Page 18 of Crown of Thorns
“Hello there,” I say softly to the child. “Who do we have here?”
“This is my kitty, Tigger.”
“Well Tigger is adorable,” I tell her. “You must love him very much.”
She nods.
“I have a kitten too,” I tell her. “He’s orange just like this guy.”
“Really?” she asks with wide eyes. “So is my real kitty.”
“Oh yes,” I laugh. “He’s loads of trouble.”
“My real kitty at home is too,” she says conspiratorially.
“The best ones are, sweetheart.”
I make my way down the line while keeping an eye on Dahlia and pacing myself to her so that we end at the gangplank at the same time. She looks over her shoulder at me and we share a smile. So far, it’s been a good day. We’ve been well received by the people of this village and that’s a big boon, one that I’m thankful for. The worst thing that I can imagine would be being stuck in this life, in a country that is not my own, and having her people despise me.
When I look up, Lieutenant Davies is smiling atus as if we’ve done everything he told us to and more. Vice Admiral Andrews, however, is scowling, not at me, but at Dahlia. I smile my brightest, most charming smile at the pair but it’s no use.
I edge my way closer to Dahlia and we meet at the base of the stairs. Keeping my mouth as still as possible, I whisper to her, “Please tell me you didn’t shag him?”
“Who? Davies?” she asks. “Not yet anyway.”
“No,” I whisper shout. “The vice admiral.”
“Ew, gross,” she whispers back. “He’s as old as Rhys and my mother… if not older. Why?”
“He’s scowling at you.”
“Oh well, that’s easy,” she says as if there’s not a care in the world. But there’s a slight sharpness to her tone of voice that suggests there is so much more there, and that sets me on edge. Whatever she’s about to say is going to make me angry. “He thinks I’m frivolous and stupid, spoiled and undeserving of this patronage.”
“Surely not,” I reply. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, it is.” She sighs.
“But how do you know?”
“Because he’s told me to my face,” she says. “More than once. Now let’s get on with it.”
She takes the last steps to meet Davies and Andrews, leaving me in her wake, and I take a stutter step to catch up to her. She shakes hands with the vice admiral, and I watch closely as he clenches his jaw when she places her hand in his.
She quickly steps aside, and he holds out his hand to shake mine. I place my hand in his and he says, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Reyes.”
“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” I reply, not letting him see that I’ve already decided he’s a jackass.
“I knew your parents a long time ago,” he adds, his innocuous words stealing the breath from my lungs. “Your father was a good friend of mine.”
I just silently nod my head because I have no idea what to say. So many thoughts are swirling through my brain. Does he mean the dad I remember reading me stories before bed or carrying me on his shoulders? Or does he mean some long dead prince I never knew? I still don’t have the full story but if the dossier the queen slipped me is to be believed, my father was a spare who was beloved by his people but also belonged to a controversial group of politicos.
The vice admiral moves to the side and Dahlia is handed a bottle of champagne connected to a string. She pauses, smiling as she poses for the cameras before she looks over her shoulder and winks at me.
“Come on, love,” she says, mischief twinkling in her eyes. “It’s not every day you get to christen a naval ship as glorious as this one in the name of king and country.”
“This is true,” I reply with a smile for my friend.
“So come over here and help me christen this ship!”
