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Tapping a sheaf of papers to the table, “Sirius” watched how the other student council members behaved with the meeting adjourned.
As usual, Lady Sophia was first to go, her hair fluttering behind her and through the doorway like a startled spirit. Nearly her direct opposite, Lady Mary acted the picture of grace as she curtsied and waited for Prince Alan by the door. Her eyes were the only indication of hurt when her fiance stayed at the table for a moment too long, his attention clearly focused on another. He finally roused himself upon the second, delicate clearing of Mary’s throat and joined her, though Alan’s head turned to look behind rather than to the woman whose arm was looped with his.
Nicol would have been the second to leave – no doubt to chase his sister down – but he always forced himself to stop and ask Sirius if there was any other help he could provide. “No, no, you’ve done enough already,” Sirius said, his smile easy. “Enjoy your evening, Nicol.” Even with the reassurance, he lingered until Prince Geordo gave a distracted tilt of his head in dismissal.
The remaining Prince and Lord Keith had stood at meeting’s end but stayed still, their gazes locked similarly to Alan’s. As focused as hunting dogs on the scent of a fox. And who remained to be their prey? Who was it that managed to capture the attention of not only a future Duke but two Princes whose temperaments were well known to be polar opposites?
Miss Maria Campbell stayed in her seat, bowed over the papers before her as she finished the meeting minutes. Her posture was tense, knuckles whitening around her pen the only acknowledgement to Keith taking a step nearer.
“Miss Campbell,” he began, the force of his charm on full display, “won’t you join me for supper? My rooms have a lovely view of town and it’s quite beautiful in the sunset.”
Smiling mask firmly in place, Geordo was next to approach. “I believe you’ll find that Miss Campbell has already agreed to be my companion this evening, Lord Claes. It’s only appropriate to ask for someone's availability earlier in the day, wouldn’t you agree?”
Keith’s beautiful face briefly twisted to a scowl and he glared at Geordo before falling back on his manners. “Is that so? I’d no idea this was the case with you already having plans to dine with my dear sister. Your affections towards her are truly to be admired, Prince Geordo.”
Now it was Geordo’s turn for his mask to momentarily break. Closing his eyes to hide his frustration, his tone was even sweeter as he said, “I thank you for your compliment, Lord Claes. However, Katarina and I have no such plans as I had already arranged my schedule for Miss Campbell. Perhaps you’ve forgotten a promise you’d previously made to another woman by mistake.”
“No, no, I’m certain I heard your beloved fiancé tell her ladies all about the wonderful plans the two of you had for this evening. I believe there was something about a candlelit meal and starlit walk. Truly, I only say such things out of respect to you and as your future brother-in-law.”
“You certainly show your care for me well and I’ll thank you again for it. However, I fear you must have misheard and now I worry for you. Perhaps a visit to a healer to examine your ears would suit you best for this evening? As dear friends, the thought of you even slightly impaired causes me concern.”
“Ah, Prince Geordo, you always treat me with such care. Since we’ve first met, I’ve always known you would be an older brother to me whom I can’t help but admire. I return your thanks with my own and am happy to reassure you of my perfect state of health. Are you certain that you are feeling full well, Your Highness? Spring colds are often known to cause forgetfulness and your health means as much to me as mine to you.”
Sirius watched as the two drew closer to Maria from either side, their words only sharpening their smiles as whetstones to knives. All the while, the woman at the center of their posturing continued to hunch more and more over her writing. The combination of jealousy and anger from the men coupled with Maria’s terror had Sirius feeling near drunk as his dark magic reservoir quickly filled.
“Pardon me, Your Highness, Your Grace,” he interjected, looking apologetic as he diverted their attentions, “but I asked Miss Campbell to assist me with reviewing the notes of last year’s secretary in preparation for the dueling club’s exhibition next month. We’ll be here for at least an hour more and I’d hate to deprive you both of your meals.”
Pure loathing had Sirius nearly laughing and he gleefully watched them try to find a way to contradict him. While both were of higher status with Geordo having the right to be obeyed, in this particular situation he technically held the most sway. Maria’s head snapped up and her expression begged for rescue. It was all so delicious.
“How unfortunate.” Geordo’s gaze showed how each word disgusted him. Keith’s hands balled into fists and he looked very much like he wanted to do Sirius some sort of bodily harm. “It seems we’ve taken up a great deal of your time, President. Please forgive us.”
Gritting his teeth, Keith looked down at Maria as if she might leap from the table to fall into his arms and say of course she’d be leaving with him. When nothing of the sort happened, he gave Sirius a stiff nod. “I apologize for the misunderstanding, President. Excuse us.”
Sirius merely smiled and waved, watching as each step towards the door caused their hostility to grow. Even after they left, he continued to feast off their negative emotions.
In a voice barely louder than a whisper, Maria finally spoke. “Thank you, Lord Dieke.” Her eyes were glassy and she nearly spilled the inkwell with how hard her hands trembled. “Forgive me, I…” A tear raced down her cheek and she quickly covered her mouth.
“There’s nothing to forgive, Miss Campbell,” Sirius said, his tone kind as he offered Maria his handkerchief while politely averting his eyes. “Let me make us some tea and we can talk.”
Handkerchief accepted, he moved towards the room’s sideboard and pulled down a jar of dried leaves and flowers from a cupboard. The only sounds for the next ten minutes was water boiling and the clink of porcelain with Maria’s muffled sniffles acting as punctuation in-between. The tray of tea and the leftover delicacies of the meeting were soon on the table and Sirius poured for them both.
Maria’s gratitude was muffled as she dried her eyes and looked at her teacup without touching it. “Please try just a little,” Sirius suggested with concerned kindness as he scooted the tea closer. “This blend always helps me feel calm after a hard day.” His handkerchief twisted in her hands a moment more before she nodded and took the smallest sip.
The next several moments were spent quietly as they drank and he watched her posture slowly relax. He slid one of the plates closer and gave an encouraging smile when she hesitantly picked up one of the cookies to nibble on.
“Do you feel a bit better?” Sirius asked. At another nod, he continued with, “I’m glad to see that. However, I feel like we should discuss what just happened.” At Maria’s alarmed look and nearly dropping her teacup, Sirius quickly added, “You needn’t tell me anything you don’t wish to. But, Miss Campbell, I do very much want to help you. As president, I’m here to help any who might need it and I wouldn’t forgive myself if a member of my own council felt she couldn’t speak to me.”
With the combination of guilt and a reminder of his authority, he waited as Maria’s mental battle played out across her face. She was an uncomplicated breath of fresh air from all the stale, traditional manners of high society. The fact that she hadn’t been fully eaten alive at this point was a minor miracle.
Finally, in fits and starts, Maria told him of just why she behaved as she did. How her life had been idyllic and full of love until her light magic manifested when she was five years old. The villagers gossip of her being the bastard offspring of a noble and her beautiful mother’s harlot ways caused irreparable damage to her family. Her father left soon after which doubled her mother’s grief and apathy towards her daughter while seemingly confirming the town’s assumptions, causing Maria to be further ostracized. Though she had first believed in her mother’s love for her father, as the years passed and her loneliness grew, she started wondering if the stories hissed at her were true. And, while she didn’t believe her mother had actively sought to place herself in a noble man’s bed, Maria found it easier to blame her for their suffering.
As she spoke, Sirius found something inside of himself waking up: rage. He’d never felt it this strongly before and couldn’t know he was more Raphael in that moment than he’d been in nearly a decade. It was like he was looking in a mirror as he remembered his kind, hardworking mother who had been killed for daring to exist in the orbit of a vile man and was victimized first by him then his equally monstrous wife. The two differences between himself and Maria were firstly that Sarah Walt stayed strong and continued to face the world while making sure her son knew of her love for him, compared to Marianne Campbell who had aided in her daughter’s isolation and despair. Secondly, whichever noble family Maria came from hadn’t discovered her and committed the most forbidden, unforgivable act as Marquess Dieke had.
“It’s why I’m scared of most noble boys now,” Maria confessed and snapped him back to attention. She dabbed the handkerchief at her eyes again but managed to stay composed. “Before I came here, many of the girls and women from the village told me such…such horrible things they might do to me. Even though I tell myself to respond and get away when they come close, I just freeze.”
He breathed with her, both trying to calm themselves down for the same reason though Maria wouldn’t know it. With the silence that followed, Sirius let himself consider all he’d heard and what to do with this information.
A thought occurred to him that he could use this, use her for his plans.
Thoughts like these were very familiar to him. They felt sticky, like honey pooling between the crevices of fingers, and stunk of swamp water and decay. It no longer phased him and they’d long since become his guiding star.
Moving slowly, Sirius laid his hand palm up in-between them as he gazed into Maria’s exhausted face. “It must have been so hard on you,” he said, the regret and compassion real and more believable because of it. “For you to have suffered as long as you have been, I’m so incredibly sorry. I can only thank you for trusting me with your burden.”
He watched with keen eyes as she raised her own hand, fingers curling and uncurling in her uncertainty. Pushing onward, he continued by saying, “Though I haven’t yet inherited my family’s title, please know I will do all I can to protect you. If you are feeling frightened or uncertain, come to me. Even if it’s only to relieve you of your burdens, I will gladly do so for you.”
Sirius saw the moment Maria let go of her doubts. Her affection starved emotions cried out for someone to save her, and who else could she think to trust but the kind, soft spoken student council president? A man who had already dismissed those she feared and protected her despite being outranked by them.
Warm, delicate fingers curled into his own cooler ones and she gave him a wobbly, trusting smile. “Thank you, Lord Dieke.”
“Please call me Sirius,” he said, holding Maria’s hand gently. “We’re to be good friends now, after all.” The shadows in the room grew just a bit darker and she unknowingly held his hand tighter as her own light dimmed in response.
“Together, I’m certain we’ll fulfill our greatest dreams. Isn’t that a lovely thought?”