You Are Mine (Mine #1)(65)

She nods. “Perhaps we should look around the house and see if anything would work. It would be faster than waiting to order it.”

“I didn't think of that. It's a splendid idea.”

“It may help give us a better idea of what he needs if we see what he has currently. Is he in today?”

“No, there's a council meeting.”

“I wonder what they talk about so much.” A faraway look enters her eyes.

“Me, too.” Like, what that tarnished law Councilman Barkley in the park was talking about. What is it all about? Will it affect Katherine?

“In any case, it will give us a chance to look around without bothering him. Father always hated it when mother and I tried to figure out what furniture he needed while he was getting work done.”

Sounds like him. But I don't want to think of him. “Let's go then.”

We cross along the length of the house. It feels strange not taking any stairs to get where we are going. I twist my hands together. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I stare at his door. “Are you sure we should check now?”

She nods vigorously. “You remember the time Father hexed you mute for a week?”

“After I said you'd done it because I said you had to.” The memory is at the back of my mind with all the others I keep pushed back. “I never knew what you were doing for that one.”

“I was going through his study taking inventory of what he'd broken and needed replaced. While working I made the mistake of singing and he came in and caught me at it.”

“That explains the muteness. I never did get the chance to ask. By the time I got my voice back, mother had another baby.”

She plays with her fingernails. “Thanks for always doing that for me. I never told you, but it meant a lot to me.”

“Oh, Cynthia.” Remembering how it made me feel when Katherine wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back, I can't help but try likewise with my sister. At first, she's tense under my embrace, but soon she relaxes into tears. I pat her back. “It's all right, Cynthia.”

“It's not,” she says between sobs. “You were punished so many times for me.”

“And I'd do it many more.”

“I don't deserve you for a sister.”

“You're planning my ball, I'll call that good enough.”

“It's not enough, but I'm trying my best.” She sniffs a few times before pulling away. “We should investigate his room before I end up crying all day and night and he comes home to us blocking his room.”

I grin at her. “I don't think he'd hex us mute because of it.”

She grins back.

A cool breeze rushes past as I open the door and enter. “That was odd.”

“What was?”

“Didn't you feel that cold air?”

“No.”

“Huh. Must have been a breeze or something.” The room is the same shape and size as the one I use. The only difference is a desk shoved in by the window and a razor, soap, and towel scattered across the vanity. And it smells faintly of citrus, just like he does. “Look at this. His furniture is the same as mine.”

She runs her hand across the back of a chair. “We'll need a few chairs. He has a desk in here which I wasn't suspecting. Perhaps we should get two for him. One for the study and one for in here. Two beds as well, I should think. You'll need the extra space when you're wed.”

My cheeks heat. I want to be anywhere but here. “I suppose.” I scramble for the door. “We should go through the house for some furniture.”

We exit, making sure to leave everything as we found it. Starting from Chancellor Zade's side of the house, we work our way through the rooms. The top floor holds nothing useful for Zade, but plenty of space for guests during the ball. If I find any guests I'd rather be near, I'll put them here. Father will be on the ground floor.

On the next floor, we stop when we find a grand suite. An entry with a few chairs and a sofa leads to two private chambers off to the sides, each with their own receiving rooms, wash rooms, water closets, bath-rooms, and bedrooms connected by a door. I've never seen a personal bath-room before.

The rooms are richly dressed with colors, fabrics, and paintings. When we come to a chamber containing dresses, face paint, and a canopy bed, a thin layer of dust covers everything.

“This must have been Chancellor Jacob's wife's.” Though it's bigger than I expected the woman's side to be. I remember the picture I saw of her. “Do you know what her name was?”

“I don't.” She runs her fingers across a book shelf, three rows deep of books, and there are still more on the floor. “Maybe Chancellor Jacob kept some of his books in her room? It's rather strange though.”

“No stranger than Chancellor Zade.”

“That's true.” She bounces on her toes and moves to the vanity. “She has lots of face paint. More than even mother. I didn't know any woman could beat her with that.”

“She didn't have much on in the painting I saw of her downstairs.”

The Woman's Canon lies on the bed stand. Next to it is an unlabeled book and a strange looking pen. No ink pot around. Why would a woman have a pen in her room? We can't use them. But what would it be like if I could?