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But Soren, of course, drew some kind of threat from my words. His eyes narrowed and mouth pursed before the most unexpected voice said, “May I play you?”
For a beat, utter silence filled the hall.
Then I swerved my gaze to Vienne, words failing me. “I… You… What?” Certainly, she hadn’t just spoken.
Next to her, Soren snorted out a hard laugh. “You must be joking.”
Vienne glanced at him curiously before slowly shaking her head. “Not at all. I’ve always enjoyed a friendly game of chess.”
Allera snorted. “Friendly?”
I cut my sister a glare before turning back to Vienne. “I must warn you, I’ve been told my chess playing is quite…aggressive.” I have no idea why I said that. I didn’t want to dissuade her. As soon as she’d brought up the possibility, I realized I wanted this, desperately. More than anything.
“You’re competitive,” Vienne said, her nod accepting. “I can handle that.”
“Well, I can’t,” Soren growled. “I forbid it.”
My jaw tightened in an effort to keep quiet, even though I wanted to call him out for his tyrannical command. No, honestly, forget wanting to say anything, I mostly just wanted to punch him in the jaw.
“Why?” Vienne asked her husband curiously. “It’s all quite harmless. Even Yasmin stopped having maids chaperone Nicolette and him while they played. And if those two have been deemed a safe match, then why would this one be any different?”
The look Soren sent her was full of censure and anger. He wanted to reprimand her. He wanted to hurt her. My muscles coiled, ready to spring into action if the dick so much as let a finger fly in her direction
But then he sent a quick glance toward the king, and his shoulders lowered.
Gritting his teeth, he growled, “That’s different. The High Cliff bastard’s never claimed Nicolette was his one true love.”
“Oh,” Vienne murmured with a dawning kind of revelation. Her gaze turned teasingly toward me. “So, you think he’ll try to seduce me away from you… Across a chess table?”
“Wow,” I murmured dryly. “Honestly, Soren, I’m actually flattered you think my powers of persuasion are that impressive.”
Soren spun to me. “I didn’t say—”
“You know, you’re right,” I went on, cutting him off with a lazy smile. “It’s probably best if she didn’t get too close. My charisma, you see… It’s so potent and compelling.”
Next to me, Allera and Brentley cracked up, laughing.
“I didn’t mean that,” Soren seethed.
But I was on a roll. “Why, I might accidentally offer her an innocent smile, and she’d receive it as some kind of invitation, clearing all the pieces off the board with one sweep of the hand so she could drape herself across it in offering, shedding articles of clothing as she went, begging me to take her, right there in front of everyone. And we couldn’t have that, of course. It’d quite ruin the chess game I want to play.”
“Okay, you bastard,” Soren roared. “Play your stupid game. But I’ll be watching your every move. Get out of line once, and I’ll—”
“I know, I know,” I told him dramatically, my smile sparkling with smug victory, because after dinner, his wife would be mine. “You’ll make me wish I was never born and all that. I have the entire speech memorized by now, so please feel free to save your breath, if you’d like.”
More chuckles fluttered around the table, even the king and queen seemed amused by my taunts. Only Soren and Vienne—who sent him discreet, worried glances—were unaffected… Or maybe I should say they were not affected with amusement, because Soren did seem quite affected, just of the pissed-off variety.
“That’s it,” he snarled, surging to his feet. “One more snarky word from you and—”
“And nothing,” the king finished for him, sounding almost pleasant as he focused on his meal, though I swear I saw the hint of a smile play across his lips. “The two of you will not come to blows. The prince has made his point, he will behave himself, and you’ve already agreed to let them play. That is all now.”
His cousin jerked as if he’d been stabbed in the back. “But you heard him. He…he…” He jabbed an incredulous finger my way.
I lifted my eyebrows, curious to hear what charge he had against me.
The king finally looked up from his fork full of sliced pork. “I said let them play. It’s only a game, shared in full view of everyone. If we cannot trust even that, then neither of them should be allowed to remain in the castle at all.”
“Which would be fine with me,” Soren mumbled. “I say exile the bastard, already.”
