Straight to the point. “I’m a valuable asset, and he is using everything at his disposal to try to control me.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of feelings?”
I sighed. “At the moment, I want to brain him with something heavy.”
Solentine nodded. “I know that urge.”
“I’m mostly angry with myself. He goaded me, and I took the bait. I don’t even know what came over me. When someone says ‘let’s put all our cards on the table’ . . .”
“. . . you never put all your cards on that table,” we finished in one voice.
I nodded at him. “Yes. That.”
“Don’t feel bad,” he said. “Ramond is very difficult to manage.”
“He knows what’s at stake. If we don’t alter the future, he will have to fight a punishing war. He will halt the advance of the Crimson Empire in the north, but he will take heavy losses. Things will get so dire, he will have to marry Omelyana of Gor to shore up his defenses. I told him all of this because at the time I thought he was Reynald Karis. Had I known who he was, I would’ve run away screaming instead.”
“Ramond’s priorities are set in stone,” he said. “If he sees you as the key to halting that future, he will do everything to keep you. And I do mean everything.”
“I’m aware.”
“I would advise against sleeping with him,” Solentine said.
He’d finally come out and said it. “Are you attempting to safeguard my virtue?”
“Far it be from me to dictate what a woman does with her virtue. But you are my cousin now, and I see a disaster looming on the horizon, so I’m trying to shield you from it. Ramond has a way to make you feel . . .”
“Treasured?”
“Yes. Most people spend their lives trying to be noticed, often by the people they are closest to. Ramond doesn’t just notice, he sees you. He stands head and shoulders above the rest, and when he takes an interest, you feel important. He’ll treat you as a vital ally and acknowledge your talent and effort, and soon you’ll find yourself doing ridiculous things for his approval.”
“Sounds like you should be careful not to sleep with him.”
He laughed softly. “We both prefer female company, but it might’ve been easier if our relationship was just that. Only my heart would be broken instead of the future of my family.”
The carriage came to a stop. I glanced out of the window. In daylight, the Garden didn’t look quite as enchanting. Without the lights and music, it reverted back to its previous identity as an ancient fort. I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. Solentine put his own cloak on and pulled a black coif over his face.
The carriage door swung open, and a tall man wrapped in a faded cloak offered me his hand. His lancer’s coif was down, and his eyes were green and unrepentant.
Behind me, Solentine swore.
I put my hand into Everard’s, and he helped me down.
I turned to the driver, a young, compact man with a mane of dark hair. “How long has he been with us?”
“He got on at Taryz, my lady.”
Solentine descended from the carriage.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Everard took my basket. For a second, I thought about holding on to it, but playing tug of war with him in front of the Garden wouldn’t be a good look. “And for the record, you give me too little credit. I would take great care with your heart, Sol.”
Solentine rested his hand over his forehead and shut his eyes, as if he had been hit with a sudden, incapacitating migraine.
