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“Lara…” he breathed, the sound half protest and half desire. A third knock sounded, louder and more insistent, and he turned his head and shouted, “Piss off!”
Silence.
The door exploded inward, revealing a scowling Nana framed by the lamplight. She leveled a finger at them and snarled, “I knew it!”
“Get out!” Aren roared.
“Get off of her!” Nana roared back, storming into the room. “I didn’t nurse this woman back to health only for you to break her because you couldn’t keep your idiot cock in your trousers!”
“I’m not doing anything to her!”
A blatant lie, given he was still very much inside of her, but Lara said nothing. It was about time Aren stood up to his grandmother on something, even if in this, he had little ground to stand on.
“Oh? Then you won’t mind if I take this?” Nana reached for the blanket and Aren cursed, snatching at the bedding, the two engaging in a vicious tug-of-war while Jor and the other guards gaped in the doorway.
Her own temper simmering to a boil, Lara jerked her nightgown back into place and then shouted, “Enough! I started it, so if you wish to cast insults, Amelie, cast them at me!”
The old woman scowled but dropped the blanket. “Idiot girl. I expect him to be blinded by lust, but you should know better.”
“You don’t speak to her that way.” Aren dragged the blanket up to his waist, his face flushed with anger. “She’s the Queen of Ithicana and youwilltreat her with respect.”
Nana spat on the floor. “And you’re the king. Yet instead of dealing with your kingdom’s problems, you leave your sister to do the work while you play nursemaid. You do Lara no favors by ignoring your duties to Ithicana in favor of yourhusbandlyneeds.”
“I am not ignoring my duties.”
“Oh?” Nana reached down to pick up Aren’s discarded clothing. “Then why is there a council meeting going on right now while you stand, naked as a jaybird, arguing with your grandmother about whether you can hump your wife?” She threw the clothing at him. “Get dressed and go rule.”
Lara closed her eyes for a heartbeat, silently cursing Ahnna. The Ithicanian princess had grown used to control in Aren’s absence, and this was not the first time she’d behaved as though he hadn’t returned at all. “You should go.”
Silence stretched, then Aren gave a stiff nod and pulled on his trousers. Bending to kiss Lara’s cheek, he then said to his grandmother, “We’re going to have words about this, Amelie.”
“I look forward to it, Your Grace,” Nana answered sourly, watching as Aren exited the room. Aster entered as soon as Aren disappeared, carrying a tray of food.
Lara bit down on a sigh of annoyance at the sight of the man. Though he’d once sought her death, since the incident with the sharks during the battle for Eranahl, the ex-watch commander was now her most strident supporter. “Fanatic,” Aren always muttered when Aster was out of earshot, and while Lara was inclined to agree, she also knew that the old man had saved her life, and she owed him for that.
“Late to rise today, Your Grace?” he asked.
“Is it late?” She passed a weary hand over her face before glancing at the balcony doors, no light visible around them. “It’s still dark.”
“The storm is heavy over the island.” He set the tray on the bed next to her. “I checked everything for poison myself, Your Grace.”
The same conversation they’d had every day since she’d woken from her fever, yet for some reason, seeing a bite taken from every item on her plate pissed her off this morning. “It’s really not necessary for you to sample my food, Aster. Jor has the cooks watched while everything is prepared.” She bit her tongue to keep from adding,Besides, you wouldn’t taste the poison in something until you were dead.
“Four people have already tried to kill you, Your Grace,” he answered. “And there is a small but vocal faction within Eranahl demanding your execution, so I think it is safe to say there are assassins around every corner.”
Nana snorted, but Lara barely heard her, a vision of a woman with a knife filling her mind’s eye. How the woman’s face had been twisted with hatred, Lara too weak to move, too weak to scream. It had been luck that Aster had come into her room, embedding his knife in the assassin’s chest before the woman could strike. She’d fallen on Lara, blood soaking the blankets, the weight of her driving the air from Lara’s lungs until Aster had pulled the corpse off her.
She owed him her life.
Aster was watching her expectantly, so Lara dutifully picked up her fork and took a mouthful of fish, then another, knowing that he’d watch her eat the whole meal. Thankfully it was small, the entire island still on rations. As it would remain until the storm eased and boats could return to the water to fish and retrieve supplies from the other islands, as well as the bridge itself.
“Out,” Nana said to him after Lara had finished eating, and ever unfrazzled by the woman’s tone, Aster took the tray and exited the room to take up his post.
“You need to back off,” Lara snapped the moment the man had left the room. “Aren has endured enough without you berating him at every turn.”
“Why? Because if I don’t, you’ll poison me into the shitter again?”
If you don’t, I’ll cut out your goddamned tongue.The words rose to Lara’s lips, but she bit down on them. “You’re his grandmother. You should be supporting him.”
