Page 12 of The Princess's Chosen

"I see. Oh, just stand, Farraque," I huffed.

He swallowed hard and kept his eyes down as he stood. He was an imposing figure, but he was very careful with himself usually, often vanishing into the background when he wasn't trying to intentionally catch my attention.

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"At home near Highbury. When he grew too ill to perform, she dismissed him. He won't so much as look a woman in the eye now," Daniel added reluctantly.

I released a slow, silent breath while Daniel's eyes were down. "Remain near Cresswell, Thao, or Wendell, and either she'll leave you alone or they will intervene. We've had our own…conflicts with Camellia's appetites while you were away," I said. "But the council are coming today—"

"It's why I returned. And I apologize for neglecting my duties this week."

"Yes, all right, fine." I turned my back to him and moved to Owen, kneeling down and smiling as he nudged the foxes in my direction. They didn't clamor for my attention the way they did with him, but one let me scratch at its chin tolerantly for a few minutes.

"What is the council coming for?" Daniel was still hovering out of the corner of my eye.

"To discuss the allocation of the upcoming quarter's taxes," I said. "And to discuss the land management of potential orchards."

"Do they know about the orchards?"

"Not yet."

"Don't tell them. Their only jurisdiction lies in what the queen's line brings to them to manage."

I looked up just in time to see him turn on his heel and leave the stables in a rush. "I can never tell if he's being helpful or trying to curry favor," I said, landing heavily on the ground and scaring one of the foxes back into Owen's lap, where it stretched up, digging at Owen's pocket which was stuffed full of sugar cubes and grapes.

"Might be both," Owen said. "I believe the story about his friend though."

"So do I. Camellia did send a Chosen home who grew sick. I didn't realizewhyat the time," I said.

Owen pulled his treats from his pocket, handing them to me before rising and dusting himself off. "I'm going to go check his horse since he was in such a rush to leave. Oh don't beg," he said to one of the barking foxes. "She's sweeter than I am, and I know for a fact that she gives good scritches."

I grinned at Owen's wink in my direction as the foxes heaped back onto my lap, little paws begging at my cupped hands. He'd recovered quickly from the moment with Camellia, at least as far as he was willing to share with me. He and Cosmo had stayed close to me for the week until today when Cosmo had begged to take Cresswell and the others so he could go and continue his work on a sculpture I wasn't allowed to see yet.

"Are you nervous?" Owen called to me as I tried to dole treats out fairly and not too quickly, stealing pets when I could.

"Not nervous exactly, but curious. I think Grandmother is on my side, but she will be more diplomatic and willing to negotiate with them than I am."

"Will you follow her lead?"

"I…I think I must? She could still be queen if she hadn't been willing to step aside for my mother. She stillrulesin many ways. I will not be the highest authority in the room, even if she says she will let me direct the discussion."

"He takes good care of you, I can say that much for him," Owen said to Daniel's horse, and I smiled and leaned against the wall behind me, watching him tend the horse, who answered back in that way animals seemed to do around Owen. "Ah, if you say so. I still think he's a snake."

Owen laughed and jumped out of the way of the horse's stomping foot. "All right, all right. I'll trust your judgment then."

"Farraque has a fan in his horse?"

"Very loyal," Owen said, patting the beast's flank. "And not partial to snakes, I think."

"Speaking of, I should probably go get dressed for this meeting full of them," I said with a sigh, tossing the remaining sugar cubes in the air and watching the foxes scurry to catch them before dashing off into the nearby meadow.

* * *

"To be frank,princess, you seem to be misunderstanding the basics of covering the essential needs," Lord Roderick mused, running a finger down the line of our proposed tax allocation.

"I think we just have a different understanding of essential," I answered, staring down at their own offered list of demands. "Why should the people's money go to Sir Edge's estate upkeep?"

"Sir Edge employs over one-third of the farmers in the northern districts, Your Highness," Sir Speares said with a chuckling scoff shared with Lord Roderick.

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