“Since before this package arrived. Since Nevellium. Elio traveled with a delegation to Selwas a few years back. He saw you at the palace, recognized you, and vouched for you. Do you really think we’d have given you your own mount if we’d had concerns?”
“It seems I owe Viceroy Neninios my gratitude. Unless, of course, my option would’ve been to ride double with you?”
“It would have been a box.”
“And would you have been sitting on it?”
“No.”
“Shame.”
George’s dark eyes widened ever so slightly. “Are you always this forthright?”
“I’m a straightforward man.” He slipped his ring on, back where it belonged. It pressed against his other fingers, bulky and unfamiliar after so many days without it.
“We’ll see.”
Isahn cocked his head in question, but she wasn’t paying any attention. Instead, she studied the mosaic floor, tracing the lines with her eyes like she’d discover the secrets of the universe hidden in the grout.
Forcing himself to focus, Isahn wrote out a note to Solaelia. He told her he was hot on the heels of their pesky uncle, had made a few Domossan acquaintances who were taking care of him, needed another month or so, and would write again as soon as possible.
George approved the missive before passing it off to a member of the household staff.
“Would you like to explore the estate?” she asked when they were alone again. “The grounds are beautiful.”
“That sounds fantastic.” Isahn beamed as he stood from his chair, his hand already extended to offer an escort.
“Weneedtotalk.”The princess’s words rode a sigh as she eyed him over thesecunda mensa,or “dessert” as he commonly called it.
“Oh, that’s not foreboding.” Isahn raised his brows as he plucked a honey cake from the platter situated between their group.
The friends—and Isahn—had shirked order for the evening’s dinner. Wynnie, the hostess, had plopped down beside him on thelectus medius, the middle couch. Dunstan and Burke sat on the sofa to his left, and George sat with Hildy on the one typically reserved for the host. He was picking up on Domossan customs with alacrity, and was quite proud of how well he was learning.
Dunstan chuckled. “It is, and it’s not.”
“Thanks, man, I feel so much better,” he grumbled.
George offered an apologetic smile as she dropped an arm to dangle over the side of her seat nearest him.
“Go grab the maps, Burke,” she commanded as her hanging fingers twitched.
Wynnie’s wandering toes tickled Isahn’s calf and he jolted, trying to shake her off. She’d taken it upon herself to try to garner his attention throughout the whole of thecena.The batty woman had been sending him visions since she’d first laid eyes on him two days before. The first one was simple, a flash of herstanding exactly where she was on the drive to Villa Senone, only she’d been completely nude. He thought he’d imagined it at first.
But the sight mage ramped up her attempts each time she was near him. His during-dinner show consisted of flashes of her, bare, with her legs spread as she touched herself on the table. He groaned, earning a titter from the wispy brunette.
She thought she’d gotten to him, as indicated by her incessantly wandering toe. Really, he was annoyed, and wished George were sitting beside him, as had become their norm.
Maybe, if he’d met Wynnie in Selwas during a night out on the town, he’d have humored her attention. But she wasn’t really his type—and he apparently had a type. This had been news to Isahn when he closed his eyes the night before, fisted his cock, and attempted to pull up images of women he’d been with in the past.
None came.
Hedid. But only after allowing his mind to wander for long enough that it settled on the image of a flustered princess with wild black curls, bronze skin, and the softest, most captivating curves he’d ever seen.
Ignoring the naked mirage writhing on the dining table, Isahn focused on Georgie’s bejeweled fingers. She wore three rings that evening, a turquoise that matched the hue of her belt, an engraved silver band, and a sparkling aquamarine stone. He couldn’t take her hand in front of everyone, though he nearly did, just to see if the pale stone on her third finger matched his belt—and his eyes.
Burke returned with two rolled-up scrolls and presented them for George’s approval.
“Start with the known map,” she commanded as she worried her silver ring, spinning it around her index finger.
