Austin heard Marcus return from wherever he’d been, his footsteps indicating he was heading in the direction of the kitchen. There’s no time like the present, he thought, as he left his office and headed after him. He reached the kitchen and did a quick sweep around with his eyes. Luckily, they were the only ones there, and Austin moved over to the enormous range cooker to put the kettle on to boil. ‘Cup of tea?’ he asked, as Marcus pulled out a tin of shortbread.
‘Sure,’ he replied, a little suspicious. It was always ominous when his dad was overtly nice.
‘Had a good day?’ asked Austin, conversationally.
‘Yep, fine thanks. You?’ It was a lie. Marcus had been in a dreadful mood since Anita had gone for her lesson with Alexander, and it was killing him that he had no real idea what had happened. He’d felt slightly better when she’d told him it had been another difficult session, but still, he was uncomfortable with the whole arrangement.
‘Yes, fine thanks; all very mundane today, nothing exciting going on. What have you been up to?’
Marcus was really suspicious now. His dad being chatty was an extreme rarity, but he thought it best to play along. ‘I just went to Empire. I had a few things to do at the Temple.’
‘Good good. Been seeing much of that Anita girl since the ball?’
Knew it, Marcus thought. He had got to the point just as the kettle was boiling. ‘Yep, been seeing her a bit.’
There was silence as Austin made them tea, and Marcus picked up a large piece of shortbread and took a bite. ‘I just think you should be a bit careful Marcus. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.’
‘Oh?’ asked Marcus innocently.
‘I’m not sure I trust Anita, that’s all.’
‘Any particular reason why?’
‘Because she’s very powerful, and I think it’s suspicious how she’s latched onto you since the ball.’
‘I’m not sure she’s latched onto me. She’s nice. We have a lot in common, so we spend time together. I don’t see much harm in that.’
‘Marcus, don’t you think you should find someone more appropriate? Someone from a better background…’
‘…what’s wrong with Anita’s background?’ he interrupted defensively. Marcus knew this was a pivotal moment and from it he would be able to tell how strong Austin’s feelings were about Anita. If he admitted that he’d looked into Anita’s background, it was bad. If he made a comment about her not being from a Council family or something similar, it wasn’t quite so dire. Luckily he did the latter.
‘I just think you’d be much better off with someone more like us. What about one of the Councillors’ daughters? There are lots of very nice, well connected girls who are far more suitable for a Descendant.’
‘Well I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you. I like Anita, she’s so much more interesting than the other girls I know, so thanks for your concern, but I’m confident I can judge who I should spend time with and who’s best to avoid.’ With that, he picked up his tea, along with another piece of shortbread, and headed up to his suite, a little baffled. It was so unlike Austin to pussyfoot around the edge of a topic. He was usually more comfortable taking the direct approach and Marcus was surprised he didn’t simply try to ban him from seeing Anita again. It wouldn’t have worked, obviously, but it would have been more in character. Something was going on, and he had to find out what.