“No—”
“Oh stop, Lady Dottie. I’m very good at optics.” She assessed me. “He’s different though. With me. You’ll just have to trust me on that.”
The implication was clear—she didn’t yet trustme.
––––––––
OUTSIDE THE TENT, NIGHThad fallen. A trail of candles lit the table and a small crowd of nobility, generals, and queen’s favorites gathered. We hadn’t dined formally on the road as a group, and the air was stiff as nobility sized up nobility. Most women had traded their travel clothes for gowns and put their hair up.
Amelia wasn’t quite so rigid as the rest. She peeped over my shoulder as she exited the tent. “And what is the queen’s circle dining on tonight? Stuffed quail?” She sauntered to the table, grabbed a wine goblet at random, and drained half the glass.
Now that I had her for a moment, I had to find out what I could about Sorrel’s delivery system. “Amelia, the letter you gave Lord Pierce earlier, where’d you get it?”
Amelia blinked as if to jog her memory. “Oh that. One of the generals brought it over this morning. He knew you and I were friendly, but I didn’t have time to leave my station. And I’m always looking for a good way to annoy Lord Pierce.” She winked at me.
Why would a general have received my letter, and from who? I wondered if I asked that general how they got the message whether it would reveal a new link in the delivery, and then another and another, Sorrel’s magic covering up the true origin.
At some unspoken signal, everyone moved to stand behind a chair. I slipped around Lord Parable to claim one by Draw. He touched me on the waist in greeting, the merest of whispers. His black hair fell in a cloud to his shoulders, still a bit windswept from the day’s ride. I thought of my hands on his bare chest that afternoon, him on his knees before me, and I felt my cheeks go pink.
There was light chatter while we waited for the queen to exit her tent, which she did on Ironclaw’s arm. Draw bent slightly at the waist, as did a man on my other side. I belatedly bobbed my knees in a curtsy.
When had Ironclaw gone in to meet the queen? I didn’t see him go through the door. What did he do, roll under the edge of the tent? I hope he was brief in his remarks to her. Something told me he would be—how could he admit he had planned to meet another woman in the night (me) and that he confronted her (again, me)?
What an absolutely stupid plan that had been.
The couple made a sweep around the long table, nodding and greeting each courtier. When she came to me, Queen Elthra held out her hand for inspection. The mood ring I’d given her was perched on top, yellow as a canary.
“Your Grace. Fully satisfied this evening.”
Her blue eyes darkened with wry humor, and she glanced at Ironclaw. “Indeed.”
For his own part, Ironclaw looked as surly as ever. He kept to the queen like a shadow but looked over my head as if I wasn’t there. Fine by me.
The queen addressed her solicitor. “Did you have a good ride today, Lord Draw?” Her face was grave, but I sensed a thread of laughter beneath it all.
“Always, Your Grace. And I trust my cousin has kept you safe another day?”
“For the past few minutes at least.”
A pained expression crossed Ironclaw’s face. “I had matters to attend to.”
“Yes,” she said. “Always something to track in the woods, I know.”
The queen moved on, addressing individual members of the court or allowing them to bow to her as she made her way to the top of the table. She swept her ice-blond hair back from her shoulders before sitting daintily. We followed suit.
The first course was a shaving of rabbit over mashed carrots and thyme.
The queen took one bite, then set her fork down. “What did my royal court get up to today? Lord Draw, Lady Dottie was telling me you took her to see the Ruins of Lissa.”
Was she...trolling me? Why would she bring that up in front of everyone? I hadn’t said so explicitly, but I thought Amelia’s ribbing made the tone of the afternoon clear.
I rushed to swallow my bite half-chewed, panicked, but Draw responded easily. “Lady Dottie and I rode ahead to discuss the witch’s predictions. It seems everything is going according to plan.”
Queen Elthra took a sip of her wine before answering. “It had better. We’re within range of the Dark Mage’s arms more and more.”
I didn’t like that reminder. It felt too soon to worry about battles and, most especially, the ending of the book. With the advancement of the coming confrontation, I needed to ensure the plot didn’t swing fully toward a military outlook. Sorrel said romance, and though I was still absolutely pissed at her recent revelation about Sara, I agreed with her.
Queen Elthra had turned back to Ironclaw. She ran her fingers across her bare chest, the blue velvet of her gown striking against her pale skin, and his eyes followed.
