Page 65 of Dueling the Suitors

No one in their right mind would praise him for his infamous blood wars and invasions.

Clara also said that anyone who forced their servant to work on Shabbat was dealt withjustlyby the Emperor, saying that he valued the lives of his servants and saw them for who they were. Fellow humans.

Astoria held back a snort and refrained from commenting.

Before sundown that day, the kitchen staff finished preparing the meals for the next day and left the palace. So did the guards. The ones staying at the castle only rose to service if it was absolutely necessary.

Astoria learned that Shabbat started at sundown on the sixth day and ended at sundown on the seventh. She stood on her balcony and watched the sun go down, thinking that this decree was a little absurd.

Then, in the distance, she saw a guard approach a house. A child ran out and jumped into his arms. Their happiness was obvious to Astoria even from a distance.

Perhaps it wasn’tthatabsurd, after all.

* * *

The day after Shabbat, two days before her coronation, Astoria walked around the throne room, investigating. Servants bustled in and out of the room with the ongoing preparations. They had returned to the palace early that morning.

Young guards and servants stole glances at her while working; she was aware of it without having to look. It had been the same back home too.

Her heartstrings tightened at the thought of home. She reached for the kerchief in her pocket and brought it to her face, inhaling deeply. While Emmett’s gift was supposed to help her with homesickness and missing him, it only increased her longing.

Not a day passed without her wondering about him and her beloved grandfather, as well as Silas, and even Jasper.

Astoria stuffed the kerchief back into her pocket before anyone noticed what she was doing. She rolled her shoulders back, clasped her hands in front of her, and continued her investigation. Sometimes, she paused to insist on helping hang the decorations.

She hadn’t seen Cyrus after running into him in their sitting room that morning. He had greeted her with, “Good morning,” and she had acknowledged him with a nod of her head.

It bothered her a great deal that he hadn’t said a word about the condition of his room. Astoria was half-convinced that he had somehow gone blind to her magic, but she knew that was ridiculous.

He hadn’t even mentioned the hallways she had changed. Instead, he did the same to the rooms Astoria was expected to enter, like the dining room.

In return, she hadn’t stepped into the garden he had made for her. She was tempted to, but she didn’t want to give him a shred of satisfaction. However, she did study it through the windows, telling Skylar to warn her if Cyrus came that way.

The allure of the garden’s beauty was almost irresistible, and she hated Cyrus all the more for it.

“Did Cyrus put you up to this?”

Astoria turned towards the voice and saw Rowan leaning against the doorway she was passing. If he hadn’t spoken up, she would’ve walked past him, lost in her thoughts.

“Lord Rowan, I didn’t see you there!” She greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Oh, goodness,” Rowan muttered, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. “Don’t give me something you don’t give my best friend, Princess. He shouldn’t see you smiling at me like that.” He shook his head, but a mischievous grin played on his lips.

Astoria widened her smile.

He laughed. “You are determined to get under his skin, aren’t you?”

“I’m succeeding, then?”

“Depends on what your definition of success is.” At her baffled look, he continued, “I meant, are you trying to succeed in getting his attention or in chasing him away by annoying the heck out of him?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Get his attention?” Astoria repeated, horrified. She stepped closer to avoid being overheard. “Does any of this look like that to you?”

Rowan tried to shrug nonchalantly, but the twitch of his lips betrayed the mask. “I don’t know, but that’s what is actuallyhappening. You try to push him away, and he finds all your efforts fun and rather…endearing.”

“Endearing?” she parroted in disbelief. “How is annoying someone endearing?”

“I would’ve said Cyrus is insane, but he’s my best friend and I’ve known him for the last six years. He’s never insane. So, if he finds you annoying him endearing, I’m sure he has a reason for it.”

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