Page 26 of The Wolf Queen

“Higgins.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate you acting as herald here, but I think we need to be more circumspect about this.” I leaned closer. “A wolf hardly announces his presence while on the hunt.”

“Right you are, Your Majesty,” he said with a wink. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll slip out with James here.” He pointed to the other wolf cultist that had come with us. “We’ll see if we can’t make contact with the local chapter; let them know of your arrival.”

I mustered a weak smile that was more of a grimace, but didn’t say anything in response. It seemed as though it was a necessary evil, and both the necessary and the evil parts felt wrong to me. He took my nod and smile as consent and off they went, passing Rake, who was returning from inside the inn.

“I’ve spoken to the innkeeper and there are rooms and access to the bathing facilities for everyone,” he said, hoisting a bag of gold pieces. “Go inside. You’ll have no trouble. I’ve made it clear that we are on the crown prince’s business. And while I am on that subject, that is something which I find I must also conduct while here. The Duke of Freeling has left word I am to attend him as soon as I get into town. He has an urgent message that needs to be sent to the capital.”

My mates and I all went still and exchanged glances.

Rake had said his role was to escort me to the capital. So, while picking up messages from other highborn lords seemed an efficient way of doing things, I think we all wondered what the duke might have to say. Dane stared into my eyes, making clear his interest in the manner.

“The Duke of Freeling?” I said, turning to Rake with the kind of smile Linnea had trained me to perfect. “My grandfather. It would be remiss of me not to visit while I am in town. We’ll come with you.”

Rake wanted to say no. I saw it in the flex of his jaw, the dangerous shine in his eyes, but even as those full lips of his pursed, he nodded slowly.

“Of course, milady, though I don’t think His Grace would be able to receive your full retinue at such short notice.”

“We’ll stay with the children,” Selene offered. “Make sure they wash behind their ears.”

“Might need to check mine too,” Orla said, with a sigh. “Didn’t have a chance to bathe before we left the keep.”

“If you’re certain?” I asked the Maiden as well as the children. Although I noted the mulish set to Del’s mouth, he nodded, while Jan happily took Orla’s hand, chattering about what it would be like to stay in an inn and what they all might do while they were here.

“You don’t have to answer the summons right away, do you?” I asked Rake, bestowing another cultivated smile upon him. “I’m sure you will allow a lady the opportunity to freshen up first.”

“I’m fairly sure that ‘messenger’was about to burst a vein,” Weyland said with a chuckle, as we made our way to our rooms.

The inn was conspicuously empty, which seemed out of the ordinary as such a hostelry would usually be catering to the late afternoon crowd at this time of day, but we were greeted by silence and wide-eyed looks from serving women as we climbed the stairs.

“Regardless, I need to change,” I said.

I’d packed dresses in my bags, shoving them in with distaste, but wanting them there in case of situations like this, where it would benefit our cause for me to look the part of a Granian noblewoman. After finding one to suit the purpose and smoothing it out on the bed, I walked over to the washstand, pouring lavender-scented water into the bowl to wash my face and hands, then doing away with the tide line of road grime down my neck, as well. Then it was off with my leather armour in quick, practised movements. I removed each piece with haste, despite anticipating the physical and emotional discomfort that would transpire once I redressed in the ‘appropriate’ clothing of the country of my birth.

Once I’d stripped down, I threw the dress over my head, instantly feeling constricted and suffocated. I found myself fighting, caught up in the yards of printed twill, until Axe stepped in.

“Here.”

His voice was soft and gentle as he helped me with the layers of fabric so that I could find my way through to the bodice, then he worked the sleeves down over my arms. I really didn’t want to be wearing it. The dress was too tight in some areas and too loose in others, not having been moulded to my form like my leathers were. I really needed stays to make myself look decent, but the thought of being cinched back into those restrictive undergarments made my teeth lock together, so I opted for a voluminous shawl instead. I kept my teeth gritted as I brushed my hair out, then pinned it up in a style I’d worn often back at the keep. Too loose for a married woman, it would send the right message to my grandfather.

“What do you know of the duke?” Dane asked me.

“Not a lot,” I replied. “He came to the keep a few times when I was just a little girl; caught me practising in the yard with the knights. Linnea whipped me with a birch branch when she found out, but…”

I paused, lost in the memory, seeing the horde of richly-dressed men, escorted by knights in shining armour, riding into the keep courtyard, all of them looking far grander than any of our neighbours. My wooden practice sword had hung loosely in my hand as I stared openly.

I hadn’t rushed inside to make myself presentable, as Linnea had screamed at me later. Nor set my damn sword aside and curtseyed in the way I’d been forced to practise over and over. No, I’d just stared as this massive man slid down from the saddle and moved closer.

“You must be Darcy,”he said, smiling as he leaned down and put his hands on my shoulders.

“Father always kept us isolated at the keep,” I replied to my men, coming back to the room with a snap. “We saw few people, other than our immediate neighbours. I was never one to protest when we didn’t attend fairs or balls at the estates further along the border from ours. Linnea tried to blame that on me, claiming my father was too embarrassed by my behaviour to let me mix with others of the same social strata.”

I blinked then, frowning slightly.

“But what if…?”

“What if?” Dane prompted, stepping closer.

“What if that was for another reason altogether?”

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