Page 10 of A Throne and a Crown

“Monthly school attendance and grading reports,” they said together, but only Lilia snorted and shook her head. “Honestly, it’s like he thinks we can’t read a calendar.”

I sheepishly accepted the parchments and gave them a brief look over.

“These are...great!” I said in surprise after skimming their contents. “That’s four months of consistent improvements across all ten student cohorts, isn’t it?”

Alondra inclined her head with a proud smile.

Lilia just shrugged. “Naturally. Did you expect I would deliver anything less? You asked me to teach, I teach.”

“Because I knew you’d be brilliant at it,” I said.

“Pfft. This has nothing to do with you.” She smacked me hard on the arm and I saw Parvan flinch as he held himself in check. He’d tried to arrest her the first time she’d hit me, only for Zovisasha to leap onto his back and strangle him with some vines she’d been pruning nearby. Ren had been laughing too hard to intervene or order anyone else to do so, and it had been on me to pull the three northerners apart. They’d regarded each other with a wary respect ever since.

“Oh, and Nathanael,” added Lilia as I made to leave. “Luis is on your guard roster for tonight, correct?”

“Uh...”

I had no idea what my guard rosters were. I glanced over at Parvan, who gave me a swift nod. “Yes?”

“You’ll give him the night off,” Lilia ordered, tossing her head to make her auburn curls bounce around her shoulders.

I hid a smile. “Will I?”

“Da. We have plans.”

“Any reason why Luis can’t ask me this himself?”

Her grin turned wicked.

“Ah,” I said, switching to Mazekhstani to reduce the risk of the students overhearing us. Their language studies weren’t that advanced, but based on their progress, it wouldn’t be the case for long. So I lowered my voice as well. “By ‘we’, you don’t mean you and Luis, do you? You mean you and Zovisasha.” I peered at her suspiciously. “Please tell me that this is consensual.”

“Luis knows what he’s in for,” she said casually, inspecting her nails. “Just not when, and we wish to...surprise him. Be romantic.”

I highly doubted there would be muchromance. More like two determined Mazekhstani women demanding the man give them what they wanted until he collapsed from exhaustion. I knew from experience how much fucking endurance they had, and I’d never suffered themtogether.

Alondra cocked her head, her eyes twinkling with interest. “That sounds like a fun night.”

“Even more fun with four. Come along,” Lilia said promptly in invitation.

I spluttered at that, wondering if I should warn Luis what he was in for.

Seeming to read my mind, Lilia got to her feet and wrapped an arm around my neck. She made it look friendly, but the sharp fingernails digging into the skin of my throat were anything but.

“Say a word to anyone,” she murmured sweetly, “and I will slice off your balls and have them served in soup to your husband for dinner.Your Highness.”

I swallowed nervously.

Parvan was frowning at us, his thick eyebrows almost meeting in the middle of his forehead. “Is everything alright, king consort?”

Lilia beamed over at him.

“You really should learn to speak Mazekhstani,” she said cheerily in Quarehian. “I’m happy to give youprivatelessons, if you wish?”

“Stop preying on our guards,” I ordered in a low hiss, freeing myself from her hold. If she’d left marks on me, Ren would be pissed.

Lilia just rolled her eyes. Alondra covered her smile with a delicate hand as she shamelessly accepted the other woman’s earlier proposition, not nearly as innocent as she looked. Evidently, decadent debauchery ran in the Aratorre family.

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