Chapter Four

Nieve's heart raced a million miles an hour as she and Layla stood outside, hands clasped behind their straight backs, as Mrs Pembroke had instructed. She'd told the girls to wait there and had left before either of them could ask her what for. So they stood there, next to the enormous wooden doors of the main entrance, looking at the fountain in front of them and the view of the city beyond it. Serenissima looked even more impressive from this height, they could spot large squares and statues, and important buildings towering over the smaller homes where people who weren't royalty probably lived. Everything looked old, yet so well kept it might have been built just the day before.

Layla seemed to be bursting with questions Nieve was sure she hadn't the answers to, but the blonde was too nervous to speak, and, her friend figured, rightly so. She had no idea how long they'd stood there when they heard the door behind them open and two sets of footsteps walking through it. They both didn't dare to look until two men stood next to them, both brown-haired and blue-eyed, one a couple inches taller and with slightly longer hair than the other. Layla's eyes grew wide when she recognised them as the two men they'd met at the tavern the night before: Ryan and Riven. She was about to greet them happily when her friend cut her off by speaking first.

"What are you two doing here?" the brunette snapped, though things finally started to make sense. The men both smiled at her as if oblivious to her tone or narrowed eyes, and it infuriated her even more.

"Hello Nieve, Layla," Ryan said pleasantly, his smile widening when he locked eyes with the blonde. "We live here," he told the brunette, though he didn't really look at her, far more interested in the smile the brown-eyed girl was giving him.

"Of course you do," Nieve mumbled, eyeing their uniforms. Whatever their jobs, they must be even better than what the girls were supposed to do. Riven looked like the head of the royal guard, clad in black trousers and a black shirt, a belt with knives and a big sword tucked into it around his waist, and several medals clasped to his chest. And Ryan must be whatever was even more important than that, his clothes a deep blue with golden embroidery on the sides.

"I'm sorry we didn't introduce ourselves properly before. My name is Ryan Simia," said the one standing the farthest from the girls, his eyes still on Layla. He winked, obviously enjoying how two sets of eyes widened instantly in realisation, though the grey eyes rolled immediately.

"Are you brothers?" Layla asked, very aware of the man who couldn't seem to take his eyes off her as she tried to fight off a blush unsuccessfully. The two men didn't have many similar features, aside from the colour of their hair, which wasn't exactly the same as Ryan's was a shade lighter, and the colour of their eyes, which, she realised wasn't entirely the same either, but they'd seemed as close as only brothers could be the night before.

"No, we're not brothers," Riven said before Ryan could say something stupid, though he was unable to hide a chuckle at the thought. If anyone ever heard that, he'd be in so much trouble; granted his friend would most likely be able to talk his father out of punishing him, he always had so far.

"Then what important family name do you have?" the brunette asked, completely unafraid now she knew Ryan was the reason she was stuck in this situation. All because he'd most likely developed an instant crush on her blonde friend. Riven's awkward clearing of the throat pulled her attention from glaring at the other man.

"My last name's Mezzo," he said, leaving Nieve speechless for a second before she mumbled, "Whatever," and turned her gaze back to the fountain.

So Riven carried a last name that was given to all male half-bloods, he'd still had a better life than any common had. She didn't care that he was only half accepted by primes, clearly he'd done well enough for himself.

Riven frowned at the woman stood next to him, never had he met anyone that had responded with a shrug after finding out he was a half-blood. Even commons were either mad at his mother for being seduced enough by a prime to produce what they considered an abomination, or they felt a connection with him for having grown up with a common mother. But here she was, an unreadable girl from the Marsh with an icy glare and a cold shoulder, who for some miraculous reason had the sweetest girl as her best friend, who couldn't care less either way. She absolutely baffled him.

"They're coming," he said, making Layla and Nieve frown as they turned to the door. They couldn't see or hear anyone. "Backs straight, eyes forward," Riven reminded them, not wanting to see them punished on their first day, and the girls quickly got in position before the wooden doors opened with a loud rumble.

From the corner of her eyes Layla could see three more people join them, standing next to Ryan while guards spread out around them. One of them was an older version of Ryan with the same brown hair, though his hair was thinning and greying, the man patted Ryan's shoulder with a smile that only a father could give his son. Next to him stood a woman with the whitest hair, she barely acknowledged the Simia heir, making Layla realise she could only be Lady Simia. She looked like winter personified, with her blue eyes and silver dress, emitting a coldness even though it was high summer. The colour of her eyes was the only clue she was Ryan's mother. To her right stood a girl about the same age as Layla, her hair as white as her mother's, but with golden brown eyes, like a ploughed field in summer. The girl waved when she felt the blonde's eyes on her, but quickly let her hand drop when her mother turned to her.

"Kaitlyn, behave," Lady Simia said, and Layla almost shivered at the tone. She'd thought Nieve could sound cold, but compared to the white-haired Lady, her friend was as innocent as a puppy.

Lord Simia gave his daughter an encouraging smile before he looked at his watch. He was about to say something when the gates suddenly opened, and three large carriages passed through. The first carriage stopped in front of them and a sentinel hurried to open the door. A gloved hand snapped its fingers to get his attention to help whomever the hand belonged to out of the wagon. The first thing Nieve noticed about the girl was her red hair dancing around her face like flames; it seemed to move in a breeze that belonged only to her. The second thing was that, though she was beautiful with pale skin and red lips, the smile they held was fake and forced, a sneer lurking beneath it. It took her five seconds of looking at the girl to come to the conclusion that she didn't trust her. Next to Nieve, Layla narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly, but enough for the brunette to realise her friend had come to the same conclusion.

Two more stepped out of the carriage before the group walked back into the mansion. The girls hesitated, unsure whether they were supposed to follow or wait until the other carriages had emptied but Riven turned to them and motioned with his head to follow, and so they did. It was the first time they saw the main entrance and it was beautiful, with a high glass ceiling with an enormous chandelier hanging from it, and paintings hanging on the limestone walls, flowers in large vases adding splashes of colour; everything looked so expensive Nieve was sure just one item could generate enough money to have her and her friend be fed for a year. She tried to keep her face neutral even though she started to dislike the primes more and more with every door they walked through, every room more impressive than the one before, until they reached the other side of the castle, where large glass doors swung open to a garden that was so big that they couldn't see to the other side of it. Lord and Lady Simia were talking to the red-haired girl, whose name turned out to be Evangeline, and Layla almost faltered in her steps when she heard talk of an engagement party. She had to remind herself not to frown when the words sank in; she thought Ryan had been flirting with her, but maybe she'd misread the whole situation. How could he be flirting with a common if he was going to get engaged with a beautiful prime?

When the Simias and Evangeline's family settled around a large white table Riven led the girls away to the side, so they could let everything they saw and heard sink in. They sat down on a small wooden bench that overlooked the garden, watching swans in a pond in the distance.

"Ryan's getting engaged?" Nieve asked, knowing the question was burning on her friend's lips.

"He is," the tall bodyguard nodded, though he didn't look at her. He kept his eyes on the rose bushes as if he could see through them at the Simias and their guests. "In a month," he said, answering her second question before she could even ask.

The brunette turned to her friend, who shrugged as if to say, 'at least they now had a better life', but Nieve wasn't having it. "Then why are we here?" she asked the man that stood next to the bench, and he finally turned his blue eyes to her.

"You're here because you were starving, and he wanted to help," he told her, grumbling when she rolled her eyes at him.

"Thank you," her blonde friend said now, making him smile at her. He had no idea how these two girls had turned into friends, their personalities so unlike each other he wondered what on earth they could possibly talk about together.

"You could have been honest and asked us," Nieve muttered, pressing her lips together when Riven sighed.

He moved away a little to give the girls a little sense of privacy as he leaned against a pillar, trying to keep his attention on Ryan as well as the two girls in front of him. They looked so different in their clothes now, he probably wouldn't have recognised them if he hadn't known they were coming. The blonde was looking around herself, her thoughts running from how impressive her surroundings were to replaying Ryan's flirting the night before, trying to figure out if she'd misunderstood him. Her friend however remained a complete mystery to him and he realised he probably didn't want to know what she was thinking, so he didn't even try. She was unlike anyone he'd ever met, suspicious towards everyone and everything. He'd thought she was beautiful the second he'd laid eyes on her, even in her ratty, muddy dress, but there was so much hate inside her that not even those piercing grey eyes or full pink lips could divert his attention away from the coldness in her voice. The only thing she seemed to care about was her friend, the way she looked at her and always stood slightly in front of her clearly showed she'd do anything to protect the blonde. Her face would change so much whenever she spoke to Layla that she almost looked like a completely different person, he just couldn't figure out which person was the real Nieve. He was sure he'd find out eventually, now she was to stay here.