Page 91 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

Lord Boreham, startled, fumbles his drink. My hand darts out and catches it, preventing it from spilling across his ruffled sleeves. I return it and offer a nod. “Lord Boreham.”

“Lord Rahk,” he replies stiffly, taking his goblet and retreating one step. His posture is atrocious, back curved and hips collapsed forward. I find it hard to respect a man who cannot even hold his own body upright. There is a thread of tobacco and hard liquor that wraps around him, making me regret my decision to not applyollea.

I glance over the tops of the heads of those around me until I find Kat. She stands awkwardly at the edge of the tent, a plate of dainties in one hand. She flushes when I catch her gaze. I lift one eyebrow in return. What nonsense is she up to now?

“Do you spar often?” I ask Lord Boreham. “I did not have the pleasure of crossing blades with you this last week. We must remedy that.”

“I’m not much of a swordsman,” Lord Boreham says with a nervous laugh.

You don’t say.

“He does not spend much time at the sparring yard because he does not live in Ashbourne,” Oliver explains.

“Where do you live?” I ask.

“Commington. It is not far from here.”

I could ask more questions, but Boreham clearly has no interest in the conversation. Judging by the way he shifts his weight between his feet, he is very uncomfortable in my presence. That is not surprising. Oliver seems to be the only person who does not mind my company.

“I bid you a safe journey home,” I say before putting the man out of his misery and striding away. Oliver continues the conversation while I make my way to the queen.

“That is close enough,” Queen Vivienne snaps when I come within five paces of her throne. Her hand falls protectively to her son’s head.

I sketch a bow. “As you wish. I have come to pay my respects.”

“Have you?” she replies. “What respects might you have for a human ruler? Not much, I’d wager.”

“More than you would wager,” I answer, refusing to respond in kind yet also refusing to grovel before her. “The human rulers I hold in contempt earn that privilege.”

The king of Aursailles, who I have had the unfortunate privilege of meeting, is one of them.

Queen Vivienne’s gaze moves past me to the ocean beyond the canopy. “What must I do to get you to leave our land?”

It is the closest she will come to admitting she sent those assassins to kill me. “Cooperate with me over the border issue when it becomes relevant.”

She waves a hand. “Besides that?”

I soothe my irritation with a deep breath. “That is the only way. You will soon have a troll squatting on the land that belongs to your people, and he won’t take orders from me. As the ruler of the land, you will need to order him to leave yourself.”

“A troll?” she laughs. “If you want to help us so much, just kill it.”

“I am under orders not to kill him.”

“And if I ordered you to kill him?”

“I would not listen.”

“I am finished speaking to you,” Queen Vivienne announces abruptly.

Is she, now? No wonder Ash was concerned about this transition. The troll isn’t even a problem yet, and the queen refuses to cooperate. I bow and leave, as glad to be rid of her company as she is of mine.

Kat slips back to my side, offering up the plate of refreshments she filled for me. Of all the things I feel upon her return,comfortwas not what I expected. I take the plate, only to notice that there is the outline of something missing on the plate.

“Have you taxed my refreshments?” I ask.

She shoves her hands behind her back and bites down on her lip—a guilty expression if I’ve ever seen one.

“What have you robbed me of? Confess at once.” I almost call herKat,and barely bite back the name in time.

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