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As we enter the Great Hall, I clap eyes on Cayson, sitting with his back to the skull wall, looking decidedly dejected. The scene is satisfying, but it also brings on a nice hum of low-level fury. For betraying me and this realm, he’ll die. But for touching what’s mine, he’ll die slowly and in agony. First, though, I must know who gave him the coins.
Noé is already waiting for us, but Cayson’s interrogation turns out to be a waste of time. He claims that no one paid them to attack the princess, that he and Carson won the coins in a game of chance. That might be believable if we didn’t have the letter. Taken together, the coins and the letter are too much of a coincidence. I wish I could torture the truth out of him, but it would be dishonorable to weaken the man before I face him in combat.
I spend the rest of the day – on the training field, or meeting with Bron, Elsy the healer, the cook, or in the stables – preoccupied with Rina, hoping to catch a glimpse of her on her first day free to roam, but she remains elusive.
Finally climbing the stairs to my room before dinner, I get a nice jolt of anticipation. She better be there, safe and sound and whole. If I have to hunt her down, I’m not going to be happy.
I shove the door open too hard and it bangs against the wall, scaring her and her little maid. But once Rina’s alarm passes, she graces me with a smile that can only be described as dazzling and I’m momentarily struck dumb by it. She’s painfully beautiful, sitting on a stool in her new green dress, having Kata braid her hair.
“My deve,” she chirps.
For some reason, I feel awkward.
I don’t like it. This is my room, in my stronghold, in my realm, so I shut the door with another bang, then grouse, “I see you made it through the day.”
“Yes, I’m alive and well.” The bright smile doesn’t dim. “Not a single person raised a hand to me today, or even insulted me.”
Giving her a brooding hum, I make my way to the sideboard to pour some water into the basin to wash my face. Although I just came from the hot springs, it gives me something to do that doesn’t involve me demanding she kiss me hello.
“I even received a gift,” she goes on as I dry myself with a piece of linen. “Two actually.”
Suspicion blazes to life in my gut. Chucking the linen aside, I prowl toward them. “And who, exactly, is gifting things tomybride?”
Kata touches her shoulder. “All done?” Rina asks and Kata nods. “Thank you for your help today.” Kata inclines her head and makes herself scarce as I fold my arms over my chest.
“Rina?” I prompt. “Who’s giving you things?”
At my tone, she has the audacity to allow a small, knowing smile onto her lips.What is it she thinks she knows?“Well, first, the cook . . . Dagmar, right? She’s certainly a woman to be contended with, isn’t she? I heard her deliver a tongue lashing to a maid before she presented me with a slice of her mouth-watering mincemeat pie.”
I feel the tension between my shoulder blades ease. Sure, Dagmar rarely gives out treats, but it’s not unheard of. “And the other?”
She lifts her hand to her chest where what appears to be a small flower is pinned to her dress. “One of Rionnon’s friends brought his mother to meet me and she gave me this. Isn’t it lovely? It’s made of little scraps of wool.” She waves me closer.
Humoring her, I crouch down for a better look. I’m unimpressed. My attention shifts to her face and I’m surprised to catch her watching me. I almost jerk back when she reaches out and runs her fingers into my still slightly damp hair that I’ve left loose around my shoulders.
“Thank you, Luka,” she whispers.
“For what? I didn’t give it to you.”
She leans in and something in my chest leaps with the quick kiss she places at the corner of my mouth. “For allowing me some freedom today. I truly savored it.”
I want to dismiss her thanks, but her golden eyes, so filled with emotion, hold me transfixed.
A knock at the door startles me. “My deve?” a female voice calls. Madeline.
“We should go,” Rina says. “I’m more than a little nervous.”
Straightening, I offer her a hand up off the stool. “Nervous? You think I’d let someone harm you?”
“What? No.”
I pause at the door. “Then, what?”
She blows out a slow breath. “Well, whether I have one day or fifty years left in my life, this dinner will set the tone for my future.”
Frowning, I stop her from opening the door. “You must know there will be some hostility. It’s possible my lady mother’s presence will stifle some of the worst of it, but they can be an unruly bunch . . .” I trail off as she stands taller.
“I know.”
