Borin’s ever-tightening control over the borough was not only destroying relationships with buyers but prevented farmers from slaughtering animals for their own personal consumption. Yet according to his sister who lived and worked there, livestock numbers were up from the previous year. So where was all the extra meat? Certainly not going to the merchants, who continued to pay exorbitant prices for scraps of offal and bare bones.
Borin slipped from the saddle and joined him on the ground. ‘Remind me of the daughter’s name again? It might help me remember what she looks like.’
‘Lady Kendra,’ Astin said, handing his horse’s reins over to the waiting groom.
‘Ah, now I remember.’ He nodded as details returned to him. ‘Fair girl, large cheeks.’
Astin glanced at the groom, who was very much within earshot. The problem with the king’s descriptions was that they were rarely complimentary, and he was by no means selective with his audience. He had once described a lady as ‘the droopy-faced woman with the witch nose’ to her brother. The rest of that particular dinner had been rather awkward—even if King Borin had not been aware of the fact.
The royal wagon rolled to a stop a few feet away, and Queen Fayre peered out from beneath the rounded top, taking in the sight of the house. If there was a suitor being pushed in the king’s direction, you could be sure the queen mother would be close by to evaluate her. While she had been keen for her son to marry the Toryn princess, Toryn’s recent loss of herds to murrain had her rethinking her strategy.
‘Shall we?’ Fayre said, stepping down and walking past them towards the house.
Borin followed his mother, obedient son that he was. Astin drew a breath and trailed after them.
Inside, Lord Thomas waited in the foyer, his elaborately dressed wife and daughter standing stoically behind him. Astin’s feet stopped when his eyes landed on Lyndal standing alone by the stairs. She wore a long-sleeved green dress, tailored at the waist. Her golden hair was in two tucked braids, lips painted pink. She was one of those women who drew a lot of attention with little to no effort.
As if sensing his eyes on her, she glanced in his direction, then straightened. He nodded a greeting before turning his attention back to the king.
‘And you remember my daughter, Kendra,’ Lord Thomas was saying.
The king looked her up and down as she lowered into a well-rehearsed curtsy. ‘Yes, of course.’ He tilted his head as he studied her face. ‘You have grown up since I saw you last, thinned out in the face.’
Kendra responded to the backhanded compliment with her most brilliant smile. ‘Very much a woman now, Your Majesty.’
Astin snuck a glance at Lyndal. She was watching the exchange with equal amusement. Her smile was something else entirely, the kind that made people fall silent to watch it play out.
‘And this must be the famous cousin I have been hearing so much about,’ the queen said, looking past Kendra to where Lyndal stood.
Thomas stepped aside. ‘My wife’s niece. Born in the merchant borough. My daughter has been kind enough to take her under her wing.’
The queen looked Lyndal over. ‘I assume the merchant girl has a name?’
Lyndal moved forwards and curtsied with equal grace to her cousin. ‘Lyndal, Your Majesty.’
The king frowned at her. ‘Well, well. Haven’t you come a long way since you stopped me in the middle of the street and begged for my help?’ He glanced at his mother. ‘Naturally I obliged. I am the people’s king, after all.’
Astin looked at the ground and swallowed down the cough in his throat.
‘You have a good memory, Your Majesty,’ Lyndal replied. ‘Your help at the time was much appreciated.’
‘And then we were reunited in the square the day you confessed to killing my father,’ Borin added.
Thomas suddenly did not know where to look. His wife clasped her nervous hands together in front of her while Kendra’s smile froze in a very strange position.
‘Excellent memory, it turns out,’ Lyndal said, her tone breezy.
The queen only laughed. ‘Ignore him. Many merchants confessed to a crime they did not commit that day. That is what one does in order to protect the people they love from being shot dead.’
Borin’s cheeks coloured a little. ‘Perhaps if you had not shown up in a mood, we would know who the killer is.’
Queen Fayre ignored him, gesturing for her to move closer. ‘Come here.’ She took hold of Lyndal’s face, gently turning it side to side. ‘Such a pretty thing.’ Letting go, she said, ‘I have heard all about the work you are doing in the merchant borough. I wanted to meet you myself and see if the rumours were true.’
‘What rumours?’ Thomas asked.
The queen found a smile. ‘All good things, I assure you.’
That should have made Thomas happy, but instead he glowered in Lyndal’s direction.
