Page 37 of A Game of Veils

What does the prince of Lavira have to be elated about? Princess Aurelia passed another trial with unsettling composure, even when she was expelling the contents of her stomach. And we all had to watch the entire repulsive show Marclinus giddily put on.

I’d have liked to empty a few of those buckets of vomit over his head and see how he enjoyed it then, but his next act would have been ordering me drowned in one.

Lorenzo trails along behind Raul with enough distance to suggest that while he agreed to be part of this conversation, he doesn’t share Raul’s enthusiasm. The prince of Rione twists his fingers in a swift gesture only I see. His idea. Don’t know what.

I roll the lingering ache out of my shoulders and wait for Raul to reach me. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be tumbling whichever ladies Marclinus hasn’t dragged off for the night?”

My foster brother rolls his eyes at me. He seems to think that bedding as many of the married women of court as he can serves as some kind of revenge against them and their husbands. I once tried to suggest that they might be using him at least as much as he’s using them, and then he did nothing but glare at me for the better part of a week.

Nothing we can do here has ever made all that much difference, at least not in the ways we’d have wanted. A bear with its paw caught in a trap would have more room to maneuver.

A sly smile has curved Raul’s lips. “I had a different thought about tumbling.”

I restrain a sigh. “And what about this thought was so important that it has you arranging midnight meetings?”

He folds his arms loosely over his chest. “I paid the princess a visit in her chambers this afternoon. Mostly to judge whether Neven was right that she’s been whoring herself to His Imperial Highness already—and it appears not—but I learned something else even more worthwhile.”

“Which is…?”

His grin is getting cockier by the second. “She’s not as unaffected as she likes to pretend. I caught her just coming out of the bath. She didn’t like me interrupting, but she was turned on too. No denying the tells of the body.”

Especially to a man with Raul’s gift.

“How does that help us?” I ask. Will he get to the point already?

“Unnerving her hasn’t stopped her from coasting through the trials so far. But there are other ways to mess with her—and Marclinus. It’d be some kind of victory if one of us—fuck, all of us—could claim her before he can. Cuckold him and then if she makes it to the end, reveal it right when he’s got no other contenders left? He and his damned father will look like idiots.”

Lorenzo’s mouth has twisted uneasily, but a glimmer of some hotter emotion shines in his dark eyes. I’d be lying if I said Raul’s suggestion hasn’t kindled something in me.

His plan isn’t completely absurd. It’d be another way of undermining the traitor in our midst, if nothing else. If we can win her over, gain her trust, and then turn on her, we’ll leave her completely off-balance.

I imagine a blush staining Princess Aurelia’s pretty face, her lips parting with a sigh of passion, and a flush of my own creeps over my skin.

The possibility of seducing her is more appealing than I like. How much is Raul being guided by strategy and how much by his own base desires?

Entangling ourselves with her could upend our own plans as much as hers.

“I doubt she’ll be all that interested after the reception we’ve given her, no matter how her body might react in the moment,” I point out. “If there’s anything she’s shown in her performance before the court, it’s self-control.”

Raul shrugs. “There are always cracks. She’s alone without anyone here she knows. She’s still human—she has needs.” He flashes another grin at me. “I think you’re just afraid I’ll beat you to the punch if you give it a shot.”

I grimace at him. “I don’t see why that would matter if your idea is that we’d all have her. I’m simply not convinced this would be the best use of our energy. She must have other weaknesses.”

“This will be the most fun to prey on.”

I lift an eyebrow at Lorenzo, who makes a noncommittal gesture. He isn’t fully on board, but he’s not outright against the idea either.

If I encourage Raul, there’ll be no stopping him. As always, it’s my job to be the voice of reason among us.

I turn away as if I’m done with the conversation. “I’m sure you’ll do whatever you want regardless. Just make sure you’re listening to your head at least as much as your cock, will you?”

Raul’s tone becomes slightly mocking. “Thank you so much for your not-quite-blessing, King Bastien.”

That’s what he always calls me when he thinks I’m being a hard-ass.

He spins on his heel and strides off. Lorenzo meets my eyes with a look that seems to say, That’s Raul for you, and lifts his hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn.

I wave him off. “Go get some sleep. Who knows what tomorrow’s going to bring.”

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