The chambers were quiet, save for the sharp click of the Empress Dowager's heels as she strode in, her silks rustling with every indignant step. She stood before the grand empress with a look of thinly veiled fury.
"I cannot believe you took that wretched girl's side and had the audacity to ask her to dine with us," Victoria spat. "How could you, Mother? I do not accept such things."
Seated gracefully on a plush velvet sofa, Grand Empress Augusta barely turned her head. One arm draped over the sofa's carved edge, her chin rested against her palm in weary indifference.
"I heard you've been back for some time now," Augusta said, her tone languid. "Yet you made no effort to see me. And now, because I've displeased you, I suddenly exist again?"
"Mother," Victoria snapped, her voice rising with indignation.
"Bring your voice down," Augusta replied, lifting a finger to her ear with mild distaste. "You're making my head ache."
"I am being quite serious!" Victoria pressed, her cheeks flushing. "And you're waving me off as if this is a matter of weather or what flowers to trim. You're changing the subject and I will not have it."
With a sigh, Augusta straightened her posture and folded her hands neatly in her lap.
"I do not know what quarrel you have with Lady Charlotte, but the girl is harmless. I've observed her. She has a quiet strength and she makes Alexander happy."
Victoria gave a scornful laugh. "You sound utterly charmed."
"Perhaps I am," Augusta mused. "We could all use someone who brings light to this palace."
"I disagree," Victoria said curtly. "I have a far more suitable match for my son. That low-born creature does not belong here. I want her out of the palace before she further pollutes his judgment."
Augusta raised a brow. "Why don't you leave her be? It is Alexander's heart, not yours."
"And did you want me for your son?" Victoria asked, arching a brow.
There was a beat of silence before Augusta nodded, a faint smirk playing on her lips. "No, I did not. You were brash, cold, and entirely too ambitious. But I trusted Edric's decision. And in time, you proved to be precisely the empress he needed."
Victoria's gaze faltered for a moment, her lips tightening.
"Perhaps," she murmured, only to draw herself up once more. "But I will not gamble with my son's future. I have made my plans, and I shall see them through."
Without another word, she turned on her heel and swept from the room, her silks whispering behind her like the rustle of secrets.
Augusta watched her go with a long, heavy sigh, then leaned back once more, reclaiming her posture of repose. But even as she closed her eyes, a shadow of worry clouded her expression.
She knew Victoria well enough to understand that when the empress dowager had a plan, nothing and no one was safe.