Page 68 of The Princess's Chosen

Wendell hummed with agreement, and Cosmo climbed onto the bed, pulling my feet into his lap.

"I'm not a fighter, but I'd stand in the way of anyone who tried to hurt you, little muse," Cosmo murmured, expression uncommonly grave.

My heart thumped anxiously, and I shook my head. "Don't say that, come here."

Owen made room for Cosmo at my back, and Thao slid down at Wendell's, arms stretching around me and sliding under my hips until I hovered in a tangled cradle of a hug.

"Aric will return shortly, Cresswell will relent soon. By spring, Kimmery will have the beginning of orchards and rich farmland. We will mend the roads and moderate the taxes and wrangle the laws from the fists of the council to make them fair," Wendell said, decorating kisses across my face until my eyelids fell shut.

"I said we might go south in the spring," I murmured. "Although I will miss the north if we do."

"We'll go south, and you'll win the hearts of the people there too," Cosmo said. "You'll show the queen the depth of your Hunger and the good it can do."

"We'll host my family at the castle and create an even stronger treaty of alliance," Thao said. "My mother is a liberal, she'll like you."

"All will be well, Mistress," Owen soothed.

I sighed and softened in their arms, dozing to the murmur of their voices.

22

Bryony

The evening was gray, the sky misting over the mountain, something that wasn't quite snow or frost but clung to every surface and glittered dully. It ran like tears over the glass panes of the windows in the greenhouse where I sat and fussed over notes for a letter to my grandmother. There was a great deal I couldn't tell her now, but I did want to find a way to mention claiming Aric as my Chosen, if only to goad and gloat. I'd already received two letters from her since her departure, and while they were mostly news of her discussions with the Southern Council, there was a friendliness to the exchange that brightened my mood.

I wasn't sure if it was a storm or just the evening, but the room grew darker every minute until even the pretty lanterns Delilah had lit for me weren't enough to see by. Cresswell was at the door, his back to me, the pair of us trying to ignore one another in a painful way. My Chosen were right, I thought. Eventually, Cresswell would change his mind, decide that he could love me up close and not just at a distance to protect me. I would help him reach that decision, but for now I was giving it a little time.

"Is it time for dinner?" I asked his back.

"I believe so, Your Highness," Cresswell answered without turning.

I grimaced but didn't correct his formality. He'd fumbled around my title as if it felt as clumsy and uncomfortable on his tongue as it did on my ears.

Wendell was reading with me, but Thao and Owen had gone with Cosmo to his studio for something a little more active than sitting and waiting for someone to bring news on whether or not Emory had been retrieved.

I stood, and Wendell followed suit, moving to my side as I closed my notebook around the letter and slid it into my pocket. Cresswell turned from his stationed place just in time to watch my eyes fall shut and head tip back as Wendell dressed my throat in faint kisses. It wasn't an intentional taunt, Wendell was just excellent at providing touch when I hadn't even realized I needed the comfort, but I could see the tension on Cresswell's face when my eyes opened again and he was still watching.

What else would he watch, standing like stone and refusing to touch?

Wendell's arm circled my waist, and he guided me gently forward to the hall, Cresswell keeping a cautious width of room between us, when a flurry of movement bounced and echoed off the tile. It was often difficult to place sound and where it came from within the palace, but the sound was urgent. I ignored Cresswell's lead toward the direction of the dining room and headed for a connecting hall just in time to see Owen passing on the other end at the front of the palace. He looked hasty, shoulders hunched forward, legs moving at a quickening jog.

"Owen!"

"The horses," he called automatically without looking back. "The stables, something's wrong!"

"Bryony," Cresswell said, but this time he didn't wait in the hopes that I would listen, hurrying back to my side with Wendell as I started after Owen.

We didn't like to waste candles and oil keeping the whole palace lit, and the hallway seemed impossibly long in the dark. Even the windows at the front of the palace were full of shadows, night falling with a great and sudden cloud of darkness.

"Is it the storm brewing?" Wendell asked, but there was no answer for him. We reached the spot I'd seen Owen running down just in time to watch him vanish out of the front of the palace.

"Bryony, you stay at my side," Cresswell bit out, his hand clamping on my shoulder as we hurried after Owen. But he didn't try and tell me to stay put at least.

"He just took off," Cosmo called from behind us. "He got stiff and pale, and then started running."

The horses, I thought, wondering, not for the first time, about Owen and his connection to animals.

The rain was growing heavy, sloppy almost, just at the edge of turning into snow, and there was no sign of Owen as we reached the open door, or the guards normally stationed there. Water pooled on the tile floor, and Daniel was escorting Lady Prudence down the stairs as we all piled around the doors.

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