I rolled my eyes at my brother. He won this battle, but maybe I could win the war.
I opened the door to a very flustered Gella. Her cheeks were flushed with emotion. Anger. Frustration. Embarrassment.
"Oh. Come in Gella. I am sure Benate would not mind some company!" I almost yelled, garnering attention from at least one woman leaving a favor on the bottom stair.
Without turning, I heard Benate groan before a thud resonated behind me. I motioned Gella inside while catching a glimpse on Benate's face cradled in his hands where the bowl once sat on the table.
The bowl was nowhere in sight. I hope he did not throw it far.
Gella stood with uncertainty near the doorway as I opened the curtains. The light made Benate wince almost as if he had too much to drink the night before. I knew he really dreaded the mob that I summoned to his door.
"How can I help you?" I asked Gella, hoping that my conversation with her father just happened to be a coincidence.
Gella moved closer before responding a little above a whisper, "Is Benate alright? I did not think drink could take hold of a man so quickly."
"I am fine, Gella. Thanks for asking. It is not the bottle that ails me. It is the women of this city." Benate moved his hand to reveal his puckered cheek. "That and my brother."
I smiled at that. It was nice to be useful for something.
"Oh. I am sorry. Maybe I should come back another time." Gella began her retreat.
"No!" Benate said almost too forcefully. "I think you are keeping other women at bay. Please tell my brother all that you needed to say and more."
I eyed my brother as he put emphasis on his final words, implying that Gella should stay for as long as she could draw breath.
"If you insist." Gella responded, still uncertain.
"Please join me. Both of you." Benate finally remembered his manners. He stood, motioning for us both to take up other seats around the table.
Gella sat before squaring her shoulders off to me. With a deep inhale, she began her monologue.
"My father," she began before redirecting her words. "That is to say, I have been made aware of my father's conversation that he had with you. It seems he in not so many words implied that I have been throwing myself at you to try and climb the social ladder of society."
She drew breath momentarily giving my brother time to react to such information.
"Your father did what exactly? Surely it was not as bad as all that?" Benate tried to make light of the situation.
"No. That was pretty much the gist of what he said. Except the part where he accused our mother of doing exactly that when she married my father." I said bluntly.
Rarely have I seen Benate too angry for words. But this was one of those times.
"He did not tell me that part. Please forgive my father's extreme rudeness." Gella covered her face in her hands to try and collect herself.
"I hope you might give me a moment of your time to better explain. My parents have some antiquated ideas of how the world works. They have this notion that I should marry my father's next apprentice so that the clock shop would continue in the family in perpetuity.
"I have offered to apprentice so that if I do marry, that man is not tied to my father as a taskmaster. This does not suit either of my parents ideals for my future. You can only imagine how concerning it might be for my father to think he might not only lose the future of his business, but also have to honor a daughter with a title." Gella fidgeted with her fingernails.
"My father also saw Lady Evalyn's grief twice over at the loss of each of her husbands. The wives of Swordman are always at a higher risk of becoming widows. This framework hopefully adds some clarity as to my family, as well as my actions." Gella blushed.
"Your actions? So have you been pursuing my brother for status?" Benate pried.
I could feel my own cheeks flush, even if I did want to know the answer to just such an imprudent question.
"That is not what I meant at all!" Gella scrambled to find her words. "I simply meant that I snapped at Lord Holden after Lord Carrion's failed proposal to Princess Alina."
She said Lord Holden. We were back to square one. My heart sank for more than one reason.
"The romantic in me got it into my head that Lord Carrion's family or possibly Queen Valerie purposefully blocked the engagement of two love birds simply because of rank. I see now that I was simply projecting my own family dynamics on the world." Gella hung her head.
Benate's mischievous eyes schemed. My heart skipped a beat.
"If you have not been pursuing my brother for his title, have you been pursuing him at all? Both of you certainly seem interested in what the other has to say." Benate pushed his luck.
"Benate!" I warned at the same time Gella fumbled over her own words.
"Well, I… I must be going!" Gella offered.
"Hold your horses you two. I was joking." Benate laughed. "Gella, might I ask a favor of you?"
Gella's skepticism looked toward me for reassurance. I had no idea what Benate was going to put her through, but knowing that my brother was an honorable man, I nodded my encouragement.
"You may ask, but I might decline." Gella smartly responded.
"Would you accompany me tomorrow to the final match of the tournament?" Benate asked. Even if the idea had been my own, my stomach knotted for some reason.
Gella looked confused. She straightened her skirt in her lap, thinking about her response.
"The way I see it, your father might think he was all wrong about the time you spent with Holden. It gives everyone some time to breathe from that heinous conversation about status. It also gives me a reason to keep my adoring public at mob safe distance away from me. What do you say?" Benate offered.
"It would be an honor." Gella admitted.