Page 214 of Settle Down, Princess

Chapter 118

“Of course we’ll invade Lanzene and Matteau,” Bill shouted. We were several cups of tea and a few beers in now, the shadows outside growing longer. “We didn’t start this fight, but by the gods, we’ll end it!”

“Makes good sense to me.” This was Edgar, one of Roan’s brothers-in-law. He had the very diminutive Hailey perched on his lap, the youngest of my mate’s sisters. “We spend all this time, all this energy keeping them at bay. A man doesn’t bargain with rats when they’re trying to get into his silo of wheat.”

“I’ll be a soldier!” Benny cried, and the men all chuckled, one of his uncles reaching down to ruffle his hair, but the men and women, they all reacted very differently. His father, his uncles all seemed well pleased by this display, beaming down at him, but the women?

“You need to clean up your bedroom before you do anything.”

Did the others hear the stiffness in Desi’s voice, see how pale she had gone at the idea? The women seemed to, some of her sisters searching her face, trying to meet her gaze as Verity, the sister closest to her, took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Aww, Ma…” Benny said.

“Come on, Benny,” Geneva, his sister said, holding out a hand. “I’ll help. Anything to get rid of that stink. Did you bring tadpoles home again?”

“Maybe…” Benny admitted as they walked down the hall.

“Did you remember to top up the water or to give them food.”

“Tadpoles need food…?”

The women all shook their heads and smiled as the two children disappeared into Benny’s room, but the men? They were like a dog with a bone when it came to the topic of war.

“I think I’d look proper smart in uniform,” Bern, another one of the husbands said, flicking his hand down his front.

“They’d need some extra cloth for yours,” his wife said, patting the swell of his belly. The other men started chuckling at that.

“He’d work off that belly marching to the front,” one of them said as he raised his tankard.

“It’s a good thing the Bastard”—Bill looked at me—“Prince Arik overthrew that prick of a brother of his.”

“Did you hear that King Magnus wasn’t even the old king’s son?” said another man.

“Arik’s a good egg,” Bill continued. “He’ll lower those bloody taxes that cripple us all and beat those bastards across the border so soundly, it’ll be generations before any of them dare stick their heads up again. He’ll repair the roads, maybe finally pave the ones in Cheapside.”

“Put in proper plumbing,” another said.

“Maybe a grant of land, so we can grow our own vegetables rather than be charged a mint at the markets,” Edgar said, his gaze fixed not on us but the future. He came back to the room with a snap, shooting us all a sheepish smile. “Better times are coming now that Arik will be king, just you wait.”

“But not right away.” I looked around, wondering which woman dared to contradict all of this masculine optimism, only to find it was me. Everyone’s eyes were upon me, prompting me to explain. “If we’re to fight a war, taxes will need to be increased.” A small rumble of disapproval came from the crowd. “I realise that that won’t be popular. Gods, it might put some people in the poor house.” I frowned, staring at the rough wooden floor of the cottage. “Or worse, but…” My eyes were forced up. “A war is expensive. Money must come from somewhere for uniforms, rations, weapons.”

“From that big pile of money they’re sitting on in the palace!” Bill snapped, red spots forming in his cheeks.

“Now, Bill—” Desi tried to say, but he shook his head.

“That Magnus has been living the high life while we struggle to keep a roof over our fucking heads down here.” Silence fell over the entire cottage as we all stared, taking in Bill’s stricken expression. He seemed to realise that he had exposed himself more than he intended, swallowing hard and then shaking his head. “I thought we’d lose the lot when I had my accident. Not much use for a fucking cripple, is there?”

“Bill—” one of the women said.

“Then my Desi was forced to work in the bloody palace and we all know what happened to poor Millie.” The mumbles now were much quieter, sadder. “Then that bastard took my wife.” His hand went to the bare nape of her neck. “Tied her up and shaved her like a sheep and for what? To try and bring the prince and his band down? All of your beautiful hair gone…”

“It will grow back and be twice as beautiful.” I felt like I was intruding shamefully by speaking up amidst this family, but if I was to join it, surely I had to learn to? “And, anyway, the way the short hair brings out Desiree’s bone structure, it’ll have other women shaving their heads just to try and achieve the same perfection.”

“There, Desi…” Hailey said. “Didn’t we say as much?”

“Don’t see you lot promising to shave your heads bald in solidarity, do I?” Desi said, her eyebrow jerking up as she regarded her sisters. She snorted when Verity’s hand went to her long braid, then shook her head before turning to me. “But thank you, Pri—” She smiled. “Jess, but to be honest, I’m just glad I survived what happened.” Her focus shifted to Selene. “That we all did. But if you’re to bring a message back to that brother of ours, tell him this.” She straightened up. “The people have been treated too badly for too long. They need us to clean their floors, cook their food, change their sheets and now to fight their wars? Then they need to find a way to do that which doesn’t include squeezing the lot of us dry. There’s nothing left to squeeze.”

“Then an invasion is out of the question,” I said. “War is expensive, but that price is beyond what lies in the palace’s coffers.”

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