Chapter 29
A s soon as Rowan was back in her room, I sent for her maid. At first it had given me pause to learn my stepmother’s former maid was now in service to the princess, but Mairi cycled through maids fairly quickly. There was hardly anyone in the castle who hadn’t taken a turn.
Still, this one had served her more frequently than most, so I treated her with an abundance of caution.
Taisiya’s tan skin paled several shades when she walked into my study, which was a much more common reaction to my presence than Rowan’s entire personality. Still, she held her head high.
“You called for me, my lord?” she inquired. There was a faint accent I couldn’t place, like perhaps her parents had hailed from opposite ends of the clan, or even different clans.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
She blinked. “Seratov Village, my lord, but my father was from Wolf.”
Interclan marriages weren’t unheard of among the villages, but they were unusual. Several things about this maid were unusual, including her eagerness to serve the Lochlannian the rest of the estate was terrified of.
“I see. The princess needs a wardrobe. Report her measurements to the estate seamstress tomorrow after lunch.”
“Of course, my lord. Is that all?” Uncertainty lined her tone, which was fair since it would have been much easier for me to send word, but I liked to keep an eye on anyone with the proximity to murder the princess in her sleep.
“For now.”
She left with a bow, hurrying out of my room like the frightened maid I was starting to suspect she wasn’t.
The following morning, I paid a visit to the seamstress myself.
“I’ve got your cloak all ready, milord.” Doroteya was rushing to the back room before I even shut the door behind me.
The vast room was on the bottom floor of the estate, along with the other services. Wooden mannequins housed various garments in the back room, though it was mostly flowing, jewel toned dresses with impractical sleeves and trailing trains. It was hard to picture Rowan in anything of the sort, though I didn’t actually know what kind of dresses were worn in Lochlann.
She returned in seconds, not quite meeting my eyes as she handed over the neatly folded black garment.
“I also need clothes for my pet,” I told her, placing coins on the table. “A maid will bring her measurements this afternoon.”
She lifted her head to gauge my expression, blinking in confusion.
“For the ginger wildcat, milord?”
In a manner of speaking. I suppressed the rare urge to laugh.
“For the Lochlannian princess,” I clarified.
She nodded, evident relief on her features. “Court, travel, and nightclothes?”
“Only travel and nightclothes,” I answered. Then I considered how the princess traveled, how she fought, and our last experiences with her pale thighs exposed to every man in the squadron.
“The sleeves should allow for easy use of her hands, and the skirts need to accommodate riding astride.”
She gasped audibly, her thin fingers clenching around the garment she still held, but she didn’t contradict me.
“Anything else, milord?”
We would likely be stopping places where there were no available maids, and I sure as storms wasn’t bringing hers.
“Something she can get in and out of easily.”
Doroteya looked ready to faint, and I reviewed the words in my head.
“By herself,” I amended.
She pursed her lips, unconvinced. “Of course, milord.”
I went on to request gloves, shoes, cloaks, and generally more clothes than she would need for a short journey, but I still wasn’t convinced we could reach an agreement. Besides, I rather enjoyed the idea of torturing Korhonan by seeing her in clothes she got from me, even if she returned to Elk.
I spent the next few days preparing a way for us to leave without arousing my father’s suspicion, and taking care of anything that couldn’t see to itself in my absence.
I debated leaving Taras behind, but I needed him close for the negotiations. His father was in residence right now, and he was a fair enough lord. He would oversee things here in our absence, along with a few of my trusted men. The rest would come with us.
I was signing off on emergency rations for a village that had been decimated by a storm when Taras’s quick rap came at the door, followed by, “It’s Taras.”
“It’s unlocked,” I called back, neatly folding the paper.
He opened the door then closed it behind him.
“Dare I ask why the princess was seen attempting to break into your rooms earlier today?”
Because I don’t care for another interaction like the one in the sparring ring and have therefore been avoiding her for days.
Though I couldn’t help but be aware of her new penchant for standing on the balcony with a blanket wrapped around her narrow shoulders, staring out at the mountains like she could will herself home.
“Not unless you want me to ask why your brother allowed it,” I responded without looking at him, holding a small scoop of wax over the candle on my desk.
My cousin let out a small sigh, and I could practically feel him shaking his head. “He did stop her when he saw what she was doing. Technically you have him guarding her, not you.”
Only Yuriy.
“I wasn’t aware that was a distinction that had to be made,” I said drily as I poured a few drops of wax
“Have you noticed that you avoid questions where she’s concerned?” he asked bluntly. “I wonder why that is.”
“Perhaps the better question is why you take such note of her to begin with. Would you like me to write to her father when the pass opens and arrange a marriage for you instead of Korhonan? It would be an excellent alliance for Bear.”
I injected all the nonchalance I could muster as I removed my signet ring, like I would have no feelings at all about being tortured by her presence in this estate every day for the rest of my life.
“Until your father murdered us both,” he muttered, helping himself to some whiskey.
“So you would want that?” I stamped the ring against the wax harder than I meant to, smudging the seal.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Van. What I want is for the girl to be gone, and not to break into your study for information she can take back to Elk the moment she is. It would be…inconvenient to deal with Lochlann, but we certainly can’t afford to let certain information get back to Elk.”
Inconvenient . Sometimes I wondered at who Taras and I had become, but I supposed that was the life we were born into.
“The only information she cares about pertains to her getting back,” I assured him. “She’s not exactly spy material, and she doesn’t know anything that would pose a threat to us.”
There was a part of me that didn’t believe she would share it, even if she did, but that was likely wishful thinking. She had no loyalty to anyone at Bear, and every reason to see us fall.
It would be important to remember that when the negotiations started.