Page 6 of The King's Bodyguard
“I’m. To. Be. MARRIED,” I said petulantly, feeling the flush rise to my cheeks.
“Gods.” Corrin blinked. After a beat, he delicately inquired, “Er, to whom, if I may ask... your Highness?”
“The princess of Esteria.”
“The princess of Esteria. That’d be Princess... What is her name? Which one? Aren’t there three?”
“How the hells do I know?” I said. “I was just told ‘the princess’. They didn’t specify.”
It was embarrassing, but I hadn’t thought to ask for the details. At Lord Berran’s words, I’d simply ceased listening. I barely recalled the names of the Esterian royals anyways. There was so much I didn’t know, and now Corrin knew how ignorant I was. I bristled a little at the realization.
“Gods,” Corrin repeated.
He too seemed a little bit in a daze. There was no snide comment about my ignorance. Instead, Corrin seemed to be entranced by the fall of the water from the ornate flower-tipped spout of the fountain. With a sigh, he glanced back my way.
“I know it is my duty. It is what I ought to do for all of Sumarene,” I raised my chin and tried to ignore the wetness which gathered at the corner of my eyes. “But I suppose that a simple Munni tom wouldn’t understand.”
“No,” Corrin said. His green eyes softened then. “I can’t. But I find myself...”
He stopped himself, perhaps reading something on my face. Corrin shifted then, nodded wordlessly, and then offered a pained smile.
“Never mind that,” he said. “Let me instead offer what support I may give, whatever you need, please ask of me.”
“I appreciate the offer.” I sounded more formal than I would like. “There is much at stake. If the marriage is successful, the treaty is sure to follow,” I said as much to myself as to him. “I just... have to do it.”
“But if you could, you would...” Corrin’s glove lowered to rest over my own. The soft deerskin leather brushed across my fingers in a soft caress. “You would wish yourself Munni. To love who you love.”
“Forget I said that,” I said roughly, wanting to pull my hand away.
I couldn’t. My body simply rebelled. Betraying my barely contained emotions, my golden tail quivered between us. Instinctively, I hunched. My ears lowered. But the reprimand I had half-expected never came.
“It was silly,” I said.
Somehow I managed to pull my hand away. I threaded my fingers through the fluff of my tail. Our kind were blessed with cat ears and tails. There were courtesans, lords, and ladies who learned the intricacies of full body control. My royal half-siblings had been trained in the art of dance, the art of flirtation, the art of artifice. From the tip of their tails to the hairs on their ears, they were able to command every inch of their body.
I had never been afforded the usual tutoring. The fourth son and seventh child of Lord Lansson had never been expected to amount to much. For the past year, Lord Elthorne, Lord Berrymay, and Lord Berran had done their best to make up for lost time, but I was still a work in progress.
Underneath my gold lashes, I shot Corrin another quick look. Corrin was still gazing at me with his usual forward manner. There was something about his look and posture that screamed confidence. His ebony ears and thick tail were perfectly relaxed.
I guess we really haven’t changed all that much, I realized.Corrin is still a bit of an idiot. And so am I.It came as a relief. Whatever happened, perhaps life would be a bit more bearable now that Corrin was around. I could only hope.
Chapter 4
Corrin
“And a good day to you, ser.”
The man’s polite tone of voice and address snapped my attention back to him. After a moment, I nodded, handed over my coin, and accepted the warm sandwich he had wrapped up in paper for me. As I walked away, I mulled over the man’s politeness. The stall owner had dark chestnut brown hair and tan skin, but his eyes had been the color of gray.
After two weeks spent in Rimefrost, I was beginning to realize that my mother’s words of warning were once again proven true. I was indeed alone, and my pale skin and dark hair set me apart in the crowd as distinctly northerner. While, there were some Munni who could tan, albeit after repeated exposure to the sun, all Sunna tanned naturally and were gifted with lighter colored hair ranging from dirty brown to red and gold. Here in Rimefrost, however, I stood out as distinctly Munni.
Yet, as was seen by the sandwich stall owner, it was clear that other rumors had also been correct—rumors of mixed families,where Munni and Sunna shared households, family names, and blood. It was odd to consider after spending all of my life as I had among the stoutly proud clans of Velamere.
Perhaps there were others, though, who were more open to finding mutual support among their Sunna brothers and sisters. From them sprang a new stock of catkin. These had bonded through difficult times. Although Sumarene was changing for the better, progress was slow. Still, change was in the air.
Ser.The tomkin had been polite. He hadn’t referred to me as ‘Munni’, ‘Northerner’, or ‘barbarian’. That was nice. Unwrapping one edge of the brown paper, I inhaled the warm scent of beef, gravy, and onions. Suddenly, I felt hungry. I began to scarf it down.
Slowly, I made my way up the main road of Rimefrost as I finished my breakfast. To the west, the sun hung low in the sky, soon to set. A bell tolled five times. I stopped before another seller and tossed the now empty sandwich wrapping in a nearby basket. Before me, a purple and blue awning stretched over a rickety stall laden with the last of summer’s fruit—glistening red apples, juicy plums, and sweetly scented peaches. I flipped the stall owner a coin and snagged a red apple with a sharp nod.
