Page 4 of The Kingdom's Crown

"It reminds me of Wen," Thao said, making our lover blush.

"It's late. You should join Father. I can see our party gets settled in," Wendell said. "Tours and longer introductions can wait for the morning."

It was an awkward procession up the stairs with Miriam trying to excuse the little faults she kept discovering in her home. Wendell had the best luck with reassuring her, and Owen, who declared in his most sincere way that the manor made much more sense in its size than the Winter Palace.

Wendell sighed and gave me a sheepish grin as his mother retreated into her room, and he led us further down the hall. "I warned you," he whispered.

"She's lovely and every bit as kind as you. I hope she'll be more comfortable with me in the morning, but either way, I'm glad we're visiting here so she gets to see you," I said.

"I'm afraid the more charming you are, the more flustered she'll be. Come, let's find these suppers waiting for us," Wendell said, taking my hand.

* * *

Thao's fingertipsstroked absently over mine as we both lay awake. The only sounds breaking through the silence of the house were Wendell's deep breaths.

"Is he asleep?" Thao whispered in my ear. I nodded, the pair of us staring at the silvery outline of Wendell's profile, his lips parted and hair mussed over his forehead. "Are you as nervous as I am?"

I thought over his question. I wasn't very nervous about meeting Wendell's parents; I was…unexpectedly uncomfortable. I didn't really know how to be easy with Wendell's mother the way he was, and she certainly didn't know how to be easy with me.

"Not sure," I said, pushing back against Thao's chest with my shoulder.

"Wen wants to introduce me to them, to tell them about our tigers."

"You're afraid they'll disapprove?" I asked. Thao was silent in answer. "Is he?"

"No."

"Then trust him, he knows them best."

"Will you join us? If it goes poorly, you might distract from the tension."

I scoffed and smiled, rolling away from Wendell to face Thao. He was murky in the dark room, and I wiggled closer until our noses bumped. "I will not," I said softly, stroking my hands over his bare chest.

The Popes' beds hadn't been made for a princess and her Chosen, so my other men were sleeping in separate rooms. Thao had barely fit in with me and Wendell in Wen's former bed. I hadn't expected the distinctlywrongfeeling of us all sleeping apart, but it was there, itching at me as if I wouldn't find comfortable sleep without all the excessive heat and chorus of snores I'd grown used to.

"If it were your family—"

"They didn't approve," Thao whispered. "The continuation of our line was paramount. There was no allowance for same-sex couplings. Not public ones at least."

"I suppose the same might've been true for me," I murmured, and Thao hummed, his lips grazing aimlessly against mine. "You know that even if Wendell's parents have reservations, it won't change anything, right?"

Thao was quiet for several moments before speaking. "It may not change his feelings for me, but I would hate for it to change his feelings for them."

Thinking of the way Miriam had embraced her son on our arrival, I both understood Thao's fears and doubted the need for them.

"I know why I am awake, but why are you?" Thao whispered.

"I'm afraid of everything that comes next when we return to the south. And it feels strange not to have the others in here and…"

Wendell sighed in his sleep, rolling over, and Thao and I both fell quiet.

"You sleep best when Cosmo or Aric holds you," Thao whispered, smiling as my eyes widened. "Don't worry, the rest of us aren't offended. Go on."

I kissed Thao briefly and then withheld my giggle as he rolled me out of the bed and lightly onto the floor. Wendell's room was wonderfully cluttered with books and maps and stray pieces of paper that I thought his mother must've been dusting all this time, and I shuffled carefully for the door, grabbing up my robe from a chair and peeking out in the hall.

Directly across from the bedroom door stood Cresswell, his eyes meeting mine immediately, head cocking. The lamps were turned low in the hall, and there was another guard, the young Stanley Piper, stationed at the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing up?" Cresswell asked, frowning as I shut the door behind me and crossed to his side.

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