Fruit of the Golden Vine (19 page)

When Adelina had been six, her writing tutor had been replaced without warning. Disliking the way the new tutor scolded her over her letters, Adelina had interrogated her parents at length over the exchange. They’d told her that tutor had gone to live in another town. Her father had been persuasive, but something about her mother’s rigidity, the inflection of her voice, the evasiveness in her eyes, had spoken the falsehood as clearly as if she’d admitted it. And, indeed, on pressuring Mother further, she’d learned that the tutor had fled town with an admirer.

That had always been Adelina’s foremost skill—the ability to see through deception.
God has seen fit to give us all talents,
Mother had said,
and in you he has planted a seed of shrewdness…
Surely her mother’s suspicions were baseless…but no, of course they weren’t baseless. Rafael and Silvana could in truth be anyone. A seal was no proof of wealth, no guarantee that he wasn’t some opportunistic beggar lord. Adelina couldn’t let infatuation cloud her judgment. She knew little about Silvana and less still about her brother.

She guided her horse closer to Silvana, who at long last looked up. The intricacies of her eyes were, as usual, obscured by her thick lashes. The effect had before been sultry, but now it hinted at some guarded reserve of feeling.

“Tell me,” said Adelina. “How have you supported yourselves these three years? You could hardly have carried an immense bag of gold with you.”

Silvana flicked an insect away from her face. “We also carried jewelry, some gold and silver. By pawning a single diamond ring, we could live in comfort for months.”

“You must have written to your steward asking about the condition of the estate. He could have sent you money, surely, without forcing you to pawn your jewelry.”

“We wrote every now and then. Sending money by messenger is unsafe, however. It isn’t as if the jewelry had special value to us.”

“Do you know that your steward isn’t stealing wealth in your absence? Can you trust him?”

“Of course.” Silvana smiled with a tentativeness Adelina hadn’t seen before. “Ada, you’re certainly full of questions this morning. It’s almost as if you doubt me.”

Adelina lowered her voice. “Silvana, is everything you’ve told me true?”

Silvana glanced at her brother. “Yes. Of course it is.”

“And Ira will be happy wherever she’s going? Safe? She won’t suffer, she’ll want for nothing?”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy.”

“I believe you,” said Adelina. She raised her ring and kissed it while keeping her gaze locked on Silvana’s dark eyes. “You respect women. You cherish and exalt them. You would never rob Irena of her dreams, taking advantage of her the way an unscrupulous man might. And it’s just as well. My sisters are foolish, but I love them. If anyone hurt them, I’d detest that person to the grave.”

Silvana blinked several times before looking away. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that.” Her voice had lost its confident edge, becoming somehow hollow, and Adelina’s stomach knotted. Perhaps Silvana was only dismayed that Adelina mistrusted her. Or perhaps she was lying. For now, there was no way to know, and so Adelina could only follow her heart’s inclination to give Silvana the full measure of her confidence.

“You’ll like where we’re going, I hope,” said Adelina, abandoning her inquisition. “It’s a little path through the woods, and there are many little rivers that intersect it.”

“Do you ever swim in the rivers?”

“Oh, no, we can’t swim. Mother never let us learn how. ‘It’s indecent,’ apparently.” A flash of red darted among the flowers, and Adelina pointed. “Look, there’s a fox in that field!” She raised her voice. “Ira, do you see the fox?”

“A fox?” Irena turned her head, her eyes wide. “Where? Oh! If only Lise were here!”

Their horses walked onwards, and the morning passed into a brilliant noon. The travelers reached the fringes of the wood and dismounted. Rafael and Silvana tethered the horses beneath the shade, looping rope around the trunks of the rough-skinned trees, while Adelina and Irena decorated one another with flowers.

“Is this the path?” said Silvana, gesturing to a beaten dirt track.

“Yes.” Adelina placed a yellow flower behind Irena’s ear. “Let’s walk for a while and then stop to eat.”

The adventurers walked beneath a sparse canopy of overhanging branches, moving through cool shade and dapples of sunlight. Irena hummed as they strolled, her voice beautiful enough to compete with the birds that warbled from the crooked boughs. The deeper the group moved into the enclosing green depths, the more serene Silvana appeared, until she walked like one entranced. Rafael trudged clumsily, kicking aside sticks and leaves, clearly perturbed despite his frequent joking with Irena.

“You seem tranquil,” said Adelina, and she stroked Silvana’s wrist. Silvana looked at Adelina as if from a distance.

“I’ve missed the woods.” Silvana’s shoulders moved as she took a deep breath. “Though I grew up in much deeper woods than these. Quieter too. Here the air is resonant with birdsong, insects, animals crashing through the undergrowth, but in the old woods around my family estate, there was nothing but an uncanny stillness that it seemed profane to break.”

“I’d love to know more about you. About your marking.” Adelina caressed Silvana’s cheek, her fingertips following the silver lines. This time, her hand remained steady. “Your life must have been so different to mine.”

“I’d imagine so.”

Adelina stroked Silvana’s neck. Silvana sighed, and her lips parted in an alluring smile. It was too much to resist. After a furtive glance at Rafael and Irena, who both seemed absorbed in pointing out birds fluttering above them, Adelina pecked the corner of Silvana’s mouth. Silvana laughed, tilted Adelina’s face with her fingertips and brought their lips together in a full kiss. As their mouths parted, Adelina inhaled a giddy breath, and Silvana gave Adelina a cryptic, slanted smile before turning away.

“I can hear a stream,” said Irena, pausing in the trail and lifting her head. “Do you hear it?”

“I do indeed,” said Rafael. “And not a moment too soon. I’m parched beyond words.”

They followed the lulling tune of moving water until they arrived at a low bank overlooking a clear brook, which meandered over glistening rocks, beneath grassy overhangs and through fallen branches. Rafael crouched by the brook and cupped his hand in the water. “It’s beautifully pure. Come, Ira, try some.”

Irena knelt and tasted the water. “It’s wonderful. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.”

Rafael shrugged off his satchel. “Let’s see what we have here.” He took out the paper parcel, undid the string and unfolded the lunch on the grass. “A pot of jam, a pot of honey, bread, some oranges…look, some clever little pastries too…”

Adelina tugged Silvana’s sleeve. “Let’s go eat.” They joined Rafael and Irena on the cool grass. Silvana took an orange and began to peel it, Irena slathered jam on a thick-crusted chunk of bread, Rafael broke the corner off a pastry and Adelina scooped a blob of honey onto her finger.

“Ada, that’s a terrible habit.” Irena frowned. “You’re as bad as Lise.”

“No, I’m worse, because I’m an adult.” Adelina sucked the honey, and her eyelashes fluttered. “It’s so sweet. Silvana, try some.” She reached again for the pot, and Irena slapped her hand away.

“Use some bread, you awful beast!”

“Honey doesn’t taste the same on bread.” Adelina swiped her finger through the honey, grinning at Irena’s outraged expression, and held her glistening fingertip before Silvana’s lips. “Here, try it.”

Rafael developed a new interest in the stream, and Irena turned scarlet. Silvana raised both her eyebrows. “You want me to lick it from your finger?”

“No, I want you to suck it from my finger.” Adelina giggled. “Oh, Irena, don’t pull that face.”

“You’re so shameless,” said Irena. “Using your hands to take honey and then trying to get people to eat it off you. If that’s not sinful, I don’t know what is.”

“How is it any different to kissing people on the hand?” Adelina sucked her finger clean. “Mmm. So good. Ira, give me that apple.”

“You get it yourself, you grubby brute. I can’t believe a crude thing like you could be my sister.”

“Maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m a changeling.” Adelina leaned over the picnic and stared into Irena’s eyes. “Do you know what a changeling is?”

“It’s when elves swap babies, isn’t it? A human baby for an elf baby.”

“A goblin, yes. I’m a little goblin all grown up, and one day I’ll start to grow fangs, and the next I’ll grow fins, and the next my eyes will turn pale and bulbous, and that night I’ll flap across the room and gobble you while you’re sleeping.”

Irena shuddered. “Don’t. You’re scaring me.”

“Chomp!” Adelina gnashed her teeth. “Just like that!”

Irena flinched, and Adelina was unable to keep in a peal of laughter. Rafael cleared his throat. “Really, Ada, you shouldn’t torment your sister.”

“Go suck on a bee.” Adelina stuck out her tongue, and Rafael’s eyes widened. He stared at her, his face quivering and incredulous, before chuckling.

“No wonder Delfina despairs of you,” said Silvana. She took Adelina’s hand, and their coupled rings touched together. “You’re a naughty, unruly child.”

“So take me away and spank me, Mistress Silvana.”

Irena spluttered, and a piece of bread flew from her lips. “Ada!”

“Oh, don’t start.” Adelina rested her head on Silvana’s shoulder. “Ira, today we have the freedom to say whatever comes into our minds, and nobody can scold us. Don’t let our fussy old mother rule you even when she’s not around. Ask Rafael to tell you a lewd joke. Rafael, tell her a lewd joke.”

Rafael flushed. “I really don’t think I should.”

“Aha! So you do know lewd jokes, you just won’t tell them.” Adelina pointed an accusing finger at him. “You’re a smutty baron, admit it!”

“Adelina, don’t call my suitor a smutty baron.” Irena’s slender mouth twisted into a rare scowl. “That’s an awful thing to say.”

“It’s an absurd thing to say.” Rafael chuckled again. “I confess, I have absolutely no idea how to respond to that colorful imputation.”

“Well, we already know Silvana is smutty. You admitted as much to Mother, didn’t you, Silvana? Boasting about your drinking and lovemaking.” Adelina blew an insect off her hand. “So it makes sense that Rafael is just as debauched. How do you feel about a debauched suitor, Irena? Some women would be thrilled to have a debauched suitor.”

“I’m not debauched.” Rafael’s face twitched as if he were trying not to laugh. “Haven’t I been the embodiment of decency since I’ve arrived?”

“You’ve been the embodiment of sycophancy. You and Silvana have wandered for three years living as you please, so don’t play the courteous lord with me, Rafael. You’re a rake and she’s a rakess.”

Consternation seized Rafael’s face, and Irena gave him a curious look. “She does have a point, Rafael. If you were such a good lord, you’d be back with your village, tending to the needs of your people.”

Rafael hesitated before answering. “I care for you, Ira, and want you to know the absolute truth.” Irena blushed. “I haven’t lived a life of chivalric virtue, no. I have my flaws—what man doesn’t? But unlike most men, I admit my flaws, and I believe I’m decent at heart. I certainly hope so.”

Rafael’s tone grew solemn. “Yes, I’ve done my share of flattering and dissembling. And both Silvie and I have eventful pasts. I’m not the spotless man I want your parents to believe I am. But if you’re to love me, you must love all of me, and I can’t disguise myself from you. Whatever else may have been said, this is true, truer than any words I’ve spoken: if we were married, I would respect you and love you, and I would do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“In other words, he’s a smutty ba—” Adelina yelped as Silvana pinched her arm.

Irena’s eyes filled with tears. “I understand. I forgive you, Rafael, anything that you may ever have done. You speak to me unlike any of my prior suitors, as if you see me as a person and not an ornament. They all boasted that they’d protect me and that I would never have to lift a finger. You alone have promised to respect me.”

Rafael smiled. “My older sister has molded me well, thank God.”

“And my little sister has taught me much,” Irena said, “even though she thinks I don’t listen or understand. I want to be a wife and mother, it’s true, but nobody wishes to be a slave.”

“Ira, I’m impressed!” Adelina held the pot of honey before Irena. “Now, while you’re thinking for yourself, eat some honey off your fingers.”

“Oh, go away.” Irena pushed the jar aside. “I don’t need to be chaperoned by you for the moment. Take a walk with Silvana and leave us to talk.”

“But that’s scandalous. Leaving you alone with him after he’s just admitted to being a rapacious fiend?”

“Come on.” Silvana stood, and Adelina dropped the jar of honey as she rose with her. “Give these poor lovers some peace in which to eat their lunch and observe the river, lest they’re tempted to drown you in it.”

“Very well, I concede!” Adelina looped an arm around Silvana’s waist. “We’re off to discuss the secret business of crooked, wayward women. Don’t eat all the food, do you hear?”

Silvana laughed, and the hairs on Adelina’s forearms prickled. Together, they walked the bank of the river until Irena and Rafael’s chatter faded and was replaced by cooing birdsong and the murmuring of the water.

“I suppose you think I’ve behaved like an immodest child,” said Adelina, caressing Silvana’s side. If only she were touching the bare skin beneath.

“You were very entertaining. Still, I was surprised you were so frisky before your sister. She’s going to suspect you’re more than ordinarily enamored with me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about her. She’s my sister. You trust Rafael, don’t you? Well, I trust Ira the same.”

“But you and she seem so different. And several times I’ve noticed you at odds.”

“We’ve endured the same parents and cared for the same little sister. True, she’s susceptible to Mother’s religious thinking, but only because she wants to be good. Mother has kept her from realizing that there are many paths to virtue.”