Chapter 364: Jealous!
Grace-lyn clung to Sienna, refusing to let go. "You don’t mind, do you sister? That my dad came to your home. It was my idea, I swear on the fox god. I was just too impatient to meet you. You are perfect! Strong, beautiful, terrifying and you talk back to the old fogies on the council of elders! Papa says the tribe could not have picked a better matriarch than you."
Sienna tilted her head, bemused. "Terrifying, hm? That’s one way to flatter me."
Chase stepped forward, bowing politely. "Lady Veythar, it’s an honor. I hope my visit has not offended you and Grace-lyn isn’t overwhelming you."
"She’s...like a pup," Sienna said carefully. "It’s not necessarily a bad thing." Today, she had met a young woman close to Grace-lyn in age and that girl had been miles different from this one.
Elias leaned close, whispering with a smirk. "Like a cub, is generous. She’s a hurricane."
Chase slapped his hand on Elias’s shoulder. "Elias, you have learned to smile since I last saw you. No wonder the winter is not as cold as it was last year."
Both men laughed deeply.
Meanwhile, Grace-lyn whispered to Sienna, "Don’t worry, sister. I will teach you how to protect aunt Miller from papa’s charm. He thinks he’s irresistible, but I know all his tricks. If he tries anything silly in future, I will scold him."
Sienna smiled at the young woman. "I will be relying on you then."
"Yes!" Grace-lyn chirped excitedly. "Isn’t it nicer when we are allies?"
Sienna pried herself free, smoothing her sleeves. "Well, since you have volunteered to chaperone, I expect you to keep notes. If anything scandalous happens, I want to be the first to know."
Grace-lyn gasped. delighted. "Yes! I will write a full report and send it to your assistant daily. I will make sure that papa has no other women other than aunt Miller. I will also keep an eye on the maids, one of the younger women that works in the kitchen is a little too ambitious for my liking. Ever since my parents divorced, she has been pulling tricks to cook and serve papa his meals. Wherever he is, she shows up somehow. And I swear, her outfits have become shorter and tighter. She is always slipping when she walks near him."
Sienna raised her brow. "If she was my help, she would be fired by now. Your papa has no reason to keep such a woman around. If it were Elias, he would have had her whipped and thrown out."
Grace-lyn nodded firmly. "Got it. I will see to it that she is fired imemdiately."
Sienna opened her mouth briefly, and closed it. The number of people she had fired today had risen.
Elias and Chase ended their conversation. Chase Twindell smiled at Mrs. Miller and she blushed like a red fruit. Grace-lyn, on seeing the blush, rushed over, bouncing around the couple like a self appointed guardian angel.
"Papa, I must report on all your affairs. I need to know why aunt Miller is blushing." She declared.
Mrs. Miller groaned, covering her face. "Must we share everything?"
Grace-lyn nodded. "Transparency builds trust aunt Miller. And I am now an employee of the office of women and cubs, directly under my sister. Transparency is a must around there."
Elias turned to his wife, eyes wide with shock. "You hired her!"
Sienna blinked a few times, equally confused. "No, all I asked was for her to give me reports on those two. I think she may have misunderstood."
They could have focused on it and clarified what Sienna meant, but her cubs came running out of the house. Ali and Eli leaped into her arms.
She had barely caught them when Numia swept into the courtyard, dressed extravagantly. She had a thick red jacket on and a silk shawl around her neck, trailing behind her like a banner of triumph. Her hair, ears, fingers were all decked out in jewels.
Numia was glowing, not from maternal warmth but the smug satisfaction of having something new ti flaunt. "Sister-in-law," she smiled at Mrs. Miller, calling her a by a title she had never used before. "I heard you have a new man in your life. It seems like you will be saved from a life of loneliness. A noble lord at that...how far you have come."
Before Sienna could retort, her mother beat her to it. "Talking less does not mean that we will forget to notice you, Numia."
Numia smirked. She held up a glossy framed ultrasound picture as if it were a royal decree.
"Doctor says it’s a boy," she announced, her voice dripping with self-importance. She angled the picture towards Sienna, smirking as though Sienna might collapse in envy.
Sienna raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Her aunt was a gold digger who cozied up to nobles, chasing money and titles. There was nothing to envy about her life style. Only pity for the child in her womb that would become another tool for Numia to attempt an elevation in her status. Corven Junior was not longer an option because Elias had signed the boy up to attend a military academy in the East. The boy had begged for the opportunity. From now on, his mother would not be able to control his life. Or ruin it, in Sienna’s opinion.
"What is wrong with her?" Elias asked.
Sienna shrugged. "Pregnancy hormones have clouded her small brain."
Numia moved closer to Sienna, lowering her voice. "Don’t be jealous. Your marriage is in trouble because you have failed to get pregnant. I know everything."
Sienna raised her brows. "Oh! How come I was not aware of this?" She had to grab Elias’s hand quickly to stop him from shoving the woman away.
Mrs. Miller, meanwhile, escorted her boyfriend and his daughter to the gates because she was worried that things would escalate.
"That must be the aunt nobody likes." Chase said with a light snigger, whispering the words to Mrs. Miller, with one hand around her waist, as they walked. "You were right about her nose, it looks like a hook."