Page 90 of Enchanted Heir
And then I closed the distance between us and put my arms around his waist, crushing my body into his.
“Ahh,” he whispered into my hair. “Another magical hug?”
“Surely we have a minute for this,” I offered.
I felt his words in my hair. “I’ll always have a minute for this.”
It turned out the night was not a lot to be concerned about. The king and princes discussed our upcoming trip to Nerede most of the night.
While the king took a drink of water, I asked, “Your Grace, how can I help these... tensions? What should I do while we are in Nerede? Since I’m the one who knows most of these people.”
The king pondered a moment.
“I would think proving that you are alive and well should help matters,” Keir offered.
The king put down his goblet bringing attention to the massive red jewel on his thumb. “You two,” he nodded toward Krew and I, “being your affectionate selves will also help. To see one of the princes smitten with a Nerede girl will probably shock the entire kingdom.”
Krew squeezed my hand and I could see his jaw clench. He apparently didn’t like what the king had said.
“And whatever you do,” the king continued, “do not say the word ‘disloyal’ to any of them. You never know who could be working for them or not.”
You sure didn’t.“Yes, Your Highness.”
Keir’s trip to Rallis was the day after ours, so we switched to discuss Rallis for a while. I was content to sit there, sipping my water and listening. The fact that the king was allowing me to listen in shocked me. He never would have allowed this when I first came here.
After dessert, the king turned toward Keir. “Don’t you have a date tonight?”
Keir looked at the clock and then groaned. “Yes, of course. I had almost forgotten. Thank you.” And then he was putting down his napkin and standing. “Goodnight, Father. Goodnight, Krew and Jorah.”
I smiled at him, “Goodnight, Keir.”
“Night,” Krew added.
I squeezed his hand in mine and turned to see the king watching my every movement.
“You truly are not bothered he is on a date?”
I looked Krew in the eyes and back to the king. “I am exactly where I wish to be, Your Grace. He is free to date whomever he’d like.”
The king’s lips turned up in a slight smile. “You have impressed me recently, Jorah of Nerede.” He leaned back in his chair as if sizing me up for a beat or two then added, “We are trying to make a mixture with your blood into a less concentrated liquid to spray in the forest near the lake. To see if trace amounts of your blood can do the same as your blood did in the other spots.”
I gasped. “That’s brilliant.”
He grinned. “I know.”
“Would you be so kind as to let me know how it goes, Your Grace?”
The king gave me a nod. “It’s your blood, of which we will need more of, so it’s only fair.”
I smiled as if he actually was a fair man. “Thank you.” I paused, then decided if we were selling our cooperation, we might as well really go for it. “It took a week or more the last experiment I tried.”
The king’s eyebrows rose so fast I almost didn’t catch it. Was it surprise? “Good to know.”
A few minutes of meaningless chatter later, the king scooted his chair back and stood, forcing us to stand as well.
“I also have a date. Of sorts. Goodnight.”
Well, that was a disturbing thought. “Goodnight, Your Grace.”
