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I gasped and slapped at her but she moved away just in time. “He might do something more. Maybe those pants are a bad idea after all.”
I got dressed while Candace continued to make dirty jokes about Leif and all the things he might do to me, with me, for me and everything in between. Even though she meant it as a joke, honestly, it was more of an education for me. I’d been cooped up in this prison of a castle most of my life, and now I was free.
And I was the queen, I mean, who was going to tell me no.
No one. That was who.
A knock on the door had us both jumping. Candace made some raunchy movements with her hips before straightening up and answering the door. “Her Majesty was just about to walk downstairs.” She waved him in and then curtsied but not before waggling her eyebrows at me.
She was a mess, and now all of my thoughts were firmly secured in the gutter.
“Shall we?” He asked and reached for my hand.
“Yes, of course.” My breakfast wobbled in my stomach with the look he gave me.
We walked most of the way downstairs in silence but then at the bottom, he turned to me. “It’s imperative that you visit every inch of what you own,” he looked me up and down and all of the sudden Candace wasn’t the only one talking innuendos. “You have to know it like your own skin so that you might rule over it properly.” Despite the number of times we’d already been out, he made me feel as if I was neglecting my duties. Perhaps we wouldn’t ride today.
Then he smiled at me.
Gods above. My temperature spiked what felt like a thousand degrees as Leif spoke to me.
No way I would be able to speak to peasants and my people in this state. Someone needed to get me some ice water and fast.
Chapter Nine
No matter how torn I was about spending time with Leif or how impertinent my maid was about what might be between my advisor and I, I tried hard to keep my mind on the duties before me. And that means no handsome man could distract me. I could have gone out with just a footman, and sometimes I wanted to, but Leif had such great suggestions for the many issues we confronted that it would have been utterly selfish for me to have put my hormone-fueled fantasies ahead of what needed to be done.
We’d fallen into a routine, where every morning after breakfast we set out to visit more of the people I ruled. The kingdom was small enough I could actually talk to everyone, eventually, and my approach elicited a variety of responses. Many more positive than I deserved with what these people had been through. But a few felt no need to keep from hurting my feelings. Those were the hardest stops, and the ones where Leif made himself invaluable. He was so handsome that few of the women could resist him and such a good listener that the men were glad to tell him their troubles without rancor.
But beyond listening, catching things I missed and filling me in later, and even beyond the fact he was tall, handsome, and fit, he was so charming that even those who started out with obvious resentment toward me were softened. They still expressed their feelings, told me how disappointed my parents would have been that I didn’t do more to stop the destruction of the kingdom they loved so much, or explained to me what my lack of rulership cost their family. After the first time I protested I’d been a small child for most of those years, Leif cautioned me in private that it was better to apologize or at least promise to do better in future. They’d suffered, and they didn’t want excuses.
The high council couldn’t have given me a better advisor. I hoped the others would be as helpful, or maybe not come at all. While having someone so sexy could be distracting, and the fact he sometimes seemed to forget who was queen made me nervous occasionally, his help had been valuable.
The last visit on this day was to an elderly woman at the very edge of the village. Close enough not to be considered the countryside, but far enough out to be inconvenient for her to get what she might need from the shops.
She’d opened the door to us, leaning on a cane carved with arcane symbols. Wolves aged slowly, but once the process began it was near the end. “Come in, Your Majesty,” she said, her lined face wreathed with smiles. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She moved back, her steps shuffling, barely lifting from a stone floor clean enough to eat off. Either she was still managing to keep her cottage neat on her own or someone, perhaps her children or grandchildren, were helping. I determined to find out which. Elmyra was the oldest person in the pack and deserved a peaceful and comfortable ending to her life. It might be a year away or a few decades, but that didn’t matter.
“Good afternoon, Elmyra. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person finally.” I smiled back at her and stepped inside, followed by Leif and a footman who carried the biggest basket we’d ever brought anyone. “We thought you might like a few things.”
She hobbled over to a rocking chair at least a century old and dropped into it. “I don’t mean to be rude, but my legs will just give out if I don’t sit down. Would you like to sit on the bench?”
Leif took the basket from the footman and dismissed the man outside then settled next to me on the bench that sat on the side of the fireplace opposite the rocker. It was a nice warm day, but a low fire crackled there. I’d heard that older folks often felt the cold and made a mental note to have her supply of firewood replenished on a regular basis. Glancing around the room, my initial impression that it was very tidy was backed up by each thing I saw. The traditional thatched cottage was one room, with a single bed tucked under the front window and a woodstove in the opposite corner. Some of my subjects expressed interest in living in the twenty-first century, but others lived as they had when they—or maybe their great-grandparents—had been born. It made my visits interesting.
“Elmyra, we stopped by to see how we can be of help. I know it’s been a while since the throne has done its duty, but I’m trying to make up for that.”
“Your mother and father did their duty.” Her pleasant expression morphed into a sneer. “Not like that Bors. He was a bad child and a worse adult. No wonder your grandparents didn’t put him on the throne. He wanted it, you know, much more than your father.” I didn’t hear much sound at all, but she moved her lips so precisely, I got it all. My throat swelled with emotion at her care that I get every word.
While the eldest usually inherited the title and the kingdom, I remembered hearing that there had been other eras when that was not the case. “Bors is…was older than Father?” How had I not known that?
“Aye. But your grandmother knew him for the bad seed he was. She made sure he did not get to be king. Your grandfather disagreed at first, but by the time Bors”—she said his name like it tasted bad—“reached his majority, he’d been in enough trouble, he cost himself any chance of achieving his aspirations. He never got over it though.”
I tilted my head, studying the elderly wolf shifter. “Excuse me, but how do you know so much about what went out with the family?” I thought that sort of thing stayed within the palace walls, for the most part. But it was a good reminder that news traveled.
“I was your grandmother’s companion for many years. If your schedule allows, and you’d like to know more about those times, I’d be very glad to tell you some tales.”
“Would you come back to the palace now? To live?” It seemed like a genius idea. She’d have all the luxuries, and she’d be handy to help me learn more about how my grandparents ruled. I had a lot to learn and their legends were many.
But to my shock, she refused. “It’s very kind of Your Majesty, but I am very well set here. My grandchildren see to it I get help when needed, and I had all of the bustle of palace living I’ll ever need.” Leaning forward she rested a hand on my cheek. “But when you and young Leif have your first child, I hope you’ll bring him here so I can offer a blessing on the young gentleman. Then she got up and, despite our protests, fixed us a cup of tea, and we chatted of daily happenings in the village until we’d finished the pot.
