Page 9 of A Wayward Movement

Fortunately, Xavier was out of time to grapple with that particular question. Prince Theodore of Siqual and his Torrenese bride, Princess Elowen, were alighting from the carriage. They looked weary from travel, but otherwise in excellent spirits. Xavier was glad to see it. Whatever he’d said to Miriam, it did feel strange to think of his little brother being married. But he approved of Elowen unreservedly. She’d well and truly won him over when she’d gone to great lengths to save Theo’s life in Torrens, during their engagement. Xavier’s attempts to do the same thing had met with much less success, so the Torrenese princess had his gratitude.

The travelers’ smiles grew as they saw Xavier and Miriam moving to meet them, Theo even going so far as to grip his brother’s arm in a friendly greeting.

“Marriage agrees with you, little brother,” Xavier said, a suggestive twinkle in his eyes.

As usual, Theo was far too stoic to be baited. Xavier was pleased, though, to see how natural the other prince’s smile was.

“It’s good to be home, and to see both of you.” He waited until Miriam had finished greeting Elowen, then patted her shoulder in a brotherly way. “Is all well here?”

“It is now,” Xavier said. “Now you’re back in one piece and the crushing burden of our responsibilities is no longer on my shoulders alone.”

“Our responsibilities, are they?” Theo asked, a smile in his eyes.

“Which I’ve been nobly fulfilling alone.” Xavier confirmed. “I attended five meetings yesterday, Theo, you’ll be so proud of me.”

“And remarkably, the kingdom still stands,” Miriam cut in with a smirk in Xavier’s direction.

“Is that an anzu chick?” Theo asked, his eyes on the creature still nestled into Xavier’s side, mewing softly as it waited for its milk.

“Yes, she imprinted on me just now, so I’m now committed to raising her, of course,” Xavier said breezily. “I’m concerned the task may pull me away from my royal responsibilities a trifle.”

“How tragically inconvenient for you,” Theo said.

Miriam looped her arm through Elowen’s and started leading the group across the carriageway, toward the front steps of the castle.

“Some of your countrymen are here, Elowen, did you know?” she said. “A nobleman and his family.”

“Yes, I understood Lord Liston was to visit,” said Elowen. “I wonder why he brought his whole family.”

“I have a feeling I know why,” Theo said mildly.

“Exactly so,” nodded Miriam. “Xavier has been extremely hospitable in entertaining the daughter.”

“The lovely Lady Helena,” Xavier sighed soulfully, ignoring his sister’s dry tone as he repositioned his anzu chick. “Golden beauty to rival even yours, Princess,” he told Elowen. “How could a man resist any opportunity to be in her presence?”

“First,” Elowen said, giving him a quelling look, “we discussed this before the wedding, Xavier. No Princesses or Your Highnesses between family, it just makes you sound affected.”

“That’s put me in my place, hasn’t it?” Xavier said with a laugh. “I tremble to hear what you intended to say second.”

“Merely that you should be careful.”

They’d entered the castle now, and Elowen dropped her voice, her tone more serious.

“I know Lady Helena is beautiful, and I don’t doubt she’s been very…pleasant in her manner. But I know her well, and…well, while I don’t wish to speak ill of anyone in my father’s court, I would be remiss not to warn you that…”

“You needn’t worry, Elowen,” Miriam said kindly, rescuing her sister-in-law from her quagmire. “Xavier pretends to be charmed by every pretty girl who crosses his path, but he knows how to spot scheming better than anyone. Lady Helena is as stunning a beauty as I’ve ever seen, but she’s blatantly calculating, and Xavier would never be duped by someone like her.” Seeing the surprise on Elowen’s face, the princess shrugged. “No offense to Lady Helena. Having been born royal, I can only conclude that I’m incapable of understanding the lure of the status to those without it. I don’t hold it against her any more than I hold it against the parade of Siqualian noblewomen who try every stratagem they can think of to get Xavier to give them legitimate reason to think he has serious intentions toward them. Which he hasn’t given to anyone, certainly not this Lady Helena. So I wouldn’t be concerned.”

“When did you become so worldly wise, Mim?” Xavier asked, his brow creasing as he looked down at her face. The word he really meant was cynical, and he didn’t like to see that color on his little sister.

“Since Flora left, I’ve had nothing to do but observe your cunning heartlessness,” she told him with a grin.

He could tell she meant only lighthearted teasing, but for the moment, the humor he could usually find in everything was eluding him.

“It’s good that Lord Liston arrived while we were still on our honeymoon tour,” Theo said, turning the conversation to more stable ground as servants bustled around them, carrying the newlyweds’ belongings into the castle. “It means you will have had a chance to establish some authority with him when he’s been meeting with you and Father, which is better than him turning instinctively to me because of my Torrenese connection.”

“Your ‘Torrenese connection’? A romantic way to refer to your wife,” Miriam said, amused.

“Err yes,” Xavier replied to his brother. “Establish authority. Just what I’ve been doing.”