“You know, some days I want to hate my uncle for placing me in this position, but I can never quite bring myself so far.”
I had had a small private funeral for Arthur. Only a few of his trusted men were there.
I don’t know if he ever told them the truth about my heritage, if that was the reason they supported his cause in the first place. But no one seemed to complain. I wondered how many of them went back to Fairfrith camp or started new lives in the nearby towns. Some had even joined the royal guard. Either way, I hadn’t heard anything, which I supposed was a good thing in its own way. The same went for the Baruk clan, which led me to wonder what sort of deal Uncle had made with Olwin. I still hadn’t heard news from Ray either, which left me to imagine the worst.
“The man is dead. And we must all move on.”
“He made such a mess of things because he couldn’t get along with his brother,” I said, more to myself than to him.
“Does this mean you intend to do things differently?”
“I mean, I haven’t planned Lance’s execution yet, which has to count for something.” I hadn’t seen Lance since he was imprisoned and forced to abdicate. I couldn’t bring myself to go down there into the prison cells where I had spent a night myself. In fact, I refused to think about him at all, if possible. No good could come from it, anyway.
“So, you’re just going to keep him locked up for ever?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I turned to face Rhen. He hadn’t shaved in some time but still looked impeccably neat in his royalguard uniform with his hands resting behind his back. Always at attention. Always looking, always watching. Eyes scanning for possible danger. I relaxed a little.
“Let’s say I do decide to marry an Evernean lord.” I reverted to the previous subject. “Who would my potential suitors be?”
We reached the centre of the garden. “There’s the Duke of Dankershire. He’s young and rich and owns a considerable stretch of land.”
“Only because I gave it back to him.” I gave him a sideways glance.
“You disapprove of the duke?”
I thought back to our encounter a few weeks prior. There wasn’t a big difference in age. But the scrawny duke with hair of snow could never quite meet my eyes. When the duke’s father died, he was placed in charge of the estates at a very young age. Making conversation was difficult until we’d heard the horses being exercised outside.
The sound alone made him pipe up and immediately he started to converse about his love for the equine. The only problem... the man didn’t stop.
“It’s not that I disapprove so much as the fact that he is a complete and utter bore.”
“I think that’s subjective,” Rhen countered.
“Rhen,” I huffed. “He showed more interest in my horse’s flanks than in me. He wouldn’t shut up about the damn fillies, and I like horses as much as the next girl, I really do. But it’s the only thing the man talked about all day. All day, Rhen.”
He nodded and there was a faint grin on his face. “Okay, so maybe not horse boy.” Rhen thought about it for a moment. “There is always the Duke of Darwick’s son.”
“You mean Edgar Darwick?” I tried to keep my expression neutral but my distaste must have been obvious.
Rhen pressed his lips into a line. “I take it you have something against him as well?”
“He wouldn’t stop staring at me the night we stayed at Darwick’s estate.” The night I got intoxicated on the wine and wanted to kiss Cai outside my bedroom door. The night I drunkenly told him that I was his.
“He was probably just admiring you.”
I felt a chill, remembering Lord Edgar’s gaze. “There is admiration and then there’s what he did. Edgar kind of makes me uncomfortable.”
“Even so, the Darwick family is not only incredibly rich, but they are one of the most influential families in the kingdom. You could do much worse than Edgar.”
“Still,” I protested, “I could also do much better.”
“Like whom?” Rhen crossed his arms and tilted his head in taunting question.
“Well.” I smirked. “I could always marry you.”
His face fell immediately. “Please don’t.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry. We both know that we’d kill each other before the wedding was even over. And then I would lose my right-hand man.”
