Page 21 of The Prince's Wife

Once it was just him, Heydar, and Merza, he sat down at the table and spread his hands across it. "This is getting out of control. We need to do something about those merchants. All this because I'm making sure they can't keep tradingpeople. How fucking long is this problem going to be the bane of our kingdom?"

"As long as there are buyers, there will be sellers," Merza said grimly. "It doesn't help that Tavamara is the perfect location, being such a hub for trade, with easy access to the rest of the world."

Aradishir sighed. "I feel like I'm trying to swim up a waterfall with this, but we've no choice but to persevere. One person saved makes all the effort worth it. So tell me what you gleaned from your hundreds of questions."

"Whoever sent them was cheap about it," Merza said. "I could find who did the work easy."

"I don't like you going into danger like that," Aradishir said. "You're supposed to be safe now." His mouth twisted. "Though at that, I suppose being my concubine puts you in more danger than you ever were before."

Merza leaned in to kiss his cheek and nuzzle into the hollow of his neck, breath hot against his skin, leaving it tingling. "I would face this and more to stay by your side, my prince. You know that." He pulled back and grinned. "I'll face assassins allnight long if it means coming home and wrapping you in rope before using you as I please."

Aradishir laughed, even as his cheeks grew hot. "Shameless. All right, then. But take Heydar with you. Two is better than one, and his muscles are good for many things." He winked.

Heydar rolled his eyes. "We'll go while you're working, though that leaves Javed to work through the day with few breaks. I'll speak with His Majesty's concubines, so everyone is aware."

"Thank you. Suppose I should get on with the rest of my day."

"Let's return to our chambers first, get you dressed for that. I'm sorry the breakfast did not go well."

Aradishir shrugged, staring at the rug before he set his shoulders, lifted his head, and headed out. "Bakhti is home, that's all that matters."

Heydar and Merza sighed in unison, but at his scowl, held up their hands in surrender and said nothing, only walked with him back to their chambers, where they and Javed helped him dress for another day of meetings, interviews, and socializing with powerful people.

His first official meeting was, conveniently, with some of the very merchants that were likely behind the attack on his contacts. Which reminded him that someone here in the palace must have let that knowledge slip. Someone close, a servant or a guard who'd caught sight of one private meeting or another. So easy to overlook their ubiquitous presence.

Javed fell into place at his side as they left his room, the others slipping away through the secret passages to speak with his father's concubines before departing.

Out in the hallway, Javed stopped them, though, and turned to the guards. "I'd like you both to attend His Highnesstoday. His contacts in the city were nearly killed today, and you're the only two guards I entirely trust right now. We fear they might grow bolder in their attacks, and some of the perpetrators will be at the meeting we're to attend in a few minutes."

"Of course, Lord Javed," one guard replied, followed by the other adding, "It is our honor to serve, Your Highness."

"I appreciate it, deeply," Aradishir replied quietly. "Let's hope your presence is enough of a deterrent that nobody else gets hurt today." The guards fell into place around them, along with a couple of others who were silently ordered to as they headed down the hallway.

The guards at his door were always a rotation of the same eight, two on duty at all times. They'd been the same guards for the past ten years, a duty not granted lightly and only with the personal approval of the king or queen. According to his siblings, his mother had interrogated all eight of them at great length, given absolutely no quarter before she had decided upon them. His father had handled the guards that watched his siblings; why his mother had taken care of his, Aradishir still didn't know. Likely just a matter of his father being busy and such, as was so often the case.

They turned onto the hallway where the meeting room he needed was located—and Aradishir drew to a startled halt to see Relanya there, surrounded by her handmaidens, right outside the door of the room he was headed for. Shouldn't she be with Bakhtiar? What was going on?

Chapter Ten

"Your Highness? Is something wrong?"

A shocking amount of relief filled her face when she saw him, and before he could blink, she had strode over to him. "Prince Aradishir, I heard that some of your people had been injured. You also seemed so unhappy at breakfast, and before in the garden. I wanted to make certain you were all right."

Aradishir's cheeks flushed. She'd been worried about him? "My people are the worse for wear, but will be all right, thank you. I am sorry my bad mood bled so badly into breakfast and in the garden. Spending time with my future s-sister is always a pleasure. And playing with your little escape artist is always a joy."

Relanya huffed a small laugh. "That boy will truly be the death of me. He is deeply enamored of you, Your Highness. He keeps asking—" She stopped, an expression he couldn't parse flickering across her face. "Well, lots of questions, but what child doesn't, I suppose. Are you certain you're all right? Is there anything I can do?"

"That you care so much is more than enough," Aradishir replied. "Please, do not let me keep you from your day, getting to know Bakhti. I know he is most excited to finally meet you, spend time with you."

"Of course," Relanya said, but her smile was not as warm as usual, and it did not reach her eyes. "I hope your day goes well, Your Highness."

"And yours," Aradishir said softly, hands curling into fists, hidden by the folds of his robes, as he fought to keep fromreaching out to her as she walked away. Once she was gone, he stifled a sigh, set his shoulders, and stepped into the room.

He was met with friendly smiles and cold eyes, save for a single merchant in the corner, a beautiful woman with dark skin and hair and the most vivid green eyes he'd ever seen. Even from across the room, their color was clear and bright, like jewels in the sun. Somehow, she reminded him faintly of his mother, that confident air about her that said she knew she was the smartest in the room and she liked it when no one else knew it.

Strange that he'd never met her before.

"Greetings," he said coolly, moving to take his spot at the head of the long table they all sat around, positioned so that the sun was behind him, streaming through large, costly glass windows. This time of day, it would be difficult to stare directly at him—and so all the harder to attack him. "I hope you came prepared to listen to me, because I'm not in the mood for your whining and complaining. We are fighting against human trafficking. Against people,children, being sold and bartered like goods. I've long grown tired of your reluctance to attend the problem." He rested his gaze on the woman sitting in the far right corner. "Who are you, my lady? I do not recognize you."

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