Page 98 of Thief of Hearts

The king of Epirius was going on my list.

“Concubines? Or slaves?” I asked sweetly.

He bristled at that. “They are my guests.”

“Guests who can’t leave, I am assuming. And aren’t paid for their work.” There was not enough money in the world to compensate for having to climb into that man’s bed. “I thought Epirians didn’t steal people.”

Actos watched me, his finger drumming against the top of his cup. “I had heard you were outspoken. That is not something I generally tolerate.”

“If there is something you want from me, you will have to learn to tolerate it.”

He surprised me then by bursting into laughter. “Come, Queen Thalia. Let us be friends. Please have a seat.”

“Do it,” I heard Zain mutter under his breath.

A servant had pulled a chair out for me and I went and sat. Zain took up a position behind me.

“Have you had your manservant long?” the king asked, as if I were some kind of hypocrite.

But my “manservant” didn’t have a collar around his neck. And as much as I would have loved to tell Actos that he and I had very different definitions of what a manservant was, I realized that I couldn’t risk it. Given how depraved the king was, who knew what he might do to Zain if he knew the truth? “I’ve had him for some time.”

Servants brought out the first course and set it in front of us. The last thing I wanted to do was eat, but I needed to keep up appearances. The fruit that was served tasted like chalk in my mouth.

“Excellent, isn’t it?” the king asked and I nodded.

I wouldn’t be able to speak until I managed to swallow this down.

“You don’t have your manservant waiting on you while you eat? He could be pleasuring you.”

Was that what the king was doing right now? I nearly dry heaved. I forced the fruit down my throat and managed to say, “We keep our activities private.”

“That’s a shame. You have no idea how much fun they are in public.” King Actos caressed the buttock of a woman standing near him and she smiled down at him. The moment he looked away, she shot him a look of such pure hatred that I was surprised he didn’t spontaneously combust.

The king spoke and I realized he wasn’t talking to me. “You there, what is your name?”

“Theogenes, sire.”

“Theogenes, you can rub your mistress’s feet while she eats, can’t you? You wouldn’t want to neglect her.”

I heard Zain’s steps behind me and then he came into view, kneeling down by my feet. He undid the ties on the sandal of my left foot, his fingers trailing along my skin. Was he actually going to massage my feet? I couldn’t breathe normally.

He carefully slid my sandal off my foot and my pulse was already pounding. He undid my right sandal, giving it the same attention and treatment. Slowly sliding it off so that it felt like torture.

The king was saying something but I wasn’t listening. Because Zain’s warm, strong hands began to knead my left foot. He was actually massaging my feet and it felt incredible. I had thought he would pretend, but instead his clever fingers found the most amazing spots that I somehow felt all over my body. Tension that had hardened in my shoulders and neck started to ebb away.

Then I felt a kiss on the top of my left foot and I jerked away instinctively. I pretended to drop my knife and bent down to retrieve it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I hissed at him.

He had the audacity to grin at me. “Selling the story. You have such lovely feet I couldn’t help myself.”

“No one can even see you. Stop it.”

“As you wish, my illora.”

I told my heart to stop glowing over Zain calling me that again. I straightened and pretended like I was listening to the king. He was talking about grain imports and distribution. Was this why he wanted Lia here? To bore her to death?

My breath halted when Zain’s fingers began to creep up my calves. He massaged them, running his fingers up and down slowly. It felt so good that I didn’t make him stop, even though I should have.