Page 40 of Ties of Dust

Flora stared, stunned, as the older woman made a gesture of despair. Behind her in the corridor, several well-dressed women of a similar age loitered. Flora’s eyesflitted to the prince, to find him watching her. With the slightest flick of the head, he seemed to say,go while you can.

It was all the dismissal she needed. She slipped past the newcomer and out the door. The queen didn’t seem to have even remarked her presence, but the women accompanying her certainly did. Flora kept her expression stoic as she walked past them, noting how they stared at her and whispered behind their hands.

So the gossip began.

Chapter

Ten

The most that could be said for his mother’s visit was that it was brief. Cassius knew better than to take her overblown protestations over his safety to heart. Her main concern was the disruption to plans for the lavish betrothal ball that was supposed to be held within the week.

When she swept out as gracefully as she’d swept in—taking her usual posse with her—he collapsed onto an armchair and ran a hand through his hair.

The gesture drew his thoughts to Flora. More specifically, to the way she’d played with his hair while her mind was affected by the physician’s magic. It had felt so casual and comfortable. So…intimate.

Danger lay that way.

He knew she hadn’t meant anything by it. She hadn’t even understood what she was doing. He would be wise to banish the whole interaction from his mind, difficult as that might be. It was his own fault for pressing her to avail herself of the pain relief, but he’d been unable to stand theidea of watching her go through more pain on account of his injury.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Weariness tugged at him, heavier than it should have been. Why did it feel like the exhaustion was pulling at him from outside his body? From the direction of Flora’s room. He tried again to focus on the presence of the tether. It was faint and constant, and as he gave it his attention, the sensation of weariness increased dramatically.

It was Flora who was overwhelmed. Flora whose exhaustion he was feeling.

Cassius sat up with a snapping movement. The physician might have a point when he accused Cassius of being in trouble. The distance tether was bad enough. A direct link into Flora’s emotions was a level of connection he couldn’t afford. He was imagining it, nothing more.

If only he could climb straight into bed. But his mother wouldn’t accept either arduous travel or arrow wound as justification for missing the spectacle that was a court dinner.

His personal preparations were frustrating and time-consuming. He had to ring for a servant to assist him thanks to his injury. But eventually, he strode out into the corridor, ready to face the ordeal.

He found Flora waiting for him, standing attentively in the small stretch of wall between the door to his receiving room and the door to hers. She’d been quick, presumably with no one to help her. He’d given her no guidance on how to dress, but she’d chosen perfectly. She’d replaced the ripped and bloodied purple tunic with one of a deep gray, similar to the color worn by the guards outside Cassius’s door. It would allow her to blend into the stone of the castlewall. Other than that change, she was dressed similarly to before, with attire that had the appearance of a uniform but didn’t actually bear the Siqualian insignia. She had a short blade at her side—again, proclaiming herself a guard—but wore no other weapons, appropriately for a dinner.

He studied her, disregarding the scrutiny he could feel from the guards outside his door. To Cassius’s irritation, the departing servant who’d assisted him gawked openly at Flora as he scurried down the hallway.

As for Flora, she held herself rigid, but she looked weary. He had the impression that with the slightest release, her form would sag at once.

“How are you faring?” he asked her. “You’ll be glad to sleep, I’m sure.”

“I am fully ready for duty, Your Highness.” Nothing could be more formal than her tone and posture.

Cassius frowned at her stiffness. The more she tried to present the image of being nothing but a guard, the more absurd the whole situation seemed. They’d already shared far too much to classify their relationship as that of a prince and a random member of his guard. And he would never employ a female guard, anyway. It was one thing for Princess Miriam to have one. It would be inappropriate for Cassius for multiple reasons.

One of those reasons was the protection of her own safety and dignity, of course. The thought was uppermost on his mind as he saw how openly one of his guards was staring at her. The man’s eyes were a little too calculating as they raked over her form, and Cassius cleared his throat.

The guard’s gaze flew to him, then straight ahead, discomfited at being caught staring. Cassius sighed. The task of protecting Flora’s honor was one he didn’t want on his plate. But no one else was going to do it.

Deciding it wasn’t the time to argue with Flora about the appropriate level of informality between them, Cassius strode off in the direction of the largest dining hall. There was no way his mother would have opted for an intimate dinner when he’d just arrived back from a journey. Any excuse for fanfare was enough for the queen.

His two guards—and Flora—followed close behind him as he traversed the familiar hallways and entered the dining hall. As expected, half the court seemed to be gathered, everyone determined to greet him and exclaim over the shocking attempt on his life.

Over and over he clarified that there was no evidence to suggest the involvement of either Torrens or Siqual in the incident, but he might as well have saved his breath. Gossip had spread quickly, and most people seemed to have already decided that the attackers were Torrenese, whether official or not.

He suspected he knew who’d directed the rumors that way. His gaze was dark as it rested on Sir Keavling, speaking casually with a duke on the far side of the room.

Only once in the tedious process of greeting other diners did he find himself at the boundary of the tether. Flora had been shadowing him very skillfully, staying in range yet out of the way, but the dining hall was crowded, and sometimes it was difficult for her to avoid being separated from him in the crush.

The tug around his middle felt so much like someone had slid slim arms around his waist and pulled that he spun around, ready to confront whoever was grabbing him. There was no one there, of course, and his eyes found Flora across the room as he realized what had actually happened. Her expression was tense as she tried to navigate the crowd while remaining inconspicuous. Cassius took a few steps inher direction to make her task easier. Casting a glance around the room, he felt a jolt of unease as he found Sir Keavling’s eyes on him. The cursed man rarely missed anything.

The king took his seat soon after the awkward moment, and Cassius was relieved to be able to settle in one place. He approached Flora before he sat down.

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