Chapter 24
M y stepmother had retreated to her rooms by the time I returned, something she did regularly, to the general relief of everyone in the estate.
It didn’t stop me from wondering what she might have been up to in the few days I was away. I checked in with my father as quickly as I could, which was a good thing, as it turned out he did, in fact, remember giving the order to take care of the traitors.
There was never any telling what would stick.
I didn’t ask him about Rowan. I didn’t want to remind him of her presence.
When I was finished telling my father all about the somewhat innocent man I had slaughtered, I walked faster than I cared to admit to my wing, wondering what state I might find the princess in. If I would find her at all.
The family wing was well guarded, and fortunately, not the same one my father stayed in. Not to mention the men I had stationed by her rooms.
When I got halfway up the stairs, the sound of voices reached me, one of them distinctly feminine, and distinctly Lochlannian.
Der’mo , what now?
A victorious laugh rang out in the same tone, and I crept on silent footfalls the rest of the way to the hall.
Yuriy and Rowan sat in the hallway, Yuriy cross-legged and Rowan lounging against her door, looking more like a soldier on a break than a lady, let alone a princess. Both were holding several cards, with a split deck between them. It wasn’t as surprising as it should have been, other than how jarringly normal it was from the grim scene I had left behind.
I would have been upset that Yuriy didn’t hear me coming, but I knew it would have been nearly impossible, even without the overt sounds of the princess’s gloating masking any noise. Still, he was on the floor, sitting down, and he had let her out of her rooms, which needed to be addressed.
I cleared my throat, and my cousin leapt to his feet, visibly flustered but already going for his sword. His reflexes were unparalleled, inexperience and poor judgment notwithstanding. The princess stiffened slightly, but didn’t bother to move or even set down the hand of cards she was holding.
“Van. Erm. Lord Evander, I mean,” Yuriy hastened to correct himself “We were just?—”
“Playing a game instead of guarding the princess?” I offered.
She raised her eyebrows in protest. “I’m hardly going to abscond in the middle of a game of war .”
Somewhere between her complete disregard for my authority over her and her nonchalant giggling and bonding with my cousin while I had been off killing people trying to keep them both safe, I should have been infuriated. I was, for that matter.
But after several days of terrified villagers and soldiers who were loyal to my father, I couldn’t deny that it was almost a relief, having a halfway casual conversation.
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I shot back.
“Please,” she scoffed. “I play to win.”
Which would hardly stop her from trying to find his weaknesses in the meantime. Storms, she was exhausting.
Or maybe I was just exhausted.
“Is she winning?” I couldn’t help but ask, though I was fairly certain I knew the answer.
Yuriy’s face reddened, and he nodded. “But I think she’s cheating,” he muttered.
She smirked, and I had exactly no doubt that she was cheating, probably hiding cards under her voluminous skirts.
“Well, I wouldn’t put that past her, either,” I said.
I sighed, not entirely sure what to do with them. At least if she was outside her door, I could keep some sort of tabs on her.
“You may as well keep playing, then, if only to salvage your pride.” I turned to head into my rooms before I could see the victorious smirk I was certain was written all over her face.
I had business to attend to anyway, the unfortunate business of responding to a letter from Elk that had arrived while I was away, though I doubted much would come of their request to negotiate my terms for releasing the princess.
If one of us was going to incur Lochlann’s wrath, I would just as soon have it be Clan Elk. I would negotiate passage through Bear and guide the king to Elk Estate myself if it meant keeping my own people safe. Not to mention that it would serve me personally to be rid of her and all the complications she came with.
It could never be so simple, though.
All bets were off if they were allied, and there was less than no way to ensure Rowan didn’t run off and marry Korhonan. So it was probably a moot point, but I at least had to rule out the possibility.
After carefully placing my sabers in the weapons rack along the wall, having already cleaned them on the trek back to Bear Estate—trying, and failing, to take my mind off what I had just done—I sat at my desk to draft a short letter. Koshka jumped up to the corner of the polished black surface, letting out a single mewl of protest at my continued absence. He was far enough to avoid getting tufts of ginger fur on my clothes, so I didn’t bother moving him.
Besides, I knew from experience he would only hop right back up here if I put him on the floor, every bit as unwilling to be trained as my other pet.
Dipping my quill in the ink, I wrote something passably polite, all receiving parties considered.
If terms for a meeting can be agreed upon and a neutral party found to oversee, Bear is amenable to discussing the price of divesting ourselves of all Lochlannian royalty currently in our possession. Please advise on the situation regarding the princess’s guard.
I had received a short missive from one of my spies earlier, but it was little more than that the Lochlannian guard was in attendance and apparently working his way through several of the eligible ladies in residence, along with a few of the less eligible ones.
Which was odd, considering that he was a eunuch and all.
Rowan would never survive in Socair with those lying skills. But that would be Korhonan’s problem, assuming I could get these negotiations to go my way. And no one’s problem if I couldn’t.
A small whoop of victory came from the direction of the hallway, and Koshka narrowed his green eyes at the sound. I let out a sigh.
Yes. I would be more than amenable to getting her out of my estate and out of my life.