Chapter 27
T he next letter that arrived for the princess was from Lady Mila. Aside from a few not-so-thinly veiled insults at my general person, the content provided an interesting bit of insight.
She had been asking her father to help, and she was under the impression that he would. He was perhaps the most neutral mediator we could ask for, with the power to ensure not even Iiro stepped out of line.
Not that Iiro would be present. That had been my first term. I wouldn’t deny a certain amount of satisfaction at irritating the Duke of Elk, but I also didn’t trust what he would try to finagle if he was present. Korhonan was an idiot, but at least he was straightforward about it.
Arès was an option I had considered but ultimately dismissed, as he generally refused to involve himself in clan politics beyond what was strictly required of him. This, we could work with.
I sent him a letter via bird and received a reply a day later.
Assuming you are both open to reasonableness, I will agree to mediate the proceedings.
I wasn’t sure if by both he meant Korhonan and me, or Rowan and me. I certainly couldn’t vouch for the latter’s reasonableness in any situation, but I wrote him back assuring him that I would be thrilled to find a solution that benefitted all parties. I neglected to mention how unlikely I thought that would be.
His response came swiftly again, in the affirmative, with a date that was not too far off. I was still somewhat suspicious of his motives, but it wasn’t that far-fetched to believe that he, too, was merely trying to avoid a war with Lochlann.
Or that he had a slight soft spot for his daughter’s unlikely friend, however rare a quality that might be from a Clan Duke.
Still, it was something to keep an eye on. I leaned back in my chair after drafting letters to both him and Iiro, massaging the bridge of my nose. I would have to craft an excuse to get away that didn’t remind my father of the princess currently in our possession, though I was sure Mairi was in his ear like a spider every day anyway.
It also wouldn’t do for the whole of Socair to know that she was out of the protective walls of Bear. I would need to discuss it with her.
Remembering her outstretched form drying by the fire and a reaction I didn’t care to revisit, I resolved to wait until morning.
Storms, she never ceased to be a pain in the arse.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a knock sounded at my door.
Der’mo.
My men wouldn’t knock without announcing themselves, and were unlikely to come at all unless it was an emergency. Had I summoned her with my thoughts like a monster in a children’s tale?
I was only wearing my soft flannel sleeping pants. Given what I knew of the princess, and Lochlannians in general, she wouldn’t be particularly bothered by my state of undress, but I didn’t want her catching glimpse of my scars. So I threw on the shirt, but didn’t bother to button it.
When I opened the door, though, she very clearly was… bothered.
Her lips parted, her crimson curls bouncing as she straightened in surprise. Then, the slightest hint of a pink blush flooded her cheeks, creeping from the bit of skin that peeked out between the edges of the velvet dressing gown her maid must have dredged out of storage for her.
Likely it had belonged to my aunt. When she was a child.
Rowan’s widened gaze settled on my chest for a heartbeat too long, and satisfaction rose up in my chest. She certainly wasn’t thinking about Korhonan right now.
“Did you need something, Lemmikki?” I asked, mostly to draw attention to her staring.
Her blush deepened and I raised my eyebrows.
“Yes.” She cleared her throat and tried again in a stronger voice. “Yes, I need to know what exactly your plans are, aside from keeping me locked up in that room.”
I refrained from pointing out that she was in no way locked in her room, as evidenced by the way she spent every afternoon in the hallway playing cards with the men who were supposed to be guarding her. Instead, I told her what she wanted to know.
“As it happens, I was going to come to you in the morning, but I may as well tell you now. Clan Elk desires to meet to discuss potentially purchasing your debt.”
“Is that possible?” she breathed, all but bouncing on her toes.
It irked me for reasons I couldn’t quite name, how eager she was to get back to a family that had manipulated her, as if we were torturing her here. More like she was torturing my guards, or at least Taras, and certainly me. I schooled my features before I responded, still not sure how these negotiations would even play out.
“It isn’t generally done, but it is not against clan law.”
Her brow creased, her head tilting slightly to the side like she hadn’t heard me right. “So… You went to all the dramatics of calling in this blood debt and now you’ll just…give me back?”
There was something more than suspicion in her tone, but I couldn’t quite place it.
I leaned back against the wall, crossing my arms while I assessed her. “You sound disappointed.”
“More like disbelieving.”
She didn’t need to know how much of a threat her father’s war actually was when she already wielded it as her favorite weapon. Sighing, I projected an air of nonchalance.
“I told you once that Socairans live and die on propriety. Declining this meeting would reflect badly on Bear.”
“So you have no intention of taking their deal?” She raised her chin, staring me down like she wasn’t more than a foot shorter than I was.
Was she right? I doubted Elk would come up with an offer that I trusted, but if they did, that would obviously be the best case scenario for everyone. The princess crossed her arms, the robe parting just enough to reveal the hem of the same thin gown she had worn the only night I came into her room.
The air between us suddenly felt charged for reasons I had no desire to dwell on.
“I didn’t say that either.” I shrugged because I, along with every adult in Socair, was better at hiding my reactions than Rowan. “We’re still discussing terms of the meeting at this point.”
“Such as?” she prodded.
“Where we will meet, and with how many people. If?—”
“Am I going to this meeting?” she interrupted, her eyes glowing with anticipation.
At seeing Korhonan? It was too bad I couldn't ban him from coming as well, if only to stop her from making doe eyes at him while they both pretended she hadn’t rejected his proposal until the only other option was death.
“I would assume so, since you are the subject matter in question.”
“Then I have a condition.”
Did she now?
“You’re hardly in a position to negotiate.”
For someone so desperate to escape, she managed to forget that she was my prisoner with alarming regularity.
She lifted her stubborn chin, uncrossing her arms while she leaned forward in a challenge. Her scent of amber and citrus invaded my space as surely as she did, and it was jarring to realize how familiar it was after our time on the road.
“Then do it because you owe me for wrecking my life for what was apparently no more than your own amusement.”
Come again, Lemmikki?
I straightened enough to put some distance between us while a thousand responses died on my lips about how she had ruined all of our lives by coming here and being stupid enough to fall victim to Iiro’s schemes to begin with. How there was nothing amusing for me about the war her father would bring to my people because of her precious fiancé’s family.
“What is it that you want?” I bit out, curious in spite of myself.
“I want to see my guard. To make sure he’s all right.”
That was actually a fantastic idea. Depending on how negotiations went, it was never a bad idea to have another potential bit of currency on the board. Besides, I got the feeling Korhonan and the princess both were keeping secrets where the overly casual guard was concerned.
And if Rowan did have a history with him, that would be nothing but fun for me where Korhonan was concerned.
It was an easy thing to grant, and might make her more amenable on the journey.
“I suppose there’s no harm in making Elk’s life more difficult by adding to our list of terms,” I acknowledged.
Her lips parted in a small O, like she hadn’t expected my easy acquiescence.
I tracked the movement, noting the prominent curve in her upper lip, the pout in the lower lip.
Der’mo , I was too tired for this conversation.
“All right,” she said slowly. She turned to go, then came to an abrupt halt, turning back toward me. “There is one more thing.”
For storms’ sake, what now? “Yes?”
“I want a weapon when we travel.”
I couldn’t help it. Somewhere between my exhaustion and her sheer nerve, I threw my head back in an outright laugh.
“Of course you do. Anything else, Princess?” Perhaps a palanquin, carried by the soldiers you have managed to swindle into playing games instead of doing their jobs.
She put a finger to her lips, then shook her head. “No. Just those two things.”
I had actually already considered arming her, given the Unclanned activity from last time, but it would be helpful to know exactly what she was capable of. Besides, she hadn’t held a sword in weeks, which wasn’t ideal if we actually did come up against the Besklanovvy .
“I’ll give you a weapon when I’m sure you won’t stab yourself with it.” I baited her.
“I think I’ve proven that amply by now.”
Only a princess would think that one battle was “amply” proving oneself.
“Do you?” My tone was dubious. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll spar. If you beat me, I’ll give you a weapon. But if I beat you, you have to answer any question I ask.”
As controlled as I usually was, I didn’t know why those were the terms I came up with. She didn’t have anything else to barter with, but I shouldn’t have cared about asking her questions, especially when she and her entire contradiction of a personality might be out of my life soon.
But I didn’t like unanswered questions, and the things she said didn’t always add up with the things she did.
Like now, when she opened her mouth to agree like there wasn’t an obvious lie lurking behind her eyes.
“Truthfully,” I tacked on.
Her pale pink lips curved downward into a pout. “Why not just ask me what you want to know?”
“Because though you’re terrible at it, you seem inclined to lie.” Not that the honor code would stop her, but it gave me higher odds at getting the truth.
“I won’t give you any information on Lochlann. Or Elk,” she declared.
If only those were the questions plaguing me. There wasn’t much she could tell me about Elk that my spies didn’t already know, and not much about Lochlann that would be useful just yet.
“That would be boring, Lemmikki. I promise not to ask you for anyone’s secrets besides your own.”
Confusion furrowed her brow once more. The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked out several seconds, loud and obtrusive in the sudden silence. Finally, she nodded, as I had known she would.
“Then I accept.”
This time, she didn’t turn back after she headed to her room. My traitorous gaze followed her all the way to her door, all the things I shouldn’t want to know running through my mind already.
Though the biggest question of all was why I cared to begin with.