Mathos opened his mouth to respond, but Lucilla beat him to it. “Actually, Lieutenant Claudius, I don’t believe I requested your assistance.” Her voice was resolute, but he noticed that her hands were shaking where they tangled in Penelope’s mane, gripping it like a lifeline.
“Lieutenant Claudius”—the troops parted, and another rider trotted forward, his smooth voice ringing across the assembled troops as he pressed forward—“you are addressing your queen, and you will do so with a great deal more respect.”
Fucking hell. Mathos sighed loudly, not even bothering to be subtle. Dornar had arrived. The fact that he was saying exactly the right thing was not even remotely reassuring.
Dornar slipped off his horse and sank to one knee in the middle of the road, his crisp blue uniform bright against the dust. He looked fresh and rested, and he was wearing the heavy gold chains of the Lord High Chancellor.
Almost as one, the men around him followed his lead and sank to their knees in a slow wave of obeisance. Mathos was almost impressed—discipline had certainly improved in the short time since Dornar had taken charge—but his beast had gone insane the minute he realized Dornar was there, and most of his focus had to be on keeping Heracles calm.
Lucilla looked slightly stunned as she stared down at them all, and Mathos felt like an idiot as he sat beside her wondering if he should dismount and kneel with everyone else.
After a few moments of respectful silence, Dornar stood gracefully and stepped forward to reach up and take Lucilla’s hand in his. “Your Majesty, I can’t tell you how delighted we are to have found you unharmed. Rest assured that we have been doing our utmost to see to your safe return. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dornar, your Lord High Chancellor.”
Finally, Lucilla’s eyes flicked across to Mathos. Looking for advice? Reassurance? He had no idea.
What should he say? How could he explain the horror that was Dornar? All while the man himself and an array of troops looked on.
Bollocks. He already regretted his surly behavior. Now he sincerely wished that he had spent the long hours of silence explaining everything to Lucilla.
He dragged a hand down his dusty face, regretting just about everything he’d done over the last day. And he had the horrible suspicion he was going to regret it a lot more before the day was over.
He had no immediate answer for Lucilla, so he fell back on what he knew. Insolence. “Imagine seeing you here, Lord Chancellor. You were so quick to leave us last time we saw you, after all.”
Dornar smirked as he pulled himself lightly back into his saddle. “It’s not at all a surprise to see you here, however.”
“No?” Mathos asked, enjoying Dornar’s flicker of resentment.
“No. We’ve been waiting for you to turn north.”
“You waited for us on this particular road?” Mathos snorted disbelievingly.
“Not at all.” Dornar gave him a smug smile. “We’ve had troops onallthe roads north. I relaxed in my comfortable base near the village and as soon as you were seen they signaled for me.”
Mathos stared at him, trying not to snarl. “Why would you set up your base near here?”
“Court records showed that there were only two manor homes with gardens planted by the previous queen that still had visits from Geraint and Ballanor. I was certain that with a little patience, we’d find Queen Lucilla at one of them.”
Dornar made it sound like he and his men had been actively looking for Lucilla in those homes, but he couldn’t have, or Lucilla would have met him earlier. And then she would never have run away. More than that, none of Dornar’s men had been hunting them in the woods; Mathos was sure of it.
Bollocks.
It occurred to him that Dornar had narrowed down his targets and then simply watched both homes. He didn’t need to storm in and upset the delicate princess, who might react poorly to a stranger. He didn’t need to tell her that both her brother and Grendel had died while under his guard, or that he snatched power and was now consolidating it. No… he had avoided every uncomfortable conversation they might have had and simply waited for Mathos to arrive first and fuck it all up.
Then, when Mathos had delivered the bad news, riled up the new queen, taken her from her home and put her completely on the defensive, Dornar could sweep in as the charming rescuer.
Which was bloody insulting.
Worse, it was completely mortifying because it was so accurate. Mathos had done everything Dornar had predicted.
On the bright side, Lucilla running away must have given Dornar a few gray hairs. Completely unsettled his nice little plan. Or maybe not… Here they all were, exactly where Dornar wanted them to be. And the next step would be to make certain that Lucilla knew Mathos was the villain. Gods.
Dornar nodded to a red-faced Claudius and then pointing straight at Mathos, ordered loudly, “Lieutenant, arrest this man.”
“What for?” Mathos challenged, despite knowing it was coming. His beast flickered angrily, rumbling loud enough that the soldiers must have been able to hear it and causing Heracles to toss his head uncertainly.
Dornar gave him a slow smile, his copper scales flashing brilliantly in the sun. “Kidnapping the queen. Obviously.”
“I didn’t kidnap her. I rescued her,” Mathos snarled as Claudius pressed his horse forward and lifted his dagger.
