Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“Which is fine,” I assured him, smiling. “But your men weren’t here, were they? You sent them to a place where the laws are followed and then violated them.”
He stared at me.
“Here, I get it. You make the laws. But you stepped out of what was allowed in the agreement between your father and the king, and kidnapped me from my prince. That,” I said, raising my voice, “is not allowed, and you will pay for it.”
“I—”
“The courtesan Keres is my courtier. Her status was changed between us, privately, as it should be, and as such, she belongs to me and will reside with me within these walls.”
“My consort,” Balon rushed out, “Keres was given to—”
“She cannot be given by anyone but me,” I corrected him, then turned to Ødger. “And while I understand that in Ophir you are the law, myself, Lord Cirillo, Keres, and the Lady Carice do not belong here, are not your citizens, and so the laws we bide by are those of the king. We all belong to the crown.”
“The king himself offered Keres to my brother,” Ødger told me. “Therefore she—”
“He made a mistake, and if you want to call and talk to him, I’m sure this matter can be quickly resolved.”
Since he didn’t have a phone, calling would be a neat trick and we both knew it, and fury twisted his already frightening features.
“The Lady Carice knows of the change for my courtier. You may ask her,” I offered, because there was no way Carice was going to contradict anything I said.
“I would not ask for the word of a whore.”
I felt myself bristle but took a breath instead of shooting from the hip. “The Lady Carice was the courtesan of our beloved Prince Cassius,” I replied icily. “She is not now, nor has ever been…a whore.”
“You—”
“In fact, Lady Carice gave the prince his only child, just as, I understand, Lady Alruna, your mother, gave both you and your brother to your father without the benefit of him taking her as his mate.”
There were several gasps in the room, but I stayed quiet. I let my words sit there instead, allowed him and everyone else the time to let them sink in. Interestingly, no one coughed, and there wasn’t any sneezing. Nothing. Only silence.
His expression was murderous. I didn’t miss any part of his anger or his glare, and I stood there and held his gaze and didn’t look away. Because no, Carice was far from my favorite person, but that was personal. Between us. I blamed her for coming between Cassius and Nerilla, something that happened before I was even born, but half of that resentment I carried belonged to Cassius. He made the choice to cast Nerilla from his side. He regretted it in the end, but really, that had nothing to do with me. The point was, I loved Nerilla. Always. A part of me hated Carice and always would. But Ødger didn’t get to cast aspersions on a lady in the king’s court when his own mother was no better. They were, as I’d reminded him, the same.
Ødger looked away, and I heard Keres catch her breath beside me. She knew, as well as I did, what that meant.
“Apologies, my lady,” he said to Carice, who was suddenly on my right, her hand on my bicep, squeezing tight.
“My gratitude, Lord Maedoc,” she replied sweetly. “And truly, Keres is, indeed, a courtier of the prince’s consort.”
“Your king misspoke, then,” he said to me, rising and starting down from the dais.
“Sadly,” I said, grinning at him, “His Majesty’s memory can be a bit spotty. But as your guard Sorin surely reported to you from the spying he did with his companions before he finally acted, the king has more courtiers and courtesans than he can count and doesn’t, on any given day, keep track of who is, or isn’t, in his bed.”
Soft, relieved laughter from all over the throne room, and when Ødger joined them, I heard Carice exhale beside me.
“The king has always been a man of great appetites,” Ødger said as he stepped in front of me and offered me his hand that was ungloved, unlike his brother’s.
I clasped his hand in mine, even though I saw how tight the skin was, nearly skeletal, bent and kissed the back gently, lifting my head to meet his gaze.
The moment our eyes met, I realized they were no longer a cloudy blue, but instead, black.
When Varic’s used to do that, turn so quickly, his pupils blowing when we were in bed together, it was very hot. These days they changed to gold, both when he was claiming me and when he was angry enough that the wall between the man and the beast came down too fast for him to catch before he transformed. It didn’t happen often. Varic’s control was fierce, but so was his wrath when provoked.