The Rector’s office was at the very top of the Tower, and Miranda paused at the end of the stairs just long enough to catch her breath before she knocked on the Rector’s heavy wooden door.
“Come.”
Banage’s familiar deep voice was comforting, though he sounded a little annoyed. That wasn’t anything unusual, though, and Miranda didn’t think much of it until she opened the door.
Master Banage was sitting behind his desk as always, leaning back in the throne-like Rector’s chair with an annoyed frown on his face. In front of him was a large man in his early fifties who Miranda had never, ever expected to see in this room. His hair was as red as her own, though his was tempered with silver streaks, and his expensive suit was of the latest fashion, cut to make his chest and shoulders look broader than they actually were. He wasn’t a Spiritualist, which might explain why he thought he could stand there sneering at Etmon Banage like the Rector Spiritualis was some bumbling Council clerk, but then, Simon Lyonette could sneer at anyone.
He looked over his shoulder when the door stopped creaking, and Miranda shrank back on instinct as the furious sneer hit her. “Well,” he snapped. “It’s about time.”
Miranda almost apologized before she remembered who and where she was. She was the apprentice of the Rector Spiritualis, called here by her master. She didn’t have to bow to any man, not even this one. She closed the door behind her and marched across the room, keeping her eyes on Master Banage as she came to stand beside the man in front of the Rector’s desk. Only then did she turn and drop her head in the barest shadow of a nod.
“Hello, Father.”
“Don’t you ‘Hello, Father’ me!” Simon spat, looking her up and down with open disapproval. “Where are your manners, girl? We taught you better than that. Just whom do you think you are speaking to?”
Miranda had a pretty good answer to that, but fortunately Master Banage cut her off before she could make things worse.
“Thank you for your concern, Lord Lyonette,” he said. “But Miranda is a pledged Spiritualist now, and as such she is not required to bow to a lord of Zarin, or to any other nobility, in this Tower.”
“You can’t tell her she shouldn’t honor her father, Banage!” Simon said. When Master Banage arched a dark eyebrow at that, Simon dismissed him with a turn of his head. “Never mind. I’m not here to play your games. Now that Miranda is back, we’ll be going.”
“We?” Miranda cried, outraged. “You can go whenever you like, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Miranda.” Banage’s voice was low, but the warning was clear, and Miranda snapped her mouth shut. Banage watched her a moment longer, and then leaned forward. “Lord Lyonette wrote me last week,” he said calmly. “He’s here to take you home. It seems your family no longer wishes for you to be in the Court’s care.”
“He said you were coming back today from a camping trip where you’d been trying to catch winds or some rotted nonsense,” Simon said, flinging out his hand like he was tossing the idea away. “I’ve been waiting here an hour for you to get in, and my patience is running very thin.” He grabbed Miranda’s arm. “Come along now before it runs out completely.”
“I will do no such thing!” Miranda said, snatching her arm back. “I’m twenty years old and a sworn Spiritualist. What makes you think you can just come in here and order me around?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady!” Simon shouted. “I don’t care how old you are; you are an unmarried woman of noble blood, and that means I, as your father, am responsible for you. It’s bad enough these wizards have let you run wild all over the countryside without so much as a chaperone to ensure you weren’t making a scandal of yourself and your family, but if you dare back talk me about my rights, I will make you regret it, child, just see if I don’t.”
“You’re worried about me making a scandal?” Miranda cried. “I haven’t even seen you since you gave me to the Court seven years ago, and you want me to believe you suddenly care about my life? Please. You didn’t even visit on my birthdays, which is pretty sorry considering you live a mile away.” Miranda crossed her arms and set her feet in a wide, stubborn stance. “Why are you really here, Father?”
Simon’s face went redder than Miranda’s robes. “This is not a matter to be discussed in front of outsiders,” he growled, glancing at Banage, who was starting to look a little deadly himself.