He nodded. “Captain Remy spoke to me earlier. The twins have the entrances under observation, and Draven and Reign have made their rounds in here.”
Ah. So that was them I’d seen. Sneaky men.
A guy around my age approached our group and bowed his head. Looked to be a member of the castle staff. “Apologies for the interruption, sir. The Crown Prince has requested your services.”
“My services?”
“Your coffee, sir. He requested that you deliver it to the royal family personally.”
“Oh. Okay.” I glanced toward the dais, seeing the king, queen, Cedric, and Sawyer. “I’ll be right there.”
So much for being relieved. Sawyer being present made me feel a bit better, but Cedric thrived on toying with me. My men watched me approach the table with a platter of coffee and cookies. They didn’t trust Prince Psycho either.
The scent of black cardamom strengthened around me.
“No stabbing,” I mumbled under my breath. “I’m serious, Ro.”
Though faint, I detected a raspy chuckle. I wasn’t near a wall or dark corner. So where the heck was my redhead hiding? Then, I noticed the shadows on the floor, those cast by the large crowd of people. He was using them to travel beside me, jumping from person to person.
Damn. He was getting better with his shadow magic.
Reaching the royal family, I stopped at the edge of the table and bowed my head. “Good evening, Your Majesties. I’ve brought some refreshments.”
“How kind of you,” King Eidolon said.
“Kind? It’s his duty.” The queen zeroed in on me with cold, calculating eyes. Her bitter tone sounded just like Cedric. It was clear who he took after. “What do you have for us?”
“Coffee, Your Grace, and a selection of cookies. Lemon and chocolate chip.”
She scowled. “I hope they taste better than the cake. It was absolutely dreadful. Too sweet.”
“Now, Mother.” Cedric took a sip from his goblet, doing a poor job of hiding his amusement. “Evan has quite the reputation for his little desserts. We should at least sample what he’s brought. And if it is repulsive like that dreadful cake, we can throw it out for the hounds.”
“You’re being rude,” Sawyer told him.
“Am I?” Cedric’s humor slipped into disdain. “What do you intend to do about it? Silence my tongue?”
“If you had any decency, you’d learn to silence it yourself instead of spewing such vitriol.”
“Careful, little brother,” Cedric said, grip tightening around his goblet. “You’ve forgotten your place once again. I’m the future king.”
“Yet, I’m the one still on the throne,” King Eidolon cut in, sounding more exhausted than anything. He must’ve been used to them bickering by now. “You will speak to your brother with respect, or I’ll send you to your bedchamber just as I did when you were a wee boy.”
Cedric clenched his jaw.
I almost offered to make peace tea but thankfully pressed my lips together. Sawyer would find it amusing, but Cedric would probably order Sir Keegan to cut out my tongue. And I happened to be quite fond of my tongue, even though it got me into trouble sometimes and had a tendency to go on long-winded rambles.
Wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, I filled each of their mugs, placed the cookies on the table, and then bowed. “Please let me know if there’s anything else you need, Your Majesties.”
I turned to make my escape.
“Evan,” the king said, stopping my retreat. “Might that be short for Evander?”
My heart rate spiked. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”
Sawyer seemed puzzled as he glanced between me and his father.
“Interesting.” King Eidolon smiled softly. Something sad touched his eyes. “Evander’s the name of the hero from a children’s book. Do you know the story?”
