Page 61 of Fall of the Ember Throne (Crown and Crest 3)

Calla answers, smiling prettily for Barret.

“I’ll tell her,” she responds to whatever he says. They then share besotted smiles as she slowly closes the door between them.

Were Henrik and I that ridiculous? I don’t think so.

“His Majesty has requested you join him for tea before breakfast,” Calla says.

“Does Lawrence even like tea?” Hyacinth asks.

“No.” Lavender shoots me a smile in the mirror as she brushes out her long, glossy hair. “But he likes Clover.”

The girls all swoon, and I roll my eyes as I dismiss them. “I’ll see you at breakfast. I’m sure I’ll walk to the dining room with Lawrence and his knights.”

They all nod and then begin talking about one of the grooms that caught Hyacinth’s attention last night as I leave.

Denny opens Lawrence’s door with a stony expression, obviously not liking the king calling me for a private meeting. “Where did you go last night?” he whispers.

I give him a vague look and hiss, “To the bathhouse. Ask Barret.”

“You climbed out a window?” he guesses.

“If I did, it’s my business.”

“Did you meet Henrik?”

I look at him sharply. “Why would you think that?”

“Clover,” Lawrence calls from inside the room. “Is that you loitering in the entry?”

Denny shoots me a stern look. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Not if I have a say in it.

I walk into the room, noting that Lawrence’s is larger than mine. A pot of tea, fruit, and a selection of pastries waits on a small table.

“Thank you,” Lawrence says to the maid and the servingman who assists her. “You may go.”

Looking flustered to be attending the king, the young woman flutters her hands at her waist. “If you need anything else, please let me know.”

She then stares at him, not any differently than Lavender looks at Pranmore. After several awkward seconds, her companion elbows her, and she jumps.

Lawrence hides a smile as they leave. As soon as the door closes behind them, he gestures to the chair opposite him. “Come, sit. Would you like tea?”

“My brother isn’t pleased with our lack of chaperone,” I say with a wry smile as I help myself to a shortbread biscuit.

“I was shortsighted when I decided to make him one of my knights.” Lawrence scowls. “It’s awkward to have one of your brothers judging my intentions.”

I laugh. “You made your reputation—you can’t really blame him.”

Lawrence shrugs, more amused than he probably should be. “Where did you go last night?”

“Go?” I ask, wondering who ratted me out.

“Alfred mentioned that you were achy from the ride and requested to go to the bathhouse. We both know you could outride me, so you must have had an ulterior motive.”

Suddenly, the shortbread seems too dry. I gratefully accept tea when Lawrence offers it and then pause, nodding for him to add one more spoon of sugar before I take it.

“I found a note that had been slipped under my door in the middle of the night,” I tell him after I take a long, slow sip. “It just said to go to the lake, so I went.”

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