Page 29 of Of Rime and Ruin
“That’ll be all, Deirdre. Thank you.” I dip into the soup with my spoon.
My housekeeper hesitates.
“Perhaps something for dessert later,” I add.
“Thought so.” She chuckles. “How does a piece of cinnamon cake sound?” Deirdre leaves without waiting for my response.
The fish wedges tight in my throat, and I cough. I reach for my water, gulping it to clear the obstruction.
And there she is, Nahlani kneeling before my mind’s eye with her mocking mouth, saying,What kind of monster are you?
I’m up here, warm and cozy with a bowl of soup and cake on the way, while she’s freezing in my dungeon. I stare into the bowl, disgusted by its contents.
I am Princess Nahlani Mahelona, second heir of the Brine. I have a few rules for you.
The fight in this female is strong. Princess or spy, I have to hand it to her—she’s got spunk. My mouth quirks into a smile.
“Not hungry?” Deirdre’s skirts hiss across the floor. I turn to see her enter with a plate of cinnamon cake. She sets it next to my untouched soup, then props her fists on her hips.
I grunt, eyeing the cake as my throat fills with bile.
“Hard to believe,” she presses.
I avoid her questioning gaze.
“May I?” She pulls a chair from the table. I nod, and she sits. “Your Majesty. About this princess.”
“Spy,” I correct, “claiming to be a princess.” I can hear the doubt in my voice.
She sighs. “I can find her in the royal directory, if you’d like.” Deirdre fishes in the pocket of her apron, retrieving a tablet. She brushes its surface to activate the inscribed spell. “Princess Nahlani, sister to Queen Winona, second daughter to Jovan and Geena. Two and a half decades old as of this warm season. Golden fins. Bronze skin. Brown eyes and curly hair.” She lifts her gaze from the book. “Ring a bell?”
Twenty-five? She’s practically a youngling. I scoff and tell Deirdre so.
“Not much younger than your thirty years, Sire.”
I lift my fork and skewer the tip of the cinnamon cake. It melts in my mouth, and I swallow my groan. This isn’t helping.
“You know what I think, love? Cut this dungeon act. Give her an upper room like she requested. She’ll be here a while, no? Unless you plan to send her home?”
“No. Never.”
She can’t leave now. She’s seen too much.
“And how long do you think you can hold this princess, before the Brine comes looking?”
“Did I ask you to join me, Deirdre?” I snap. “Or are you going to leave me to eat in peace?”
“Is that what you’re doing? Eating?” She nudges my abandoned soup closer. “You can’t leave a foreign princess to rot in our dungeon. It’s a bad look.”
“She doesn’t belong here. I will not coddle her. I will not let her inside my keep so the Brine can poison my tea.” I tip my mug, sniffing for ailments. “Now,thatwould be a bad look. Is that what you want, Deirdre? Another corpse on your hands?”
She flinches, and I bite my tongue with instant regret. That was too far. It was just this week I severed her nephew’s foot.
Deirdre straightens her apron. “All she asked for was a few simple comforts, Your Majesty. If you intend for her to stay awhile, then maybe…”
I sigh. “You want me to make her comfortable?”
“She is our guest.”
