The duke pivoted toward her, knocked her thigh with one of his bony knees, and dipped his brow. His messy hair flopped into his eyes, and hepeered at her through long lashes.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Kiappa.”
He sounded out her name, “kee-arhh-puh,” like he was chewing on the vowels. She squelched the pulsing low in her stomach as she processed the rest of his words.Pleased to make my acquaintance?So, that was how he was going to play things.
Head cocked and eyebrows raised, she blinked at him. “How lovely to beintroduced, Your Grace.”
He lifted his face, and his hair sort of brushed itself away from his eyes. With a tilt of his head that mirrored hers, he stared at her with—
Is that mock innocence? From a grown man?
The queen coughed, and Nes was reminded of whose table she shared.
The duke’s eyes bore into hers with an intensity that made her feel like her skin was coated in the tiny text of an old book, and he was trying to read her. The candles flickered strangely, and she glanced to where the children sat calmly on her left, enjoying their supper. It wasn’t them.
“Kas, get your magic under control,” the queen chided.
As abruptly as it started, the breeze ceased, and the flames resumed their rapid dance.
“I’m certain we haven’t met,” he said bluntly, having picked up on her innuendo.
We most certainly have, you pompous arse.She wanted to scream, but she was playing at professionalism, and the king and queen sat not five feet away. “You must be correct, Your Grace.” She homed in on the windows behind the infuriating duke. It was still pouring outside, a continuation of the rainstorm he’d forced her into earlier.
As she dragged her gaze back to rest upon her unwanted conversation partner, she caught a flash of something confusing in his eyes.
Mirth?Ooh, this man.Never mind the flutter in her chest, she narrowed her eyes at him and continued, “I had the most startling exchange in the grand hall earlier.”
“You did? What occurred?” Queen Hevva asked sweetly, sipping from her glass.
“I was directed to the service entrance by an exceptionally temperamentalindividual, despite having a summons to appear.”
The duke stared at her, his face an impassive wall of stone as rugged and angular as the palace walls themselves.
She could feel the beginnings of a blush creeping up her bosom, momentarily hidden beneath the high neckline of her dress.
His jaw tensed, and his eyes glittered.
Oh my.She had only just managed to secure the position as the twins’ magic tutor. Had she already gotten herself terminated before beginning her new role?
“Staff tend to enter via the service door,” the duke said flatly. “It’s understandable that someone could get confused.”
“Who would send her to the service entrance?” The king huffed, effectively drawing Nesrina’s attention away from the difficult duke as he spoke to no one in particular. “She may be staff, technically, but Miss Kiappa is a Guest of the King. And furthermore, she”—he gestured with an open palm—“is the daughter of Hothan Tarisden, my tutor—my mentor.” The king spoke with reverence regarding his late teacher. His eyes took on a faraway glaze, but as quickly as the look came on, it faded. He huffed again, exhaling loudly through his nose. “Service entrance my arse!”
“The children, dear,” Queen Hevva tutted, swatting her husband softly on the forearm.
Adella and Ataht giggled into their goblets. “Arse,” one whispered to the other, sending them into peals of laughter.
The king ignored his kids and continued, “I am terribly sorry for your experience. If we can figure out which fool sent you around back, I’ll happily have words with him.”
Nes pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing. The queen went for it, chuckling into her wine.
Nesrina desperately wanted to turn to see the look on the duke’s face but couldn’t risk losing her composure. Instead, she glanced down, eyes drawn to where the fingertips on his left hand drummed lightly on the table before they stilled.
With deceptive sanguinity, he reached forward to pinch the stem of his wine glass, fingernails going white before he relaxed his grasp. “It must havebeen a terrible fool, a true idiot,” the duke responded, his voice low as he moved to sip his wine.
He glanced at her as she turned her gaze on him, surprised by his quiet contrition. “To be sure. It must have been someone rather distracted,” Nes replied, offering him an out.
He chuckled, a heavy, low sound, and one corner of his small mouth quirked ever so slightly.
