“I’m glad you were there.” I sigh, then say something I shouldn’t. Again. “I do feel safer when you’re around.”
He looks at me for the first time since I walked out here. “I’m just doing my job.”
“We both know this is so below your skills. You’re wasted guarding one woman when you could do so much more.”
“You’re worth it,” he says.
My cheeks heat.
“I mean, there’s a lot resting on your upcoming wedding.”
“Of course.” I turn toward the door, then pause with my hand on the knob. “Do you want me to send some food out for you?”
“No.”
Of course not. “Alright. I’ll see you when I’m done, I suppose?”
“I’ll be right here.”
Twenty
“Sorry to interrupt your reading, Princess,”Brevan inclines his head, then looks at the other women who are sitting nearby with books of their own, “ladies.”
I set down my book and look at the open door. “Forget to knock?”
He closes it, then knocks, then opens it. “Better?”
Charlotte giggles.
He’s dressed in a simple tunic and trousers today. The fabric is good quality and they fit well, but he could be a merchant. Why does he look so good in everything? “No armor today?”
“It’s being cleaned and repaired. I’ll have it back tomorrow,” he says.
“The emperor granted your meeting,” he says.
“When?”
“Now.”
Of course it’s right now. I smooth my hair and walk to the door.
“Do you want company?” Katherine asks.
“The emperor said he’d only meet with her,” Brevan says.
Katherine’s shoulders slump.
“He’s not looking for a new mistress yet,” Antonia hisses.
“That’s not why I offered,” Katherine snaps.
I give Antonia a look that makes her return to her embroidery, then follow Brevan into the hall. “Thank you for asking him for me.”
He walks alongside me. “I told you I would.”
“I do think giving gifts is a good idea. A way for the emperor to get back into his people’s good graces.” I glance at Brevan.
He looks skeptical. “I don’t think he sees himself as having fallen from their graces.”
