Page 6 of Court of Vipers (The Lady of Innislee)

“Within a week,” Amaris said, grinning. “It’s a miracle you both survived the battle. I tried to convince him to stay here and let another commander lead the army, but he refused. He would do anything for you.”

“He would do anything for either of us. Have you set a date for the wedding yet?”

“No, but we’re in no rush. He won’t ascend the throne anytime soon.” She toyed with the ruby ring on her finger. Prince Domhnall had given it to her for her fourteenth birthday, and Riona had never once seen her without it in all the years since. “A wedding won’t change anything. I love him, and he loves me.”

“Oh, I know. I still remember the look on his face when you stepped off the boat from the Isles. I’ve never seen my cousin speechless before.”

Amaris winked. “We Selannic women tend to have that effect on men.”

“That we do,” a feminine voice said from the doorway, the words steeped in a heavy, melodic accent. Riona rose and curtsied as the queen strode into the room, and her aunt scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, my love. Is that how we greet family now?”

The queen pressed a light kiss to each of her closed eyelids in the traditional Selannic family greeting, then took Riona’s hand and guided her down onto the cushions. “I’d bet my crown your Percival was struck senseless the first time he saw you.”

Riona’s chest tightened, but she forced a smile. “I hope so.”

She had met him once as a child, when his uncle brought him to Rivosa to negotiate the betrothal, but they’d barely spoken a word to each other. Percival had been portly and round-faced, a shy, nervous boy who was more at home in a library than playing with the other court children in the castle’s gardens. In the years since, he had thinned and grown taller, the youthful roundness giving way to a charming, bookish exterior. He’d becomehandsome.

The day she arrived in Sandori, he’d been standing with his uncle outside the castle’s main doors, and his eyes had widened to saucers the moment she stepped out of her carriage. When they exchanged greetings, Percival had barely managed to get one word out without stumbling over his tongue. The exchange had endeared him to her immediately.

“We were just discussing Prince Domhnall’s return,” Amaris cut in, tactfully changing the subject.

The humor on the queen’s face faded. “That boy. As proud as I am of his courage, I hate that he insists on fighting alongside the soldiers. He could train with them, command them, but to fight on the battlefield? And after his brother’s death…” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wish he were an only child. That way, he couldn’t go off and do half the reckless things he does.”

“If your pleading and mine can’t change his mind, I’m sure that wouldn’t stop him. Stubbornness is in his blood.” Amaris shot a look at Riona. “In the blood of your whole family.”

Riona grinned. “I can’t help it if I live up to the Nevis name.”

“By the Creator, you’re all going to send me to an early grave.”

Queen Blair laughed and clasped Amaris’s hand. “Just wait until you and Domhnall have children, my dear. You’ll never live a day in peace again.”

* * *

That evening, Riona and Amaris strolled together along the path toward the castle’s gatehouse, where a carriage was waiting to take them home for supper. It struck her as they walked that there were more servants and guards about than usual. Many carried crates of fruit and vegetables, others casks of wine, some bolts of luxurious fabrics.

“The king is preparing a banquet in honor of you and Domhnall,” Amaris said, catching Riona’s curious look. “Within a few weeks, details of the battle of Sandori will spread across the kingdom—our fearless, noble prince charging alongside the army, fighting on the front lines, and our beautiful lady standing against a tyrant.”

The words sent a shiver down Riona’s spine, the memory of those staked skulls still fresh in her mind. “Domhnall can have all the glory. I just want to return to my life here.”

As they approached the gatehouse, the sentinels standing watch pulled the doors open for them. Amaris’s voice dropped to a whisper as they entered the building. “Riona, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t think you should expect life here to return to the way it was. Your uncle sent you to Beltharos to marry Percival, and you’ve returned without a husband. You may be blood, but he is still your king, and you disobeyed his orders.”

“I know.” Her stomach knotted with unease. Whether they were in love or not, she and Percival should have remained married until death parted them. “And I will accept whatever punishment he sees fit.”

Amaris opened her mouth to say more, but a distant voice cut her off. “What did she think would happen when she returned? She’d be given a position as an advisor to her uncle? If he valued her opinion on state matters, he wouldn’t have sent her away in the first place.”

Riona slowed, conscious of the click of her heels against the tile, and gestured for Amaris to be silent. The courtiers were discussingher, their voices drifting through the open doors that led to the forecourt. She slipped off her heels and crept closer to listen.

The other courtier chuckled. “My thoughts exactly. She’s ninth in line for the throne and will never wear the crown. Her only value lies in the price she’ll fetch as a bride.”

“Then it’s a good thing she’s beautiful.”

“Yes, but a pity she’s not stupid. Stupid girls are content to sit around in their pretty dresses and do as they’re told. She’ll always fight for more.”

“Fortunately, that’s a problem for her future husband. Not for us.”

Amaris glanced at Riona and whispered, “Don’t take what they say to heart.”

“Do you think me so thin-skinned that I would be wounded by court gossip?” She’d spent most of her life in the castle, listening to nobles and advisors vie for the king’s attention; she knew those voices as well as she knew her own. “If Lord Tristan is so interested in the affairs of others, perhaps someone should tell him that his wife has been sleeping with his cook for the last year and a half.”

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