“Poppy?”
Warm, honey-colored eyes met mine. “Yes?”
“Are you planning to stand while you eat?” Casteel lifted a bowl of steaming, brightly colored vegetables and a plate with various types of cheese from the smaller platter and placed them on the table. “Or do you just want to sit in one of our laps?”
“I wasn’t planning to do either.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” I reached for the back of the closest chair.
“My Queen,” he said, and warmth began to curl low in my stomach as he gave me a slow, teasing, and utterly infuriating grin that lifted one corner of his mouth. “That’s not your chair.”
I frowned. “I didn’t realize we had assigned seats.”
Casteel dragged his lower lip between his teeth. “We do now.”
“That’s—”
“I assume,” Kieran cut in, returning to the table, “that what he considers your chair is still floating by the chandelier.”
What?
Blinking, I tipped my head back.
“You forgot about it,” Kieran stated.
I willed the seat down—and not on either of their heads—then plopped into it. “No.”
Casteel smirked and sat beside me. “She did.” He glanced at Kieran.
I sank a good two inches into the chair.
“Now that no chairs are seconds away from falling on us,” Kieran said, sitting and ignoring the death glare I gave him, “I do have two pieces of news I didn’t get a chance to share. The first one is that your new quarters are ready.”
“Perfect.” Casteel pulled the cork from the bottle as I sat back, watching them. “And the second piece of news?”
Kieran picked up several rolled linens. “It’s regarding Pensdurth.”
I sat up and took a linen roll from Kieran. “What’s going on with Pensdurth?”
“We received a message from one Duke Ashwood,” Casteel explained, pouring deep-ruby-red wine into three glasses. He placed one before me. “Letting us know that his fealty remains with the ‘one true King.’”
“Kolis?” I asked. That heavy, sinking feeling hit me in the chest again. I breathed through it, refusing to acknowledge it. Doing so made it feel like he still held influence over me.
“Yes.” Casteel moved several strips of roasted beef from the platter and placed them on my plate.
The hand in my lap balled into a fist as I picked up a fork with the other. “Pensdurth may be a smaller port city compared to Oak Ambler, but it is still vital for providing food and resources to the southern cities.”
“I know.” Using a large spoon, Casteel scooped up some vegetables and set them on my plate. “I sent a regiment there to aid in him rethinking his choice.”
“You’ll like this,” Kieran said quietly, adding a small mountain of rice to my quickly overflowing plate while theirs remained empty. “Da’Silva, one of the guards sent with your father, returned this morning to inform us that they encountered a rather sizable force stationed between the Blood Forest and Pensdurth’s Rise.”
My stomach dipped as Kieran added several slices of chicken breast to my plate.
“Well, now we know where the missing generals likely went,” Casteel remarked as he cut some grilled fish into bite-sized pieces. “Exactly what is considered asizable force?”
Kieran nodded. “Da’Silva estimated about two thousand.”
