Page 76 of Mated to the Enemy
“Thought so,” Kasperi said with a snort, stopping short of the doors. “Thanks for mentioning it though. I think this might be more up my alley than the House Guard. No offense.”
“None taken. Your skills should be tested, and Kvoss will certainly do that to you.”
Then he stepped through as the guards pushed the door open.
The Queen was sitting on her throne, flanked by Khove and one other guard. The room was otherwise empty, except for the tall slim figure clad in an all-black suit and shirt, with a blood-red tie.
Trying to send us a message? Should have left the manicured and hair-coiffing turd-muncher at home, Laurien, he thought, referencing the Canim King.This guy doesn’t have a menacing bone in his body.
Maybe Laurien was punishing the man by making him an Ambassador. That would be very like the King of House Canis.
“What is the meaning of this?” Klaue growled, interrupting whatever was being said.
The Queen shot him a glance, but he ignored it, circling the Canis Ambassador with slow, deliberate steps. Each time his heel came down, the clomp of his boots echoed through the room. Breathing deeply, he let his growls become audible.
“I am here to discuss the repercussions of the unwarranted and, frankly, disgustingly damaging raid conducted by you against Moonshadow Manor and House Canis,” the Ambassador said in a thin, reedy voice.
Oh you poor thing. You must have really pissed Laurien off something fierce!
“Conducted byme?” he asked menacingly. “Are you formally accusing me of attacking High House Canis?”
The Ambassador sputtered and looked left and right, trying to follow Klaue as he stalked around him. “No, of course not. I simply meant you, as in House Ursa.”
“You’re accusing the entirety of High House Ursa of conducting a raid—of which I assure you we knew nothing and areshockedto hear about—against High House Canis? Is that what I’m hearing?”
The Ambassador cleared his throat, looked straight ahead and spoke to the Queen instead. “As I was saying, your Majesty, we cannot allow this incident to go unchallenged. The damage done to our eastern wall will take months to repair. Not to mention that two motorized machines tore up great swathes of the forest and grounds near there as well. Justice must be served for this.”
“We had nothing to do with that,” Klaue said before his Queen could answer.
He could see her eyebrows lowering, and knew he was getting close to the limit of what he would be allowed to say, but he wasn’t done with this pumped-up pencil-pusher. Nobody came into Ursidae Manor and accused them of something, especially when they had no proof.
“Don’t lie to meKlaue,” the man said, his reedy voice dropping an octave as his head swiveled around to fix him with a glare. “You were there. As was your mate.”
“I was? I seem to recall being here all night.”
“You don’t seem surprised by the news of this attack.”
“The only part of the news that has me surprised, good Ambassador,” he said, his tone as falsely patronizing as he could manage, “is the fact that there was apparently a mage involved in the fight against the mystery attackers. A mage using forbidden magic. On Canis property. TodefendCanis, according to my reports. How interesting is that?”
The Ambassador frowned, and Klaue knew he had him. They had fucked up big time with that. How could they not expect him to bring it up?
Because they don’t care, he realized with a start. The mage was there because someone at the highest levels, perhaps even King Laurien himself, was working with him.Thatwas news. They could bring that news to the Court, and unite with the lower Houses and perhaps get Zoe back in exchange for not levelling sanctions. Glancing up at his Queen, Klaue saw the same look on her face. She recognized it too.
The Ambassador turned to face the Queen once again, but before he could speak, a side door opened and Jessica slipped through. Klaue wondered who the hell had shown her the secret passages, until he caught a glimpse of long hair and green eyes in the dark beyond.
Kasperi, you sly devil.
“We are willing to negotiate,” the Ambassador said, ignoring the new arrival.
“Negotiate?” the Queen said, so icily Klaue could see the frost practically flowing out from her to cover the Throne.
“Yes.” The Ambassador no longer seemed shrill and whiny. His voice shifted to become deadly serious, and Klaue realized it had all been an act. The man was a master at this sort of thing.
Not that Klaue wouldn’t still rip him apart in a heartbeat.
“Why, precisely, would we negotiate?” the Queen asked, her voice frigid, her eyes full of jade fire.
“To avoid open hostilities between House Ursa and High House Canis of course,” the Ambassador said with a voice that suggested the Queen should have known that.
