In Scientia, page 17
“Fine, whatever,” I said. The people pleaser in me couldn’t look at their terrified faces any longer. “Just please, don’t make me stand out. I want to blend in.”
“Okay. But if you don’t want to stand out,” said Oscar, doing his best to smile, “you probably should’ve picked a different dress.”
I stared at him like I wanted to slap him. Instead, I relinquished control, letting him slather makeup on my face and scrape my hair back into an updo that if pushed, could be described as… not bad.
It wasn’t until I caught my reflection, as I made my way down the staircase, that I truly wanted to bolt. The glittering, look-at-me dress was the opposite of blending in. Flashy on the hanger, it was alarming on my body, emphasizing every curve.
“Eva!” I heard Terence proclaim. I’d already descended too far into the party to retreat. An elderly couple who had been standing with him turned to appraise me in a way that made me feel like livestock entering a cattle auction.
“You look…” said Terence, starting to get emotional. “Ravishing. Truly.”
“Thanks,” I said, diverting my attention to the string quartet, and then to the crowd. “That’s a lot of fancy people.”
Candles lit up the heavily-manicured garden, where forty or so people were mingling, sipping cocktails from crystal glasses. Thousands of fresh flowers suspended overhead formed a see-through canopy, impressively shielding the guests from the rain while still managing to reveal the night sky above.
“Yes,” he said, joining me in assessing the guests. He was wearing the same symbol Alida wore. A circle, cross and triangle inside a square. “Tough people, too,” he said, more seriously than I was expecting. “And then there’s your family.”
“They’re not my family,” I said. “I don’t know them.”
“I’m not sure they’ll care,” he said in a way that made me think he was referring to more than petty pleasantries. “A word of advice. Be on guard. And hide that necklace.”
“What?” I asked. “Are you being serious?”
“It’s a very precious stone and families love to fight over them, especially this one.”
“They’re welcome to try,” I said, gearing up internally for an attack.
“Or you could place it out of sight,” he suggested. “It’s no coincidence that people who go looking for trouble often find it.”
“True,” I said. “Or I could just leave?” This ‘dinner party’ was beginning to sound more like an ambush.
“Let me hold onto it for tonight,” he offered. “You have my word, I’ll return it.”
I raised an eyebrow. Did he think I was completely naïve? “Your word doesn’t mean very much to me, especially after you tried to buy it not even—”
“Words,” he stressed, “mean a very great deal around here. Remember that.”
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “I—”
“I hope you’re not frightening the girl, Uncle Terence,” said Elizabeth.
“Though she does appear rather unflappable,” added Nicole, appearing from out of nowhere. “But I’m sure time will tell.”
“You’ve met your cousins, I understand?” Terence asked me.
Before I had time to answer, Nicole had thrown another jab: “Alida’s given her a fighting chance, I see,” she said, looking my dress up and down but addressing Terence.
“It’s a designer. Whose name I can’t pronounce,” I replied, with the nastiest expression I could muster. “And you can speak directly to me, considering I’m—”
“Nothing my brother didn’t do for you,” Terence interrupted. “Or that you didn’t do for Sarah, for that matter.” He was still being polite but his demeanor had turned. It was guarded, protective almost. “Visiting my granddaughter on the other hand, in an attempt to dissuade her from joining us tonight, does seem like something the board might want to look into. Perhaps even take disciplinary action against.”
“Our apologies, Uncle Terence,” said Nicole. “We were just overjoyed to meet her.”
Her eyes landed on my necklace, long enough for me to regret not hiding it.
“Exactly. We all slip up, every now and again,” added Elizabeth with mock sincerity.
The terrible two were joined by a third. “Lizzy, can you still call it a slip up when you’ve spent half your life on the floor?” She was younger (and shorter) than the other two, with sun-kissed red hair that framed a porcelain complexion. Her hourglass figure and natural beauty gave her the look of a classic Hollywood starlet, but her infectious demeanor made her relatable.
“Christina…” Terence began to introduce her.
She intercepted, holding out her hand to shake mine. “It’s so special to meet you,” she said. “I flew in as soon as I heard.” She was wearing a low-cut black dress that showed off her ample cleavage. Large but elegant jewels lined her fingers. A reoccurring family theme.
“Of course you did,” sneered Nicole. Then turned to look at me. “Be wary of this one, she was obsessed with your mother.”
“Sad to watch, really,” added Elizabeth. “I wonder if the revival will be as entertaining.”
I was still forming words when Christina struck back.
“Jealousy doesn’t suit you,” she remarked. “Any more than your new gentleman friend does.” There was an air of threat in her voice. “He’s a little young, no?”
“Keeping tabs on me, sis? How sweet,” replied Elizabeth. It was the furthest thing from a sibling dynamic I’d ever seen. Alarm bells were sounding. If surveilling your own sister wasn’t out of the question, what was?
“Eva!” boomed Alida, breaking the tension. “You look more exquisite than I ever could have imagined.” She hugged me and whispered in my ear. “I promise I’ll answer every question you have about tonight. Just promise me you’ll fight like hell.”
I always do, I thought to myself, while also trying to figure out how hyperbolic she was being.
“That’s enough, Alida,” said a glamorous woman in her late sixties. She had arched eyebrows, soft eyes and a defined bone structure that hinted at the beauty of her youth. She spoke in a thick Eastern European accent. “Come. It’s time to eat,” she said.
As everyone turned, I slipped my necklace off as discreetly as I could.
“My sister Katalin,” introduced Alida. “Elizabeth and Christina’s mother.”
“A pleasure,” said Katalin, then put her arms around her daughters to usher them away.
“Aunt Alida,” Nicole offered, her voice dripping with feigned sweetness. “Allow me to walk you and Uncle Terence to your seat.”
“It would be our pleasure,” Alida replied. Though I could tell it was the last thing she wanted.
“I’ll just walk myself,” I muttered. “Seeing as it’s only thirty feet.”
Amusement crept across Terrence’s face, as we made our way to the tables at the garden’s edge. In the center was a long rectangular one set for thirteen, surrounded by smaller, circular tables that each sat six.
While everyone was distracted I searched for somewhere to hide my necklace, when I realized my safest option, was walking in front of me. Before I had time to overthink it, I dropped the crystal into Terence’s hand. Perhaps not the wisest decision, but I’d rather lose it to him, than the terrible two.
“One chance,” I whispered to him, completing the exchange. “Don’t make me regret it.”
He registered what it was as we arrived at the table. Nodding in what I took as agreement, before taking his place at the head of the long table.
To his left was a man in his seventies, who I assumed was Alida’s brother, Alexander, based on his high cheekbones and trained posture. Next to him was his son, who I recognized from the Atlantic Mining and Minerals’ website. His name was Clive Sinclair and he was rumored to be next in line to take over the company. He was in his late forties, and wasn’t mentioned in a single article online without the precursor ‘playboy.’ Beside him was his son, who looked around my age and had the kind of cut features that belong on a cologne ad.
Alida, who was sitting on the other side of Terence, pointed to an empty seat next to her. As I walked around, the three men stood up.
“My brother, Alexander,” she said gesticulating toward the older of the three men. “His son, my nephew, Clive, and his son, Ivan.”
I had no idea how I was going to remember anyone’s name, and the speed at which the violinist kept rapidly changing notes wasn’t doing anything to help me focus.
“Hi.” I waved. Trying not to get overwhelmed.
Katalin sat next to me, with Elizabeth and Christina next to her.
Toward the other end of the table was Nicole and her father, Terence’s brother, Liam Sinclair. He was a burly man with a muscular upper body and permanent no-nonsense expression. Next to them was Nicole’s replica, twenty years younger. She was effortlessly beautiful, with piercing blue eyes and alabaster skin so smooth it looked as though it had never seen the sun.
“Liam and his granddaughter, Sarah,” Terence whispered, winking at me before knocking on the solid wood tabletop to draw everyone’s attention. “Good evening,” he called out. The entire room fell instantly silent. “Please take your seats for dinner.”
I wondered what it felt like to have that kind of power, to command so much respect from people that they hung on your every word. The final member of the table arrived, finishing a phone call as he kissed Nicole on the cheek. He took a seat across from her, and Sarah, who I assumed was his daughter.
The quartet began quietly playing a new piece, as thirteen waiters simultaneously arrived to deliver colorful starter salads to our table. As I took a bite, I noticed Sarah watching me, before flicking her attention back to her food, cutting up a tiny piece of tomato and placing it into her mouth as though each chew were exhausting.
It wasn’t until I scanned the room that I noticed how eerily silent everyone was, as if by orchestrated design. It was unnatural to have so many people in such an intimate space making barely any noise—the gentle scrapes and clangs of silverware against bone china, the only audible sound.
As I looked back to my unusually tasty salad, I noticed a man at the table opposite me who looked identical to a member of the Royal family. Across from him, I could’ve sworn, was a musician from the seventies nicknamed ‘The Walking Sin.’ Or at least that’s what I remember my grandma calling him. On the table next to them was a man in white robes, who looked like Middle Eastern royalty. His diamond-encrusted Rolex peeked out from under his sleeve.
I wondered if they really were the individuals they resembled. I couldn’t work it out. Did the ultra-wealthy all just hang out, automatically introduced to one another once their bank accounts hit a certain threshold?
Servers reappeared to take my plate, and the food I wasn’t finished eating.
Terence raised a glass of wine. “It is my duty, and a task I am humbled by, to call this meeting… this family, to order.”
The pageantry was comical, and yet no one laughed.
“Tonight we celebrate a very special guest.” I looked around the room to find the ‘dear family friend’ whose birthday it was, thinking it strange that the person of honor wasn’t seated at the main table, when it sounded like Terence had said my name.
“It is my great honor to welcome my granddaughter, Eva.”
I felt myself sink, wanting to hide. The barely chewed lettuce I’d just swallowed was doing backflips in my stomach. I looked around to assess the unwanted attention of everyone in the garden only to see that aside from our table, everyone else was still eating their food, oblivious to the words coming from Terence’s mouth. It felt like a consolation of sorts, easing my anxiety enough to take another breath.
“In accordance with In Unio lore and ritual, I open the floor,” he said, bowing his head.
‘Law and ritual,’ I thought to myself. What the hell have I gotten into? Accepting the invitation to dinner was starting to feel like a serious mistake.
Across from me, Nicole began speaking, “For reasons that are obvious, I call to challenge Eva’s seat at this table.”
I was in a trance, left without speech. It was my greatest fear realized: being somewhere people didn’t want me to be. I froze, a panic building in my chest.
“On what grounds?” Terence asked as though he were reading news he didn’t care for.
“Precedent,” she snapped. “We have the majority, In Unio has—”
“Nicole!” Liam warned. The first time I’d heard him speak.
“This family,” she said, raising her voice back at him. “If the majority of this family aren’t in favor, she cannot proceed.”
“Is that the only motion set before us?” inquired Terence, speaking quickly, like he wanted it to be over. I looked around the table, everyone content in their silence, further illustrating how alone I truly was.
“Uh, whoa,” I said. “No.”
I stood up, if only to find my courage.
“I have no idea what’s going here, but you can all keep it. I don’t want any part of this.”
“That works for us,” said Nicole. “You’re welcome to leave the way you—”
“ENOUGH,” bellowed Terence, using the full power of his voice. I looked around the garden and when no one else noticed or acknowledged his outburst, I felt my body move from suspicious to certain: something insane and, frankly, disturbing was taking place. It was starting to become too obvious to ignore.
“Conference will commence until the hour. You will each have time to present your case to the nominee.” He knocked on the table and with immediate effect, the party and its noise resumed.
Not wanting to waste another moment, I lunged toward Terence, whispering aggressively in his ear. “My mother’s necklace,” I demanded, holding out my hand.
“Of ear or not at all!” insisted Liam Sinclair.
I looked up, surprised. Was he kidding? Anger brewed across Terence’s face.
“I just want my necklace,” I asserted, loud enough so that everyone could hear. I was through conforming to the rules of their elitist charade. I wanted what was mine, and to be out of there. “Though I’m not sure how that concerns you,” I added, staring Liam dead in the eyes. I wanted him to know that I didn’t fear him, though perhaps I should have.
“Watch that she doesn’t end up like the other one,” he seethed.
Terence almost knocked me over, leaping toward him.
It was Alida’s voice that intervened. “We are in conference,” she said. “Is now not the time for private counsel?”
“As long as it doesn’t break lore,” said Katalin. “It will be reflected in trial if she’s guided more than as is written.”
“Then it’s settled,” she said, moving to where I was standing next to Terence.
“One, two. No more than three,” said Clive, like a mischievous riddle.
“I’ll go,” said Alida, moving toward the other guests.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “You people are…” I didn’t know how to put into words what I was witnessing. It felt as if I’d stumbled into the middle of a choreographed dance and I was the only one who didn’t know the steps.
Terence stood tall, pulling me aside. He held my shoulders as though they were the helm of a ship. “Listen to me,” he said in a rushed whisper. “In less than an hour, a vote will be cast that determines your future. I’d hoped there would be more time to prepare you. To ensure that you were ready. But I know in my heart you already are,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying not to laugh, or cry.
“We believe in you,” he said. “We believe you can do this, or we wouldn’t let it happen. We wouldn’t risk losing you.” I was trying to keep up but his words were melding together, making me feel like I was in physical danger. The fear of it weighed down my chest.
I shrugged his hands off me.
“Okay, I’m done with this, and you,” I said. “I am done with this whole insane family.” It felt good to finally verbalize what I’d been wanting to say since I’d met them. I just wished I wasn’t wearing a twenty-pound dress and could make a quick escape. “Just give me my necklace.”
“The vote is permanent,” he said, fear overtaking his eyes. “If you leave or vote no—”
“Time,” yelled Elizabeth, satisfaction filling the upper decibels of her voice.
Terence looked to her, then to Alida, who had reappeared nearby. She nodded to him, clarifying his non-verbal question.
“You promised,” I reminded him, attempting to return his attention to me.
“And I maintain that promise. It shall be returned before the night is—”
“Time,” repeated Elizabeth. “You wouldn’t want to be the cause of a disqualification.”
Terence relented, turning away from me.
I was about to follow, but Elizabeth stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “The truth is, I was best friends with your mother,” she declared. “Nicole and I both were. We were inseparable,” she said proudly. “She was spunky, just like you. Hated all of this. Not sure she’d want any of it for you and that is the honest truth.”
I felt like I was swimming fully dressed in a sea of confusion.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, backing up. “I’m already leaving.”
“Good. Then leave,” she said. “There’s absolutely nothing keeping you here.”
She was right, necklace or not, I didn’t belong there. So I did the smartest thing I’d done in days, and fled back toward the house—bumping a waiter full of drinks on the way.
I’d almost made it to the front door when I saw Alida standing in front of it.
I didn’t know how she’d gotten there so fast, but my brain didn’t have the capacity to care. I just wanted her gone.
“Please get out of my way,” I said.
“Do you understand?” she asked, panic etched into her face. “If you walk out that door, there’s no coming back. There’s nothing we can do. If you leave tonight, you can never be part of this family.”
