“I’m sure, but go easier.”
“She pushes me to it by her defiance, and she does it on purpose.”
“She’s a princess.”
“She’s also mine now.” After a moment, Evston rubbed his eyes and then nodded. “But I’ll be more measured.”
Rocurt turned.
“Rocurt?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Rocurt rapped his knuckles against the wall in acknowledgment and walked away.
Evston waited a few moments, then went to the pet chamber. He opened the gate. He knew she wasn’t asleep by the way her body tensed when he stepped inside.
He bent down and picked her up.
“I’m so tired,” she whispered.
“It’s all right. You don’t need to do anything but sleep.”
He put her in his bed and lay next to her. She curled closer as he tucked the linen around her.
Chapter Twelve
Brande sat tucked ina chair in a corner of Evston’s room, reading. She wore a silken jade-colored shift with ivory ribbons as she worked through a dull book on critical thinking and legal theory. She took breaks from it by reading an adventure novel based on a girl escaping the great invasion.
She heard someone in the playroom. The servants had been banned from coming up. Used linens and trays were placed on the landing of the stairs outside the locked door.
“Mels, darling, is that you?” she called. Both the men were away for separate types of strategy meetings. Rocurt for war. Evston for peace. It wasn’t for sentimental reasons that she hoped Ev was more successful.
“No,” came the deep voice.
