Isahn let out a beleaguered sigh before sipping his sweet wine. “Bleh, this is gross. Do you have anything stronger?”
“Whiskey?”
“Absolutely.”
She retrieved a decanter and glasses from the sideboard and replaced their drinks. The local liquor warmed her throat and settled into the base of her stomach, burning away some of the lingering frustrations from their hours of spying.
“This is bad,” Isahn grumbled.
“I know. We can’t write to Selwas yet, though. It’s not safe.”
“I understand. But oh mygods,Georgie. That information...” With a slow shake of his head, Isahn sank further into his chair and downed his drink. George refilled it before he launched into a story that started many years before.
He swore her to secrecy, both in her personal and political life, and she readily agreed. Some secrets were best kept as such. George drank two full glasses of whiskey to Isahn’s four while she soaked in thetruestory of King Hethtar’s lineage, a tale that the lord wasn’t supposed to know.
The King of Selwas’s mother had come into marriage already pregnant with the child of Hothan Tarisden. Several years later, the Tarisden fellow was brought to Kirce Palace in Selwas’s capital to tutor the princeling, his true son. Both Tarisden and the king were chaosweavers, which George knew was exceptionally rare, a magic only possessed by a few lineages in the world. Apparently, Tarisden went on to have another child, a daughter. She, the king’s half-sister, ended up becoming tutor to the young prince and princess of Selwas many years later.
“She didn’t have any idea of the connection until they told her. More importantly, everyone thinks her dad, Hothan, died in a mugging gone awry.”
“Deiwa hathemi,” George breathed.
She learned all about the attempted murder of King Hethtar, the injury to Prince Athat, and the kidnapping of Lady Nesrina Kahoth Kiappa, now Duchess of Stormhill. The wild series of events occurred some two years prior, right around the time the delegation traveled south—when Elio saw Isahn. Trade talks her ass, that trip had been to check on Nekash’s progress.
Isahn released a weary sigh. “Based on what I know from Kas—Lord Kahoth—the royal family never suspected anyone’s involvement beyond Prince Nekash as the mastermind. Why wouldn’t he have said something when he was caught?”
“Fear of death? My father would have him killed in an instant if he breathed a word about his involvement—and then he wiped the prince’s mind. And I agree, we have to let King Ehmet and Queen Hevva know, but we can’t tell them yet.” Frustrated, she tossed her head back and rolled her neck.
“Selwas needs to prepare its military, George.”
War.Fear coursed through her, dampening her palms. She jerked her head from side to side. “No, no, no. My father is awful. A horrible, terrible human. But I don’t think he wants to conquer Selwas. War would bring discomfort and hardship. If there’s one thing he clings to, it’s his hedonism. And he’ll be—we’ll handle it soon. It won’t be a problem.”
Isahn swirled his drink thoughtfully. “Gods, I hope you’re right. We should bring this to your friends, see if we can’t figure out what Gasparo’s motivations might be.”
George agreed. “Tomorrow,prandium,here.”
“Do you think we could leave out the part about Nesrina? To the best of my knowledge, the family covered that up. To make the king’s illegitimacy widely known would bring political unrest to Selwas.”
“I’ve heard tales of the current king’s father, and we know more than enough about his brother. The phrase that comes to mind is ‘lesser of two evils.’ In fact, I find it hard to consider that minor deception to be evil at all when King Hethtar has been so good for your kingdom.”
Isahn’s dimple caught a shadow from the candles as he set down his glass. “As you will be to this one, my future queen.”
George’s cheeks heated, growing tight as she fought back a smile. “I need to thank you. Without your watercoursing, we wouldn’t have heard nearly as much of their conversation. You’re indispensable.”
It was Isahn’s turn to blush, his cheeks going pinker as he curled two pulsing tendrils of water toward her.
“Come here.” His command was more of a question, and George let his magic wrap around her waist, urging her to stand, twist, and sit upon his lap. He replaced the cool water magic with his hot hands, engulfing her hips as her thighs slipped off his, going wide so she straddled him with her back against his chest.
“How are you so relaxed? I’m still so wound up after—everything!” Waving her hands around, she gestured broadly.
“Because we’re speaking with your friends tomorrow. There’s nothing more to discuss about what we overheard tonight, is there?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
She tensed, not liking his know-it-all attitude, and Isahn chuckled, his thumbs stroking lazily over her hipbones, almost encouraging her to rock atop him.
“Is this all right?” he murmured into the nape of her neck.
