The contract
Anastasia knew the Marsters' house well, so without any hesitation, she headed first to the inner courtyard and then through the arch into a small garden in the backyard.
In six years, much has changed here. Previously, the house was filled with people, servants, apprentices of Lord Marsters and guests from different castles interested in the projects of the head of the family.
Apparently, Olivia was still selflessly caring for the garden, as the flowerbeds and trees looked neat, but the overall atmosphere was very different.
Too quiet. This place seemed like it fell asleep with the departure of Cali and Konrad. The enormous two-story building on the right, the workshop of Mr. Lester, was also empty, although earlier even at night there was a light there.
Without thinking, Anastasia went to a white wooden gazebo at the very edge of a silt-covered lake. In the past, this was their favorite place. The hexagonal pergola, looking like a beautiful jewel box and was just big enough for two of them to hide from prying eyes and, moreover, gave the opportunity to observe what is happening around the workshop and the garden. A narrow bridge led to the gazebo, white paint on it deteriorated and even peeled off in some places, and the boards creaked under their feet.
As soon as two girlfriends settled on benches opposite each other in the gazebo, Lord Trevelyan appeared at the bridge on the other side. He hesitated on the spot, looking around and apparently trying to figure out what to do next. He probably wanted to follow the girls, except that the gazebo was so small that the three of them would barely fit.
In any case, one of the girls would have to sit stuck side to side with him, and that was absolutely unacceptable for an unmarried lady.
Anastasia giggled, watching Devon's lost face, that was what she was counting on. Finally, the man walked away from the bridge to the nearest tree and, with his arms crossed over his chest, leaned on a massive trunk. He looked very irritated and a bit miserable. Сali, seeing how uncomfortable this situation was for him, wanted to suggest her friend choose another place to talk, but Anastasia stopped her.
"Don't even think about it. He sees us perfectly from there. And listening to our conversations is not necessary." - Stacy said in a half-whisper, leaning closer to Cali.
The Countess nodded uncertainly, struggling with herself, so as not to turn and have a pick again at the man by the tree.
"Listen," - Anastasia continued, taking Cali away from thoughts about Devon. - "I know you're in a difficult spot right now. Brother told me everything. But I want you to know that I have always been and remain on your side. Even if you don't trust me yet, I'm ready to prove that you can rely on me." - The girl said with enthusiasm, tightly clutching Cali's hands in hers. Calisto looked at the girl's determined face with surprise.
"Stacy, you shouldn't behave that way," - Cali finally spoke with a sigh. - "Do not make decisions without knowing the whole truth. You may be on the wrong side. How do you know that we are not guilty of anything? Why did you decide that we are sinless?" - She decided to be direct, intently peering into Anastasia's eyes. Yes, for a few seconds she enjoyed a blissful carelessness in Anastasia company, but sudden turmoil caused by Lord's Trevelian behavior cooled her down, making Cali think again about her plan to keep Stacy on a distance.
The girl stiffened, hearing those quite words but to Cali's surprise didn't look away, only frowned. Apparently, stubbornness was another family's treat that Stacy shared with her brother.
"If you want to convince me, then tell me specifically. What is your fault? What did you do wrong? If you're going to scare me away, you have to dump all your sins out." - She stated in a voice full of determination, squeezing Cali's hands even tightly in her own as if trying to show that she would not let go so easily.
Cali, seeing this, shook her head. The behavior of a friend pushed her to a dead end. For too long, she has not played these word games. Disputes and arguments have ceased to be her forte. The only thing that occurred to Cali was, to be frank, and hit where it hurts the most.
"What about Konrad? Are you also ready to take him back, no questions asked?" - Struck Cali at the weak spot. Stacy immediately flinched. Her hands visibly shuddered, and Calisto already thought that the girl would finally let go, but after a loud sigh, Anastasia clung to her with a new force.
"Cali, you know that between him and me even back then everything was complicated. I have never hated him, but who we are to each other now is an entirely different question. I'm not asking you right now about hot glances that you are throwing at Devon, right?" - She added, spreading her lips in a sly smile and watching with pleasure as the face of her friend from the doll-like came to life for a moment, painted with a slight blush on her cheeks and small sparks in the corners of her eyes.
Restraining her grin, Anastasia added.
"Cali, let's make a deal."
"Which one?"
"Let's agree that every day we will be able to ask each other one absolutely any question to which the second must answer the pure truth."
Cali frowned as she thought of the new-found girlfriend's proposal. And Stacy hurried to add.
"Do not forget that my brother is Head of Reds and Devon's best friend, The Lord of Blacks. I'm ready to be your spy." - The girl proclaimed, winking playfully. Cali immediately wanted to argue that she didn't need any such information.
But the feeling of someone else's eyes and the emotions that it kept igniting inside of her made her think otherwise. She needed, no, she wanted to know!
"And you, you and Devon ..." - She blurred out unintentionally.
"Aaaaa!" - With a grin, Stacy shook her finger.- "I will answer your question only when you agree to the contract."
An expression of displeasure flashed across Cali's face just for a moment, but it was immediately replaced by an impassive mask as if it was just a mirage. Anastasia was almost ready to admit defeat when Cali finally nodded.
"Good. You can ask what you want, but don't blame me if you don't like my answer." - Calisto said seriously and tried to remove the hands that were still held captive by the girl. But Stacy did not give in.
"I know Devon for a very long time," - began Anastasia, distracting Cali from attempts to withdraw. - "They are friends with Blaize since childhood. Devon and I rarely met in our youth. Only when he returned and took the post of head of the Black Castle, he began to visit us very often. For me, he is something like a second older brother, with his own oddities of course."
Thousands of questions started spinning in Cali's head. Returned from where? Why did he become Black Lord? What oddities? But catching the girl's triumphal glance, immediately forced herself to cool a little.
"Ok, now it's my turn." - Proclaimed Stacy. Then, suddenly, in a serious way, she pulled Calisto a little closer and looked into her eyes, as if she was going to read the answer there.
"Cali, did you miss me?" - She said softly, completely knocking the girl out of the saddle with her question. Cali even thought for a second that she heard her own heartbeat in her ears. But the shock was quickly replaced by another feeling. Cali felt numbness as if viscous fog penetrated inside again.
"No." - she answered honestly, expecting a grudge or pain on the girl's face. And they did not keep themselves waiting, but the worst thing was that Stacy's face quickly became blank, as if she was waiting for such an answer, and had already accepted it. Cali herself did not even fully understand what she wanted to say when the words sprang forward from her mouth.
"A lot has happened, Nasty," - she went on, for some reason calling her friend by the old nickname. - "Then I didn't miss you, nor anyone. It was a different feeling, and a different me. But now, here I kind of ... miss what we didn't have, or what we had but the wrong way. Maybe I am saying nonsense ..." - entangled in her words and feelings, Cali fell silent, averting her eyes, but Stacy did not allow her that, jerking the girl closer and hugging her.
"No, I get it. And we will have it right this time, just you wait!" - She said in Cali's ear. And the confident voice of her friend made the corners of Cali's lips slightly shake.