“My mother.”
My mouth dropped open as Iannis ripped open the envelope. “Your mother?”
“Ennartha ar’Sannin,” he said, unfolding the letter. “I haven’t heard from her in over half a century. Fifty-three years, to be precise.”
“She sounds like a doting mother,” I said dryly, righting my chair and sitting down again. “Why is she contacting you now?”
Iannis read the letter silently, his expression growing more and more ominous with each passing second. His brows contracted, and his lips pressed tightly together. “What is it?” I asked, seriously worried now. Not many people could affect Iannis’s cool like that.
“My mother has heard about our upcoming wedding. She is scolding me for not consulting her about such an important decision,” Iannis said flatly. “She also says that while she does not personally object to our match, and my Aunt Deryna actually seems to be looking forward to it, my grandmother is furious that she did not receive an invitation.”
I frowned. “An invitation? But I thought you sent one to your family?” And was that his evil Tua grandmother? If so, I certainly would not have invited her or dreamed that she would consider attending. From what Iannis had told me, his grandfather had been kidnapped and bespelled by a Tua against his will, then sent back with his infant daughter when his kidnapper lost interest in them. Really, where did she get the nerve to consider herself part of the family, after that?
“There are not many family members left in Manuc.” Iannis sighed. “My father died three centuries ago—I wish he were still alive, he’d have loved you. I did send an invitation, of course, but it was a single invitation sent to my aunt’s home, since Deryna is the only relative who maintains a permanent residence anymore. I asked her to pass it along to any others interested in attending—there are some cousins, but I don’t even know if they are still alive.”
“That sounds reasonable to me.” The invitations had gone out a good six months ago—surely they could have responded by this point.
“One would think so, but my grandmother appears to be offended that I did not send an invitation specifically addressed to her. As if I could possibly have one delivered to the Tua realm!” Iannis sounded exasperated. “She demands that we come to meet her in Manuc immediately and halt all preparations for the wedding until she has given her verdict. My mother strongly advises me to comply with this edict, but then, she never could stand up to my grandmother.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked, incredulous. “I thought the Tua kicked you out when your mother brought you to visit that one time, as a young child. How does your grandmother expect you to consult her when she lives in a different dimension? Have you ever even seen her?”
“I did meet my grandmother on several occasions,” Iannis admitted, picking up a scone. “None of which ended cordially or endeared us to each other. In fact, she is the reason I left Manuc in the first place. I attempted to make a political career there in my younger years, but my grandmother ruined that for me. She demanded that I free a convicted criminal whom she favored for some reason, and when I refused, she destroyed the entire prison and took the fellow away. That was four hundred years ago, and she’s yet to forgive me for not jumping to do her bidding.”
“And she wonders why she didn’t receive a wedding invitation,” I said with a snort. “She sounds like a real piece of work.”
“Yes, as vindictive and capricious as they come,” Iannis said. “But even if we wanted to obey this summons—which I certainly do not—it is impossible for us to drop everything and go to Manuc on such short notice, especially with the added responsibility of hosting the entire Convention. I’ll write back immediately and send my politest regrets, as well as a promise to visit at some point after the wedding.”
“Are you sure that’s going to be enough?” I asked dubiously. “If your grandmother is a Tua, and she’s as capricious as you say, she might just decide to crash our wedding.”
Iannis shook his head. “Hardly. My grandmother despises Recca and its inhabitants. She considers us uncouth and beneath her notice—Manuc is the only area she’s been able to tolerate even for short visits. She won’t care to set foot in the Northia Federation, no matter how angry she is at me. That would be too much of an inconvenience.”
“Well that’s a relief.” I wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting this evil old bat.
“We can always visit Manuc in a century or two,” Iannis suggested, “which is not that long in Tua eyes. By then her dudgeon may have subsided, or she’ll be off-world again, and we’ll have, most unfortunately, missed her.”
“One can hope.” Even if we did have to meet her, by then we’d have a baby in tow. From what I’d always seen, cute little babies were remarkably good at defusing family grudges.
A knock came at the door, and my cousin Rylan strolled in. “Sorry to disturb your morning,” he said, dropping into the chair next to me as I stared at him in surprise. “I ran away from home and have no one to turn to.” He gave me a lopsided grin.
I scoffed. “Nice to see you too,” I said, ruffling his hair. “How’d you get up here?”
“Are you kidding? I know all the guards on a first-name basis thanks to my stint as your bodyguard.” Rylan plucked a grape from the bowl on the table and popped it into his mouth. “You got any more food around here?”
Iannis raised his eyebrows. “I’ll leave you two to catch up,” he said, rising from the table. “Come find me when you’re done, will you?” He leaned down to give me a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be in my office.”
“Love you,” I said as he left. Once the door was closed, I handed Rylan the grape bowl. “You got tired of living with Aunt Mafiela?” I asked. “I’m not exactly surprised.”
“I was this close to ripping every single hair out of her blonde head,” Rylan grumbled as he plucked another grape from the bowl. “I’d forgotten just how bossy Mother can be. It is impossible to please her and keep my self-respect at the same time. I’ve saved up enough money—it’s time for me to find my own place and make my own way in the world again. Where was that apartment complex that you used to rent from in Maintown? Your place was pretty nice.”
I shrugged. “The building caught fire last time I was there, and after the quake, I’ve got no clue if it still exists. You can stay here for a few days, but you’ll have to find something else soon because we’re about to get a whole influx of guests.”
“For the wedding, right?” Rylan shook his head. “I still can’t believe that’s coming up so fast.”