Page 100 of What Fury Brings
The room went quiet as all eyes fixed on her prince. Holding the first knife in his left hand, Andrastus dunked a second in his ale before lighting it. Then he did the same with a third. He threw them all up in the air in a circle, catching them effortlessly. Then, rapidly, each dagger hit the target one after another.
Dead center.
The applause was riotous. Many women whistled, so impressed were they with the display. Olerra had no idea such a talent existed until Andrastus had described it to her. She wondered how manytimes her prince had cut or burned himself as a child while he practiced this.
Glenaerys said nothing now. She was studiously ignoring the stage, talking to those around her who would listen. She held a juicy red apple in one hand and brought it to her mouth to take a bite.
Olerra saw the thought enter Andrastus’s mind, but before she could tell him to stop, he threw.
A fourth dagger sailed through the air, faster than Olerra could open her mouth.
It landed, blade first, into the apple, not even a full inch away from Glen’s fingers. Her cousin dropped the fruit as though it’d burned her, rolling away with the knife hilt sticking from it. Her eyes were wide with outrage, but the crowd was screaming now. Praise was heaped upon Andrastus. The queen gave him a standing ovation, and everyone was delighted by the show of strength.
Olerra ran up to the dais and kissed the cheek of her prince.
“Well done,” she said, her voice no louder than a whisper. “But next time, don’t do anything so foolish! What if you had missed?”
“If I had missed, then I would have repaid what I owe her.”
21
The queen invited Sanos and Olerra to sit with her. Pillows were placed beside the thrones, and Sanos sat with his spine straight atop one while women came up to congratulate him on the performance. He was once again uncomfortable with such attention, but he bore it with good humor this time. For her. He was proud to have garnered some more respect for Olerra as heir. It probably didn’t fix everything, but it had to be a step in the right direction.
“Where did you learn to do that?” one noblewoman asked him.
“Playing dare with my brothers.”
She laughed, proclaiming Brutish boys brave devils.
Another woman whose name he didn’t know approached and said, “I saw you dancing and drinking with the princess. You’ve clearly warmed up to her. What changed in so short a time?”
He was, for the most part, truthful in his answer. “When she saved my life, I knew that I needed to do more for her. To be more for her. And when she proclaimed me her seul, I knew that was the end of it for me.”
The surrounding women were delighted by his responses. They brought him drinks and food, as though he needed more after all he’d been consuming. He took it gratefully but didn’t try anything that didn’t come straight from Olerra. The crowd around them grew bigger and bigger until it was larger than Glen’s.
He locked eyes with Olerra, who beamed at him. He felt his whole heart swell. He was done ignoring his attraction to her. Done pretending that helping her get the throne wasn’t the right thing to do or even the most beneficial thing for him in the long run.
There was his family to consider, but having Olerra as a powerful ally could only help him in that regard, too, he realized.
Feeling a bit brazen and perhaps a little drunk, he reached over and pulled Olerra off her pillow and into his lap. He stroked her hair, let one hand drift to her hip. He found excuses to lean down over her, bringing his lips to her ear as he spoke.
“How many of the court do you think are too drunk to remember anything tomorrow?” he asked.
Olerra grinned up at him. “I think we’re safe. We’ve won some back to our side. Thank you for selling this romance so admirably.”
When he looked down at her lips, he saw her breath catch. Gods, he wanted to kiss her more than anything. But not here. Not in front of this crowd, where it would be a show. He wanted it to be just the two of them. When it meant something only for them.
Olerra couldn’t get enough of the way he was looking at her.
The usually frowning, intimidating, handsome prince of Brutus was something else when there was heat in his eyes. His attention was arresting when he was angry. But when he wasn’t? It was hard not to squirm on his lap.
But her chosen was so much more than just an attractive body. He was a brother who protected his little sister. A prince who sought out fairness. A man who had killed for her.
There was still so much more to learn about each other, but sheknew that each new revelation would only draw them closer. She looked forward to the time ahead of them.
Olerra met Ydra’s eyes across the room. Her friend held up her cup before taking a large drink, and Olerra could hear her words from before.
Stop worrying about it.
