The autumn leaves began to fall and Tyr looked out of his office window. It disappointed him that Macha still did not confide in him about Jarnvid"s a.s.sault. When he went to reconcile with Freyr, his cousin promised he would take care of Jarnvid. He had forced Tyr to let the court process go through on its own. Tyr wanted to challenge Jarnvid to a duel, but until Macha explained what happened to him, his hands were tied. Unless she told him, there would be no reason for him to know.Macha sat at a table going over the different dialects of polite speech that Hrod"s tutor, Ullr, taught her today. While doing her lesson, she tried to keep her volume down, so she would not distract Tyr from his work.
She used to take her lessons in the apartment, but Tyr did not trust the man his mother hired. He thought Ullr was too flirtatious, and he did not see why his mother chose such a good-looking man.
Ullr understood Hrod called in a favor from his father, Thor, to have him seduce Macha and cause discord between her and Tyr. The Valois family once helped Thor to rebuild his finances after the war, and his family owed them their secured upper-cla.s.s status. Not all n.o.bles fared well after the war and many rich n.o.ble families lost their influence. While he did not mind Macha"s appearance, he hated that this request made him feel cheap.
It was torture for Tyr to watch the two converse. He gritted his teeth at seeing Ullr tuck a stray strand of hair behind Macha"s ear. He wanted to throw the man out, but his mother warned him that if Ullr did not teach Macha, she would take away her approval. Hrod refused to accept Macha until she learned how to behave in "civilized society". "Macha, could you make me some tea?" Tyr wanted her to step away from Ullr and pay attention to him.
Macha looked up from a textbook and wrinkled her nose at him. She gave a playful smile as she moved to make the tea, "How am I ever going to learn all of this if you interrupt the lesson every ten minutes?" She giggled with amus.e.m.e.nt. It shocked her that Tyr had been drinking so much tea today. She glanced over at Ullr, "Would you like some too?"
Leaning back into the sofa, Ullr shook his head no. He gave a sidelong glance to Tyr and commented, "I wonder how long you can hold it? You will have to leave us alone at some point." He understood what Tyr was doing and thought it was a joke. He enjoyed being a thorn in Tyr"s side, despite having no ill feelings towards the man. Ullr found Tyr"s reactions too amusing and could not help provoking him.
This was just another example of how Ullr annoyed him. Not even bothering to look at the clock, Tyr stated, "Look at the time. Ullr, Macha and I have some errands to run. We"re going to have to cut the lesson short today." He had enough of this guy"s taunting. He almost laughed when he remembered how he had been angry at Freyr when someone like this entered his life.
The worst part about Ullr was that he never did anything Tyr could point out as wrong. It was the small things that the man constantly did. The looks he gave Tyr when Macha did not pay attention or the way he complimented her. He longed to throw Ullr out of the window and be rid of him.
A copper eyebrow raised and Ullr judged Tyr, "It seems like someone cuts the lesson short every day. It makes me feel bad accepting the money your mother gives when I do so little." He moved to close the textbooks and Macha began to help him.
When she leaned over to close a few of the books, her hand accidentally grazed his, "Sorry," she apologized for touching him. Macha agreed with Ullr that Tyr cut the lessons short every day, but Tyr was a busy man, so he had many responsibilities. Since his father"s death, his schedule had only become busier because he had to manage the family businesses as well.
Ullr straightened up and tapped Macha"s nose. He gave her a dazzling smile, "There was nothing to be sorry about. I don"t find your touch repulsive, quite the opposite in fact." His grey eyes held hers for a moment longer than he should have before moving to exit the room. "See you tomorrow."
After Ullr departed, Tyr pointed at the door, "See what I"m talking about? I don"t like him. I swear, I check my temper every day for you." The man"s last comment caused Tyr to snap the quill he was using and throw it down on the table. Giving a low growl, he picked it up and tossed it into the rubbish bin.
Macha moved to sit in his lap. "Thank you for being so calm. I understand, but your mother insisted he teaches me. I"m fine if you get rid of him, but you"re the one being stubborn about keeping him. Why are you complaining when you can just fire him?" She played with his bangs and gave the beauty mark under his eye a light kiss.
Tyr did not tell her that his mother threatened to withdraw her approval because he realized how much Macha wanted the two to mend their relationship. He leaned back and pulled Macha against his chest. "Forget it. I"m just being overly possessive."
Tracing her fingers along Tyr"s collarbone, she asked, "What errands do we have to do today?" She did not recall there being anything scheduled for this afternoon.
After all of Ullr"s attention, Tyr decided he wanted to take Macha out on a date. While that man was around, Tyr wanted to be on his best behavior. He realized it had been a while since he did anything romantic for Macha, so today was a good opportunity for him to show her how charming he could be.
As he brushed his lips across Macha"s knuckles, he gazed into her eyes. "You need to change into something nicer. It"s a surprise." Tonight he planned to take Macha dancing and at a nice restaurant. While he knew Macha wished to go dancing from time to time, he never wanted to go.
The mystery caused her to smile. Now Tyr was being too sweet. He was rarely in a mood like this and she was excited to see what he planned. She tilted her head up to kiss him on his chin and teased, "Are you sure we"ll get to our destination? Last time you told me to get dressed up, we didn"t leave the apartment."
A wide smile swept across Tyr"s face. He remembered the day Macha was referring to. That day happened two weeks after they made up. He meant to take her out, but she looked too beautiful and he got carried away with his affections. He leaned forward to pin her against his desk, "If you keep kissing me and wiggling on my lap, we won"t leave," he warned. A deep kiss followed that made Macha"s head spin. He moved his hands to the curves of her waist, "I don"t mind either way."
A knock sounded on the office door and Macha slipped off of Tyr"s lap. They did not keep their relationship a secret, but he preferred to keep their affections private while in the office.
The door opened and Sierra entered the room. Her hair was freshly cropped, and she eyed the two with a cold air. "Tyr, Macha, good to see the both of you are in good health."
Tyr nodded his head and Macha smiled. He swiveled his chair to face Sierra and sat up straight. The warmth in his face disappeared and was replaced with his usual cold demeanor. "What brings you here?" He did not mind seeing Sierra, but he could tell she was here on business.
Today she had other business to attend to in the area, so she offered to bring Tyr his official request. She handed him a packet of doc.u.ments. "All n.o.bles are being ordered to a.s.sist the Kochi-Toowoomba refugees. Each n.o.ble must take in ten refugees and help them adjust to living in Ma.r.s.eille. King Freyr"s orders." Sierra did not like Freyr taking in the refugees. She did not feel he was doing a good enough background check on them and worried some of them were a danger to Ma.r.s.eille"s security.
When Tyr took the packet, Sierra left without staying to chat.
The thought of sponsoring refugees was interesting to Macha. "How are you planning to help them?" she asked. She wondered if he would force them into the guild, or if they would find their own jobs.
Although Tyr disliked dealing with refugees, he understood this was an important task. He could not just toss them aside and forget about them. If he did not integrate them into Ma.r.s.eille"s culture and economy well, he knew some may resort to crime in order to survive. "Last time I hired them as the groundskeepers for headquarters, but I believe those positions are filled up now." He touched his index finger to his lips, "Some of them could work as maintenance workers for the restaurant district we opened last year. If they don"t want to do that, I can help them find other jobs."
Amazed at his quick thinking, Macha confessed, "If some of them want to work at the pie shop, Unai has been asking for one or two full-time workers. It"s good to have the part-time workers from the guild help, but he dislikes training people who only stay for a little while." She glanced over Tyr"s shoulder to look at the papers. "When do you have to pick them up?"
The packet contained profiles on the different refugees he would be sponsoring. The cover letter requested he come as soon as possible since they were being housed in a temporary housing district. "I"m supposed to go now if possible. Will you forgive me for breaking our date?"
Macha slid back into Tyr"s lap, "But Captain, you said you were taking me out to do errands, not a date." She wrapped her arms around his neck and fluttered her eyelashes.
Seeing Macha act so cute caused Tyr to give a deep chuckle. "Perhaps I can take you on our errand after we bring them here. Let"s get ready and finish this up quickly. We can give them a day to relax and talk with them tomorrow about what they would like to do."