Page 5 of The Queen's Line

Wendell Pope, the Mennary ambassador, reached my side next. He had the sense to bow low, one leg extended elegantly and spine straight.

"And would Your Highness appreciate any refreshment for herself?" he asked in a low and melodious tone. Behind him, Prince Thao bounced on the balls of his feet, eyes darting nervously between us.

It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, but if I accepted, then Wendell Pope would be one less suitor breathing down the back of my neck, and perhaps he would take the beautiful Prince Thao with him on his errand.

"Water please, and some fruit," I said, straightening my shoulders before they collapsed under the weight of the room. I added to the others, "Excuse me, gentlemen."

It gave them enough pause, the words a clear dismissal, for me to escape to the far end of the room where a few men were seated by the fire, watching the scene without fighting for my attention personally. Disinterested Aric was there, silver hair glinting golden in the firelight, his chair turned to face the flames, with his back to me. With him was Cosmo, the man who had watched other men while pleasuring himself, and my first choice of the day, the big and handsome rough-looking man.

There was a space on the settee between Cosmo and the other one—he must've been one of the last handful I'd called for before storming out of the dining hall—and I rushed there with all of the finishing elegance of a well-trained princess. The bigger of the two men sat up straight at my approach, his legs shifting out of that masculine spread. Cosmo remained leaning against the arm of the settee, facing the room, his eyes smiling as I hurried and helped myself to the small space.

"Prin—"

"I feel as though I know all the wrong things about you," I said, eyeing the three men quickly, careful not to glance at the rest of the room. "The choosing is a very strange ceremony. Please, tell me what is that you gentlemen do for a living."

By the fire, Aric had deep lines carving into his forehead and a dark storm in his eyes as they flicked to and away from me. Cosmo and the other man only grinned.

"I'm an artist, Your Highness. Sculpture mainly," Cosmo said.

"Any in our collection?" I asked, sitting up and brightening. I loved art. I could speak on art as long as he didn't try and turn the conversation into a seduction.

"No," Cosmo said, the corners of his dark eyes crinkling with humor. "I never apprenticed with one of the greats. But I've made sales to some of the better houses. Pope's father has one of my old works," he said, watching the other end of the room where Wendell and the others seemed to be bickering over my plate.

I glanced at Aric, but his eyes were still fixed on the fire so I turned to my first choice of the day. "And you? I called your name, but I missed knowing it was yours," I said, offering the man on my left a small, apologetic smile. He looked even more like a romantic hero from a story up close, the dimple on his chin growing deeper with his smile and a soft dark curl falling over his brow.

"Owen Dunne, Your Highness," he said, tone warm and soothing, head bowing respectfully. "I…I was a soldier in the army, and now I have a few jobs around Rumsbrooke in the north. I like working in the army stables best," he said.

I curled my legs up from the floor, tucking them under my skirt and nodded at big and gentle Owen Dunne. "Horses are lovely animals. And they have very good judgment, I think."

Owen's lips formed an exquisite smile, blue eyes clear and calming. "I absolutely agree. Aric, you said as much on the trip down here, didn't you?"

Aric grunted by the fire, and when I turned to look at him again, his head whipped toward the flames as if he'd been observing me while I wasn't looking.

"Aric owns a lively tavern in Rumsbrooke," Cosmo supplied slowly. "I used to sneak in there when I was a lad."

"No one sneaks around me, Pianetta," Aric growled, gray eyes cutting in a glare in our direction and then turning to the open room. "We let you in because the ladies liked you. Still do," he rasped with a skimming glance over me. "But it looks as though your competition will be more intent this time."

I stiffened as I saw what Aric meant. Someone must've wrestled my small plate of fruit from Wendell, and now all the neglected men of my Chosen were headed in our direction. Their gazes were more determined this time, and I didn't know if I was only being paranoid of or if there were hints of suspicion in their stares. I was already failing. I couldn't just sit here and play get-to-know-you with these men until dawn.

If I wanted to keep my position as princess inherit, then I had to perform.

I jumped up from the settee, grabbing up Owen and Cosmo's hands, finding Aric's narrow stare.

"I—please…" I swallowed hard, and Aric's head tipped as he watched me. "Would the three of you please retire to my bedroom with me?"

It shouldn't have been a question. It shouldn't even have been a statement. I should've stripped them bare and taken them on the couch like any other woman in the queen's line. But I didn't think I could stand to fake the Hunger in front of an audience so big.

Cosmo and Owen followed readily, but Aric's hands clenched around the arms of the chair he remained in and his head jerked in the briefest movement.

"Aric, you can't refuse," Cosmo whispered. "Especially not in front of the others."

The older man's jaw ticked, and he rose slowly from the chair, eyes fierce and full of anger on me. My own expression was tight as I tried to bury the panic in my own chest, and he blinked and made to follow. Owen cut our path smoothly through the sycophantic Chosen, and I hurried close at his back, grateful for the height and breadth of him giving me something to hide behind.

"Princess, please allow me—"

"You should have a prince with you to gentle their coarse habits—"

"Your water, Your Highness—"

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