“I won’t count on it.” Without another word, Ahnna headed down the hallway to the library.
“We can do this in the dining room,” Lara said to James. “It won’t take long.”
She left him in the large room staring at Vitex while she retrieved medical supplies and asked the servants to secure fresh clothes for both James and Ahnna, as well as any other items they might need. When she returned to the dining room, Vitex was weaving between James’s legs, purring at top volume.
“Interesting choice of pet.”
“He makes short work of any snakes that find their way inside the house,” she answered. “Be sure to check the bedsheets before you get in. Shoo!”
Vitex hissed at her and Lara hissed back, watching as the cat scuttled off to find Aren, whom he favored. “On the table, please.”
“With respect, Your Grace, I’m filthy and not fit for your diningroom.” James crossed his arms behind his back, and Lara was struck with how, despite being filthy, unshaven, and bedraggled, James Ashford looked undeniably like the prince and soldier that he was. Possessed of a quiet gravitas that she suspected served him well on the battlefield.
Not just a prince,she reminded herself.He’s the rightful king of Harendell.
“It’s not the first time my dining room has served such a purpose.” She gestured at the large table. “This isn’t Harendell. Ithicana is endlessly pragmatic, and given that your soon-to-be wife is Ithicana incarnate, you ought to get used to it. Also, I’m queen and you should really do as I say. It’s good manners.”
She expectedthatto light a fire beneath him, because the Harendellians were sticklers for protocol, but James only lifted one broad shoulder. “Not my queen, Your Grace.”
“That’s true.” Lara circled the table and retrieved two lamps. “Yourqueen is the murderous bitch responsible for Petra’s sacking of Vencia and the deaths of countless innocent Maridrinians. Your prior queen and stepmother is a manipulative monster who murdered both your parents in her quest for power and, apparently, Ithicana’s bridge. So perhaps you should behave with a mind not for who holds authority over you but rather for proper etiquette.”
“A fair request, Your Grace.”
“Lara.”
“I’m afraid that’s not proper etiquette, Your Grace.” A flicker of amusement gleamed in his amber eyes. “It will not do to pick and choose among manners.”
“God spare me, you and Ahnna must fight like alley cats when you aren’t fighting for your lives.” Lara set the lamps down, then slapped the table with both her palms. “You’re dripping blood on my floor, so either oblige me or go outside.”
James sighed and climbed on the table. Lying back, he exposed his throat and the nasty wound Aren’s blade had left. Another layer of skin deeper, and he’d have bled to death.
Uncorking a bottle of eye-wateringly strong spirits, Lara sloshed the clear liquid over the wound and then over her own hands, noting that James did not so much as flinch at the pain. “Your eyes are an unusual color. I’ve only seen the same hue in one other.”
“Lestara, I assume. She’s my cousin, and amber eyes are as common to Cardiff’s royal line as azure eyes are to the Veliants.”
Lara briefly considered how much she wished to reveal about what Keris had learned from Cormac, but then settled on what was now widely known. “We learned the truth about your mother’s identity from merchant captains prior to the blockade. Siobhan was King Ronan of Cardiff’s younger sister.”
“Yes.”
An answer, yet no answer, because the depths of that story were something Lara deeply wanted to know. Instead she said, “Keris’s creative punishment for Lestara did not work out as intended. Harendell was supposed to make her life a living hell, not make her queen.”
“He wasn’t mistaken. Virginia and her ladies tormented her for months. The things they did to her were not fit behavior and are certainly not fit to be repeated before a lady of your quality’s ears.”
Lara threaded the hooked needle, feeling oddly flattered by his chivalry despite very much wanting to know exactly what the Harendellian women had done to Lestara. A question to be posed to Ahnna later. “And yet your father broke William’s betrothal to Ahnna in order to wed him to Lestara, and now she is queen of the most powerful kingdom in the north, cementing the alliance with Cardiff, for Lestara is Ronan’s daughter.”
“My father never intended Lestara to be queen.”
Lara pulled a lamp closer and then pulled the jagged wound together before pushing the needle through his flesh. James did not so much as twitch. “Oh?”
“Don’t disappoint me by playing dumb, Your Grace,” James answered. “I’ve heard great things about your intelligence, as well as the training you received from your father’s Magpie. Although Isuppose stories do grow in the telling, so perhaps my hopes were too high.”
Lara stabbed her needle through his skin and was finally rewarded by a twitch of pain. “Keris is in Harendell, and he had a meeting with your uncle, Prince Cormac, who provided him with a wealth of information. Edward was married to your mother in secret. Are you aware your uncle was assassinated?”
“Yes.” James was silent, his gaze fixed on the ceiling above them, but then he added, “He’ll only be the first of many who will die if Alexandra isn’t stopped. She holds no love for Cardiff, and I can only assume she intends to extend her reach north, at the cost of my family.”
“I’m inclined to agree, although I know Alexandra did not kill Edward out of a desire for conquest. At least, not entirely. She killed him because Edward planned to reveal his marriage to Siobhan, to raise you up as Harendell’s rightful heir, to cast Alexandra aside, and to name your half siblings as bastards. She acted to protect her children.”
“That’s correct.”
