Page 8 of The Queen's Line

"The crown will go to my sister, Camellia," Bryony said softly, brow furrowing. "She has her Chosen already and can barely be sated by them as it is. She'll take more soon, no doubt, but Grandmother insisted I go first."

"What will happen to you?" I asked, my arm finding its way around her shoulders, sighing as she leaned willingly into my chest.

"I don't know. It isn't… I want to serve my people. Grandmother said that there beingtwodaughters with the Hunger while my mother was still on the throne would bring Kimmery into a new golden age. Women of the queen's line have so few children, and for there to betwodaughters was supposed to be a blessing to Kimmery. And now I've let them all down."

Aric scoffed and slid off the bed, boots hitting the floor and heading for one of the balconies. Good riddance. I didn't know enough about the man, and I'd thought he'd been prepared to force the nervous princess into sex earlier. He hadn't though, I reminded myself. I had to credit him that. He wasn't very kind to the young woman, but he wasn't a monster.

Aric paused in one of the open doorways and threw over his shoulder, "The last thing this kingdom needs is another woman on her back, princess."

And then he ducked out of sight. Princess Bryony stared after him, sitting upright and frowning.

"What does he mean?" she whispered, turning to look at the rest of us. "The Hunger is the force for prosperity in Kimmery."

Quiet answered the princess's declaration, and her gaze darted between us until Prince Thao cleared his throat.

"Certainly to be Chosen for your—the Hunger's use is a great honor," he said slowly and carefully. "But Kimmery's wealth is largely to do with your exports from the northern territory…"

The princess shifted away from me, kneeling to face us with her shoulders back and her chin high. I forced my eyes above the subtle curves of her breasts and then swallowed when I found her elegant throat equally fascinating.

"You believe the Hunger is…less responsible?" Bryony asked.

"Excuse me for the impertinence, Your Highness, but many find the Hunger to be a…a charming superstition," Wendell said, bowing lowly as if it might soften the words. "And a great honor to be Chosen, of course."

I looked to Cosmo, who was leaning back on his palms, watching the princess study us each in turn before gazing out after Aric on the balcony.

"Do you prefer women?" Cosmo asked. Bryony shook her head, and he pushed. "Are you certain?"

"I…I do have desires," she said, and my hands fisted against my thighs at the sight of her blush. "I enjoy reading and I…I daydream for the characters, the heroes. I fantasize," she said, with that perfectly proud tilt to her chin she used when she was embarrassed and refusing to admit as much. "It's just that you're all…strangers." Her nose wrinkled, and she shrugged. "Reasonably, I see that you are handsome, and I know that I should—"

"Should has nothing to do with it, princess," I murmured, and then found my own tongue useless as she turned green eyes to me. "Plenty of people wouldn't feel comfortable with a stranger."

Not that I'd minded the idea of bedding the princess on little more than a handful of words and an order from her. And it hadn't been any of the girls I'd met before I'd thought of when asked to perform earlier. It'd been her, pristine and polished and cold on her throne as she examined me in the great hall.

She's not cold at all though, I thought. Princess Bryony was warm to the touch and a little frightened, and she'd been stiff as I kissed her. It irritated me that Aric had seen how deep her discomfort went before I had.

"It's not right that a woman from the queen's line be like 'plenty of people,'" she said quietly. "But won't someone explain what you mean about the Hunger not being responsible for the kingdom's greatness?"

I dropped my eyes to my lap. Reassuring the princess that she wasn't broken was one thing. Explaining to her that Kimmerywas…

That might be something like treason, and I wasn't a fool enough to speak. My eyes slid to Prince Thao. Perhaps someone of his rank might be able to get away with the words? Except he looked pale and preoccupied, pacing back and forth along the side of the bed.

"Kimmery does a great deal of trade, Your Highness," Cosmo said, sitting up. "Most of your labor comes from the north. Your citizens are paid very little and taxed very highly and that money is what ensures that the view outside your castle windows looks so…prosperous."

I bit my own lip as I watched Princess Bryony turn bright red, her eyes wide and her hands clenching the fabric of her skirt. There was shock and anger on her face, but also shame as she stared back at Cosmo, like she'd known such a thing might be possible but hadn't had to face the words before now.

"I don't—How can this be the case? Are you certain?" she asked, high and breathy. Her eyes glanced to Wendell, who nodded or bowed, or both at once.

"We come from the north, princess," Aric said, reappearing in the doorway. "Cosmo and I see every day what it costs Kimmerians to keep the capital shining and our queens coming on their Chosen's cocks."

"Aric," I snapped, and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"There are women and children working themselves into their graves, and you want me to apologize to the girl who lives in this?" he asked, swirling a hand through the air, eyes scanning over every ornate inch of the princess' bedroom.

He wasn't wrong; even I knew that. There was a reason why most men looked forward to the thought of being a Chosen, and it had less to do with bedding royalty than it did a lifetime away from labor. That was half my own hope in coming to the palace for the choosing.

"You know it isn't her fault," I said, glowering at Aric and ready to rise and toss him out and over the balcony until a light hand landed on my wrist.

"No, he's right. I had no idea," Bryony said with an open gaze directed to Aric. "But I should have, and that's my first failure to my people. It will be worse if I do nothing now that I've heard. I just…I have no proof that Kimmery is as well cared for as I've heard, but I have nothing but your word saying otherwise and…" Her brow furrowed, lips parted on a word that never found its voice.

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