Imma pranced through the palati gardens, happier than she had been since her mother had dropped the shocking news that she was having another baby. Her disappointment had thankfully been short-lived, for Uncle Fotios had not only granted the two youngest Leventi daughters the permission to stay in Vasiliadon but he had insisted that she stay in the main house with his own family. Not Nana, but her. She could hardly wait for her parents, Selene, and Pia to leave so she could move in. Had he already spoken to Aunt Eirini about teaching her how to charm and captivate men? Her uncle could tell her what the opposite sex found attractive and her aunt could show her how to attract them. Her own parents were content to let her remain a child, but she was ready to step into womanhood and become a force to be reckoned with.
Imma hoped she would be kept so busy that she forgot all about her new brother or sister. While she was eager to be seen as an adult, she didn’t really want to relinquish her place as the youngest in the family. She felt that she was ignored enough as it was. The baby would take all her parents’ attention away from her and she would be forgotten and left to her own devices. It would be much more difficult to make something of herself if she had do it alone. She also got along well with her three cousins and hoped they would be able to do fun things together.
She was staying in the palati again. Imma no longer asked Theodora before she visited. Her usual suite of rooms was always waiting for her and she was able to come and go as she pleased. She was starting to think of the palati as her second home … or perhaps her third, as her uncle’s manor would be her second. No, she would think of the Leventi estate as her first home, the palati as her second, and her home in Macendia as her third. Maybe she would never have to go back and would never lay eyes on the baby her mother was currently carrying.
By the time it was born, she could possibly be the most popular lady at court, with handsome young men falling at her feet and begging for her to wed them. It was while her mind wandered in fantasy that she first heard the music. A woman was singing, and she had a very pretty voice. Curious, she followed the sound through the garden, stopping once to pluck a sweet-smelling flower from a bush and tuck it behind her ear.
Rounding a tall hedge, she saw the singer, a pretty young woman with hair as blonde as her own. Not wanting to interrupt, she listened to the woman’s lovely voice. So focused was she on the song that she didn’t notice a small branch snap beneath her sandals.
|