82

Arawn

“You cannot hide forever.”

I tsk as Elinor storms into one of the separate sitting rooms of the venue, catching me sipping an expensive brandy. “Watch me!”

“Ah, Mr. Rodberg!” She scolds me as she scurries through the room, ripping open the curtains to open a window. “You shouldn’t act so childishly and disappear from your own party. It doesn’t behoove a man of your status.”

Scoffing, I spread my arms theatrically. “And you shouldn’t go around disrupting conversations. And yet here we are.”

The feeble light of the lanterns outside streams into the room, pulling it out of its darkness.

“Man of my status,” I add in a murmur, taking another sip.

“Yeah, yeah.” She says, moving to clear the table in front of me, putting my brandy away under my protest. “You can go on acting like a spoilt, sulking child, but someone had to do something. You will end up losing her to that sunny boy. Do you know what he works with?”

I groan as she stops to stand before me, lifting her finger, reprimandin