“Yes. We take turns throwing knives at a target, and then everyone who doesn’t win that round has to remove an item of clothing.” She laughs as she glances over her shoulder at Jace. “Theirownclothing,” she stresses.
A weak breath leaves me as Jace pulls out a gosberry from inside his tunic. He brings it to his lips, running it across them as his eyes stay focused on the pastel woman. “You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first.”
He sucks a side of the berry into his mouth, and I feel that gesture right on my breasts. A small noise tickles the back of my throat. Richard growls beside me.
Blinking, I wrench my gaze away from Jace. My cheeks fully on fire, I clear my throat. “How… how may we be of help, Ms uh…”
“Deirdre, Your Majesty,” she says before turning to face us. “Tory Deirdre, but everyone calls me Deirdre.” She nods at my husband. “As you know, Your Majesty, I am all for this new era of peace, but I’ve had a look at those who’ve applied for a stall for today’s opening market. One of them is really going to kill my business if they’re allowed to open up a shop here longterm.”
Jace snickers, and I feel like I’m missing something. I’ve never felt more stupid or out of place, not understanding the subtleties of this culture.
My king squeezes my hand. “She’s a necromancer for hire,” he murmurs, just for me, and my love for him grows exponentially. I turn my head to smile at him, but then I freeze.
My eyes open wide. Jerking my head over to Jace, I glare at him.I bet he knows way more about necromancy than he let me believe!
Before I can voice my suspicions, Richard asks her, “I’m assuming this business is a healer’s?”
She shakes her head in exasperation. “That’s the thing. I can compete with healers. There aren’t many of them and it takes years for them to train, but this Vylian is showing people how to dress wounds and treat illnesses, using herbs they can find anywherefor free.”
“But isn’t that a good thing?” I ask, genuinely at a loss. A good brownie always helps people in pain.
“Not if you really think about it. Wait times for proper healers will grow exponentially because more people will be able to treat their own wounds long enough to survive the initial accident. That’ll lead to more disabled people existing too, so then the very structure of the city will need to be redone. And of course, those people will need to be taken care of even though they can’t work. That will add a further drain to our royal services. Taxes are high enough as it is. So you see, it would be best for Raza if we nip this thing in the bud.”
“By nipping it in the bud,” I say, wanting to be sure I’m understanding this, “do you mean deliberately letting people die?”
“Yes. But it’s not like I can’t just bring back the ones we want.”
“For a fee.”
“Of course for a fee. I’m not a charity. A girl’s got to eat.” She grins. “Well, in this case, feast, but I’ve earned the right to charge so much. It’s not easy, necromancy. Besides, why would we want the poor people back?”
“But these are people’s lives,” I push. “Surely, they should not have to pay to be able to live?”
She looks at me as if I’m too stupid to understand. “We all have to pay in order to live, Your Majesty.” Her smile is mocking. “Or are you suggesting we make housing, food, and clothing all free too?”
I blink. “Well, yes.” That’s how it works in Brownston. Everyone pitches in to help everybody. If someone wants something in a shop, they just take it. If they need a house, then the whole village comes together to build one.
“Don’t be silly.” She flicks her shoulder-length pale-green hair out of her face. “That would be ridiculous – something you would know if you –”
“Enough, Deirdre. Keep disrespecting my wife, and I don’t care what family you come from. I will execute you in the square myself.”
“Okay, no,” I say, jumping to my feet and moving in front of Richard, hopefully blocking his fly-down-and-stab-her-in-the-gut path. “No one is executing anyone. And she isn’t disrespecting me. We’re just having a conversation. Right, Deirdre?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
I smile at my king; he doesn’t return it. Stepping towards him, I turn and sit on his knee. I don’t care if this is vastly against protocol. He might not have a slug dick fetish now, but if he stabs enough people, he might very well develop one. Now there is no way he can jump up from underneath me.
As I wriggle back on his lap, heat fills me at the feel of his cock rising against my ass. He wraps an arm around me, holding me still. His breath against my ear, he murmurs, “Tease me if you wish, my queen, but if you think I won’t take you in front of people, you’re wrong.” His voice lowers, sending chills down my neck. “And don’t think I’m not going to punish you tonight for how you’ve been looking at Jace.”
My breathing heavy, I whisper back, “Careful or you might condition me to come just by thinking about him.”
His teeth sink into my shoulder. His fingers tighten on my hip. “Don’t make me execute my only friend,” he growls against my flesh.
Jerking away from him, I turn to face him. “You wouldn’t really do that, would you?”
“No.” His lips in a thin line, he grabs my chin and forces me to look straight ahead.
“The deal was free trade between our three kingdoms,” Richard says loud enough for the others to hear.“When the market opens today, it’ll be the first time people from Raza, Vlya,and Brownston have come together in harmony. We will not be restricting that in any way. If this seller wishes to open up shop here, I will not deny him.”
