AllFreeNovel
Share Us
On that score, every mention of Briar had brought a jovial light to Aire’s pupils. Until roughly one minute ago.
My eyes narrowed. “You knew we were coming that night.”
Aire wavered. The soldier rarely took pleasure in expressing his cryptic ability to anticipate things before they happened, nor his knack for seeing beyond a person’s veneer. After a reluctant moment, he nodded. “I felt you coming.”
That clarified why the parapets had been uninhabited when we’d passed into the castle. What’s more, the alarm horn hadn’t blown from the tower.
Aire confessed how he’d orchestrated that. A hyperawareness woke him from slumber, signaling to the knight that we were heading to the stronghold. To prevent an ambush, he’d instructed the night watch to shift rotation.
However, Aire hadn’t gotten to the full army in time. At some point, a small company of soldiers had spotted us and positioned themselves before their leader could prevent it. From there, the resulting chaos had alerted the remaining troops.
Moving on, I sketched the man’s features for hints of another premonition. Routinely, the dutiful set of his jaw and that ominous, introspective glaze in his eyes were dead giveaways. Sensing Briar at the helm of his thoughts, my humor died a quick death, and my voice tapered. “Say it.”
Aire contemplated the vista of maples outside the window, the leaves drenched in maroon. And shit, the knight’s fingers settled on the hilt of a broadsword anchored to his hips. “I do not know.” He glanced back at me, his demeanor grim. “But it’s been too easy.”
I felt that answer in my fists. The same hunch had been plaguing me now that Briar had been home for a while.
My thorn had delivered a speech worthy of deities. That hard-won display in the training yard had earned the princess widespread support from the troops. In turn, that had gained Briar admittance to the castle and spared her from retribution.
But whilst the knights’ allegiance went the distance, influencing the nobles to reconsider Briar’s position, the deceitful part was this: No one had protested.
Win the knights. Win the court. Win the people.
That was the order.
Nonetheless, it should take time for us to redeem ourselves fully in the court’s eyes, to salvage and regain their acceptance, much less their enthusiasm. And whilst some of the courtiers would redirect their loyalties to Briar, it stood to reason that many would still give voice to their objections.
Yet nothing so far. Benevolent Autumn or not, Briar’s reception had been too quiet, too tame for my sanity. I didn’t give a shit what Season this was. People were civil and innocent until something pissed them off or insulted their orderly world views.
The princess, the queen, and I had acknowledged this in private. Unsurprisingly, Aire confirmed this sense of foreboding.
Between Rhys and the court, we could cherry pick from our enemies. We needed to be doubly prepared for anything, including another storm to follow this period of calm.
The hackles across my arms rose. Indeed, it had been too fucking easy.
***
Candles pulsed with flames along the banquet table. Throughout the dining hall, nobles feasted on pheasant pies and baked pears, the diners conversing among themselves, sips of hard cider unraveling their tongues. For once, not a single attendant cast Briar or me a skeptical, hesitant, or intrigued glance.
After two weeks, tensions had relaxed enough for Avalea to enjoy a congenial chat with the courtiers at her end of the table. And at the other side, Eliot strummed his lute for guests, taking requests from Vale, Posy, and Cadence. The court had grown used to the ever-expanding presence of Spring, despite the scandal of it and the rumored grudge it caused our former sovereigns.
Briar attempted to concentrate on the music, as well as her friends’ conversation. However, another sight distracted her. Sitting adjacent to the princess, I lounged with Nicu in my lap and muttered verse into his ear, which encouraged him to eat servings of food instead of fixating on the crowd.
Slowly, we’d been introducing him to these feasts, getting him used to the sensory overload so that he wouldn’t jump on strangers. In turn, it gave the court a chance to grow accustomed to my son, to see him as someone other than a so-called fool.
A long archway frothing with foliage curved over the table, leaves dripping from the trellis. As I pointed out to Nicu the extravagant dishes situated amid brass tapers, I sensed Briar’s admiring gaze. My attention cut to hers, fastening on the princess to the point that heat stole up her throat, the column of skin ornamented with a dainty choker.
Desire swelled her pupils, so that I became hyperaware of the vine motif painted around my lashes and the low brocade neckline of my shirt. The garment split down to my navel, with rows of necklaces dangling in the gap of my torso.
Briar wasn’t the only one admiring my attributes, nor my penchant for graphic fashion. Pun very much intended, a host of female and male gazes ogled me against their wills. Yet my thorn was the only admirer I gave a shit about.
The square neck of her bodice pumped with oxygen. The mercury of her irises glinted, more so with my son present. So this woman found my fatherly devotion sexy, did she? I’d dine on that aphrodisiac later, once Nicu was asleep.
In the meantime, her teeth sank into that plush lower lip. My incisors ached to finish the job.
At one point, Briar cleared her throat and rubbed her neckline absently. But then she did it again. Blinking, the princess shook her head and snatched her chalice, taking a deep drag of wine.
I would have fetishized this display. However, her ruddy skin gave me pause. I knew the difference between an aroused blush and patchy outbreaks. My eyes scanned her features, then landed on a red splotch branding her chin, the sight akin to a welt.
