Page 13 of The Prince's Wife

"Our concern is you," Heydar snarled.

After that, Aradishir couldn't follow the fight, only grip Heydar's sides and rest his head between his shoulder blades, listening to the sounds all around him, trying not to breathe too deeply.

Eventually, the sounds slowed, then stopped, replaced by panting and the soldiers calling to each other. Aradishir shoved at Heydar until he moved. "Where is Erfan?"

"Here," said a weak, raspy voice. "Are you all right, Your Highness?" Erfan was pale, ashen, and even as he was helped to his feet, other guards were rushing up to tend his wounds. There was a nasty gash on his right side, and a cut on his forehead that thankfully didn't seem too severe, despite the copious bleeding.

Aradishir looked to Relanya, who had blood on her dagger and across her face. He must look pathetic, hiding behind his concubine and staying safe while Relanya and her handmaidens had fought. He rushed over to her, taking her hands in his and squeezing them, and he didn't give a damn about propriety. "You're well? I'm sorry you had to fight, while I—" He froze as she placed a finger to his lips, heart in his throat as it slowly slid away, leaving a tingling burn that he hoped would never fade.

"You did nothing wrong, Your Highness. Please don't be one of those who thinks more of those of us who can wield a knife, and less of those of you who cannot. That is the type of toxic attitude I am trying to leave behind in the snow and ice."

"As you say, princess," Aradishir said with a soft huff of laughter. "I'm not very good at not being useful."

"Sometimes trusting others is the most helpful thing we can do. Also, you keep a remarkably cool head in dire circumstances, Your Highness. That is a rarer skill than you might think."

Heydar snorted softly. "You should have seen him the night we met Merza, when assassins came far too close to succeeding in their mission. He didn't care about them at all. He just wanted to know that Merza was all right."

"Diamonds have no sense in their heads," Merza said cheerfully, before wrapping an arm around Aradishir's waist and kissing his cheek. "Can we get out of here?"

It was Erfan himself who replied, "Momentarily. The storm is slowly subsiding. For now, we can go upstairs to wait."

"Make certain the owner is compensated for all this mess," Aradishir said with a sigh, "and that the repairs are made in good time."

"Of course, Your Highness." Erfan led the way upstairs, stubbornly ignoring the guard that tried to help him, one hand pressed to his wounded side.

They sat at several of the tables in the main dining area, and Aradishir thanked the guards who brought them water and wine. He looked to Erfan. "You need stitches at the very least."

"I'll be all right until we can get to the palace, Your Highness. I'm sorry again for not stopping this sooner."

"You did your best, and none of us thought they'd be so determined to kill me they'd risk going about in a sandstorm, nevermind one of this severity. Did we lose anyone?"

"No, Your Highness, the most severe injury is mine. The rest are scrapes and bruises. We took care of roughly thirty assailants."

"How in the world did we all fit down there?"

"Poorly," Relanya said. "The poor owner, that mess will take ages to clean up, and all that costly wine. It's kind of you to have already thought of that and attended the matter. My siblings would not have." She sighed. "I hope we can do a more successful tour later. I really did want to see more of the city."

An ache spread through Aradishir's chest, sharp and twisting. "You will, I promise. When Bakhtiar returns, he will take you himself, and I don't think anyone wants him dead the way they do me."

"Of course," Relanya replied, but Aradishir swore she looked disappointed for a moment. About what? That the tour would have to wait that long? Maybe he could speak with Mother and see something arranged.

Certainly, he couldn't continue to attend her in Bakhtiar's stead if simply being in his presence was going to put her in this much danger. She was the future queen. Her safety was of the highest importance.

She would have been safe, or at least significantly safter, if she'd visited the city with literally anyone else.

A guard stepped inside and bowed, "Your Highnesses, Lieutenant, the storm has abated sufficiently, and guards have been dispersed to ensure our path home remains cleared."

"Thank you," Aradishir said, and motioned for Relanya and the others to be escorted first, then his harem, before he finally followed them. He was tempted to insist they travel separately, so that only his carriage would be at risk, but that would take time and more guards, and right now speed was their greatest advantage.

So he settled in his seat, directly across from Relanya, and stared out at the city as they went, heart heavy with regret and recrimination.

Chapter Six

Nearly a week had passed since he'd surrendered the greater part of his duties attending Relanya to his brother-in-law. His sister had tried to do it herself, but the crazy woman had just had a baby, for the love of the Gods. Thankfully, Mother had put a brisk end to that.

He still saw her around the palace, and could often hear her playing with her son in their private garden, but generally he only got to see her at dinner, which he determinedly attended every single night—to the amusement of his family, when he was well known to avoid the banquets whenever he could.

Hopefully they didn't realizewhyhe was so determined to have dinner in the public hall these days. The last thing he needed was his family realizing he was smitten with Relanya. His parents would give him the lecture of a lifetime, his sister would tease him, and dear gods, if his brother ever found out… Well, one of them would have to die, that was absolute.

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