Leaning over me, Diara lifted the cover enough to read it to herself, and let it drop with disgust as though it had been covered in slime.
“Bleugh, what is this?” she laughed. “Researching if any eligible lords are richer than the crown?”
“Yes. In fact, is your brother in here?” I teased, flipping the pages to look for Pirou.
Diara’s nose scrunched. “You can do better. Than himorthe prince.” She stood to pour herself a glass of water, and I smirked, amused that she so easily made herself at home. I wondered if she had duties to get back to, though I didn’t ask.
She dropped into the chair opposite me just as I found Pirou—and quickly closed the book. The other estates had listed their paid annual taxes in black ink. Lord Bernard Verrata’s was a pageful of red.
“Have your summer invitations come?” Diara said.
“Yes.” I opened the drawer of my secretary’s desk, handing her a short stack of bright, cheery letters. Tea parties, jousts, feasts, hunts.
Eyes wide at the volume of inquiries, Diara thumbed through them.
“Which are you going to?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as timid as I felt.
“Oh—this one for sure,” Diara pointed at a silver envelope, its wax seal imprinted with a snowflake stamp. “The Harvest Festival. The King’s brother, Marcus, is rumored to go, and everyone at the palace loves him. He’s kind of the darling of the country.”
My eyes flicked up at her over the edge of the card. “Prince Marcus is the darling of Calder? Not the King himself?”
Diara laughed. “Of course not. Kings are stuffy and boring. No one actuallylikesa king. Have you never noticed how dull Prince Hadrian is?”
I smiled at her. “I’ve only spoken to him once.”
“Ugh,” Diara gave an exaggerated sigh. “He may be easy to look at, but he’s insufferable to speak to. I’m convinced they’ve abolished smiles in prince school. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if his face cracked in half if he ever tried.”
I laughed, even though her words struck me as odd. Hadrian had smiled easily enough when he’d walked me to meet Kye in the training yard. “I’ll count myself lucky they’re not marrying me off to him, then.”
Diara’s smile faltered; her eyes suddenly dropped to the table as her hand crept up her opposite arm.
Mihaunaalive. “What?”
She cringed, as if unwilling to say whatever it was that had crossed her mind. I ducked down, forcing my face into her view.
“Diara, I’m marrying the idiot in three days. If there’s something wrong with him, you could at least tell me.”
She laughed lightly. “Prince Nikolaos seems…difficult to manage.”
I snickered.Thatwas what she’d been hesitant to share? “I’m aware.”
“He’s predictable…but in a way that’s unpredictable.”
Shifting in my seat, I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Just that—” She bit her lip. “He seems to care about little else than going against whatever the crown expects of him. Whenever he’s publicly given a task, he goes and does something wild. When the King asked him to give a speech during Apple Blossom, he disappeared and they found him in a hunter’s cabin in Sumnlea. When he was asked to host last year’s autumn hunt, they found him in Ochire, learning to forge steel. This past spring, when his engagement to the princess of Illuskia was simplymentioned—”
“He went to Leihani,” I finished for her.
She nodded. “And brought back a bride. And no offense to you, because you’re—well, you’re completely stunning, and any man in Calder would take you for a prize. But I wouldn’t expect to be romanced by Prince Nikolaos. For him, all you are is a giant middle finger to the crown.”
Diara invited me to ride horses with her in the mornings, and I sheepishly confessed I’d never ridden.
Halfway out my door, she spun around, eyes alight with excitement. “I’ll teach you.”
I smiled, though my belly squirmed. “Alright.”
“After your wedding. I’m sure you’ll be busy over the next few days.”
