."

  "She won't. And you trying will only get you in trouble. Heed my warning, no good can come of this."

  "Do you think either of you can really hurt me at this point? What threat could you possibly make? What more could you do to me?"

  "I am not trying to hurt you."

  "Well you are. Please, there must be something else you can try to change her brother's mind."

  "Take her with you to Axiom," he says dismissively. "Your soldiers need wives and now is as good a time as any. Take her with you to pick them out, Travis and Laura too. He never specifically said not to bring her, but be warned that this could come back and bite you son. Lucas doesn't want the girl there, and who knows what will happen once you take her home? Best-case scenario is that she regains her memory. Worst-case scenario is that he keeps the girl and invades our city. Either way it's on you, I'm going back to bed."

  KATHERINE

  One thing I have learned since waking up in the tent with Jack is that mornings are not my friend. This alarming trend of waking up to surprising situations is enough to cause some serious sleeping disorders. It seems that every time I fall asleep, I have to wonder who is going to be staring at me when I wake up.

  This, unfortunately, is one of those mornings. A smack on the cheek, and the decrepit face of an angry old woman are what I wake up to today. My eyes fly open at the sharp sting and I sit up so fast I bang foreheads with none other than the General's mother.

  "Watch yourself, you damn fool of a girl!" she yells at me rubbing her head.

  I am half surprised her antique skull didn't cave in.

  "I'm sorry!" I cry. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

  "My idiot son tells me he is letting you go to Axiom with my grandchildren."

  "And you don't want me to."

  "Of course not. My son and I have worked too hard and given up too much to secure this alliance and if your brother says you should stay here, you should stay here."

  "I have to go. I can't pass up the opportunity to see where I come from, to meet my family. Surely my brother will understand. You said we were close; I know that he will want to see me even if he is afraid for me to remember."

  "You need to rethink who you classify as your family. You will visit him once a year, if that. You will share a home with me for the rest of my life."

  "Threaten me all you want, but I'm going," I say, pretending I have some moxie.

  She narrows her eyes at me and I can feel a long, cold shiver work its way up my spine. She is one terrifying old bat.

  "As long as you realize what you are risking, and are prepared to be accountable should the worst happen," she says.

  "I would risk it all for just five minutes worth of memories. To be able to see my father's face, to hear my mother's voice. If I have to watch them die a hundred times to remember seeing them for only a moment, I will do it without hesitation."

  The old woman stares at me with a blank expression. She continues staring at me without blinking for several minutes, and I stare back, unsure what else to do. I decide she is either lost in thought, or she's dead. I jump a little when she finally blinks. She shakes her head as if she has made a decision based on elimination, casting off ideas until there was only one option remaining.

  "Do what you will; I have better things to do than argue with a muddle headed child. You will see the true risk you are taking when the time comes."

  "Yes, I imagine you do have a busy day ahead of you. If you start now, you may be able to hobble to the dining room by dinner."

  "Ha!" she cackles. "I like you. You are an idiot, but I like you."

  The old woman grabs her cane and creeps out of the suite. Maggie bursts in as soon as the door shuts so I know she has been listening by the door the whole time.

  "I can't believe you said such a thing to the General's mother!" she cries.

  "She started it," I say grinning as I head to the bathroom door.

  "How can you laugh at a time like this? That woman is no one to mess with."

  "I'm going to Axiom Maggie!! How could I not be happy?"

  "Run along and have your bath, I'll start packing your things. Tell Sadie to do the same, wouldn't be proper for you to leave the city without a maid. Heaven knows she has more interest in going home than I do."

  Sadie screams with joy for a solid minute and a half when I tell her we are leaving in two days.

  "It's not fair," Alana says, filling up the tub. "I am sick and tired of sitting in this suite, my only purpose in life is cleaning out your bathroom and washing your hair. I should be the one to go to Axiom with you."

  "Not a chance," Sadie says. "I am her official companion and I have family there. You will stay here and help Maggie manage the suite. You are supposed to be learning to take over for her."

  "Ugh!" Alana cries in frustration as she bangs a bottle of oil against the counter. "This is not the life I was supposed to have. I am not meant to be a servant!"

  "You are welcome to leave," Sadie argues. "I am s
ure they have room in the nursery and they are always looking to fill spots down in the "recreation" rooms. You are here by your own choice. No one made you take this job."

  "Look Alana," I say. "I know Amber made you a lot of promises, and I am pretty sure they included Travis. That was cruel of her. Such an arrangement was never going to happen. I didn't steal your life because it was never yours."

  "You don't know anything!" she yells. "Amber said it was as good as done, just a matter of signing papers. She wouldn't lie to me. You know nothing about it. You know nothing about anything! You are kept in this cage because you aren't allowed to know anything. You are just an empty headed girl with a pretty face, set to marry another pretty face and have useless, pretty faced children."

  "Alana, listen . . . "

  "No, you listen!" she rages. "This life has been wasted on you. You have no drive, no ambition. You don't even question when they plan your life out for you. You are perfectly happy to let them push you around. Not me, I would have been great. I would have been worthy of this position. Now I'm trapped here watching you waste the life I was supposed to have!" she yells.

  "Alana," I say softly. "I want you to stay here with Maggie while I am gone, but when I return I am going to have to find another place for you. I won't say anything until we return so you will have some time to decide what you want to do, but you can't stay here anymore. I'm sorry."

  Alana huffs and storms out, leaving Sadie to help me prepare for the day. Something deep down in my gut is telling me that I have made a mistake, but I push it aside. I have too many wonderful things to think about to let her bring me down. She will have time to cool off while we are away, and I am confident that I will be able to find her a suitable place where she will be happy.

  "I never realized how easily I accepted my life here," I say.

  "Why wouldn't you?"

  "I don't know. Shouldn't I have something to say when a stranger tells me I am engaged to his son? Shouldn't I have at least asked questions?"

  "Of course not. You were raised in this life. You may not remember it, but deep down you know how things are done here. No one questions the General. It just isn't done. Gracefully accepting your future was exactly the right thing to do."