Hands smacking against muscular thighs, he leaned forward as he continued. “So, what are we doing this evening, ladies? Elysia did mention something about a disgusting tincture. Or are we plotting to take down the Crown? Is that it? I may have a few pointers.” His last words ended in a whisper.
“Maybe just its heir,” Triz muttered.
The prince flashed a grin and waited.
Elysia finally snapped, her fingers now clenched into fists. “You can’t stay!”
She internally groaned the moment the words left her mouth. The light in his eyes had just shot sky high at her reactive response. Good luck to any of them getting him out now. Would have to throw him out the window by his damn ears.
He settled deeper into the cushy chair, brushing his fingers over the worn leather. “I cannot fathom what has you riled into such a tizzy, but I can’t wait to find out.”
Beatriz sighed and cursed at no one in particular before flopping dramatically across the couch. She rolled over and threw an arm behind her head. “Princeling, what’s your thought on the ole magic situation here in Kava? Why it’s gone, if it should be recovered. You know, all that.” She gestured broadly.
Elysia’s eyes were stealthy on his reaction, but the inscrutable face of a prince stared back at Beatriz. His eyes narrowed just slightly. “Interesting questions, Beatriz, but curiosity breeds trouble in a place like Kava, doesn’t it?”
A disparaging snort came from Beatriz. “Completely shit answer. Fucking politicians, all the same.” She rolled over andslapped her legs in a mimic of the prince before springing up and eyeing Jessa with a determined lift of her brow. “Shall we, darling?”
Jessa smirked, taking a step closer. “Oh, I think we shall.”
An animal cry tore from Beatriz’s throat as both women rushed the Prince and ripped him up by his arms. He flung forward unsteadily on his feet, and was promptly driven farther along by the dual force that was Beatriz and Jessa.
“The door, Elysia, the door!”
Two steps ahead of them, Elysia, was already there swinging the door wide with an ear to ear grin. She wriggled her fingers in a wave as the prince was unceremoniously dumped outside her door as if he weighed no more than a small child. “Bye-bye then!”
She slammed the door shut on his once more stunned face and locked every single one of her ridiculous locks from Gage.
“Good riddance,” she grumbled. “Thought he’d be here all night.”
Jessa and Beatriz were already rummaging through her kitchen as if they hadn’t just tossed the crown prince out on his ass.
Jessa stuck her head out from a cupboard. “Do you really not have any gin?”
Beatriz grabbed two mugs and made a face. “She normally steals her booze from the castle. You’d think she was poor.”
Jessa paused her rummaging, looking impressed. “I wouldn’t mind a glass of stolen Crown liquor.”
Elysia ignored them both and climbed onto the counter, pulling an old decanter down from the top of the cabinetry. She handed it off to Jessa who pulled out the stopper. “You both have terrible manners. You know that, right?”
“They say when you can go right into the kitchen and make yourself at home—those are your real friends.” Beatriz nodded sagely as she bestowed this tidbit.
Elysia just raised a single eyebrow, her expression flat. Beatriz ruffled her hair as she walked past and Elysia almost fell off the counter trying to slap her hands away.
Unperturbed, Jessa poured out two mugs, cheersing with Beatriz before taking a sip. “So, where’re we doin’ this? Your bedroom?”
Elysia watched the two women swagger through her home with mugs of gin sloshing in their hands and cheeks turning rosier by the second. These were the geniuses that were supposed to watch her physical form while she took herbs powerful enough to launch her through the realms.What could possibly go wrong?
She walked into her bedroom to find Beatriz had traded her mug full of gin for the tincture. She held the large jar up to her face so that her nose smushed against the glass while the dust of herbs and plants swirled inside.
“Anything interesting in there?”
“Just grateful that I’m not the one drinking this sludge.”
Elysia played with the ties on her robe. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t think it really matters because I always end up in the same damn nightgown, but I think I’d rather get dressed, just in case. I’ve had enough people see me half naked for one day.”
Jessa’s head swung her way. “Who saw you naked?”
“I will never understand the grip that man has on you.” Beatriz set the jar back down and shook her head.
