Chapter 10 #2
A few thousand gold coins for that painting, no doubt, the one that depicted a well-known scene from the final War of the Dragons.
Not that I’d ever be able to steal it. It was far too large to make off with…
unless I cut it out of the frame and rolled it up.
But it would still be too bulky to smuggle out of the palace easily.
The sight of the fire-breathing monster battling a knight in scorched armor made me think of Rhianough, and for a moment, I missed her.
Clearly, I was going mad.
Oh, that gold-plated dish, roughly the size of my hand—that was something that could fit into my pouch easily enough, and I doubted it would be missed.
A few hundred gold for that, especially if I could include the provenance of its origin.
Idly, I made a note of its location, then held my breath for a moment.
What was I doing? Cataloging items in my…
husband’s family home to steal? Because, for all that this was the Kardonan Palace, it was Kason’s home.
Would I do the same in any of my friends’ homes?
Well…maybe. If they had anything worth stealing.
Habits were hard to break, all right?
Our escort pushed open a set of double doors and stood there, holding them ajar, making room for Kason and me to precede them into the room.
I nearly balked when I realized we were walking into the throne room, but Kason’s hand on my elbow kept me moving forward.
Instead of Queen Daro sitting on the center throne on the pedestal at the front of the room, two younger people were ensconced in the secondary thrones beside it, a man and a woman, both bearing a striking resemblance to Kason, though older.
They had the opposite of Kason’s coloring—dark-brown hair instead of blond, skin paler than Kason’s golden tan, and hazel eyes instead of Kason’s clear and beautiful blue—but their facial structure was the same, with high cheekbones and strong noses that were almost, but not quite, too big for their faces.
I assumed they were Prince Telurin and Princess Desha, given their positions, but was it any wonder I’d never guessed Kason was related to them?
I still didn’t know how Imalfi had come by the knowledge.
Behind the royals stood two men, both dressed in practical dark clothing.
Unlike the frippery of the royals’ outfits, their attire was closer to Kason’s armor than anything. Likely bodyguards.
I didn’t know what to expect from this meeting between siblings. But the wide smiles on their faces when they saw Kason wasn’t it.
“Brother!” Telurin leaped from his throne and marched down the stairs to pull Kason into a back-slapping embrace.
I stepped aside, out of the way of the exuberant greeting, as Desha joined her brothers.
A murmur rose around us, and I finally noticed that the siblings and guards weren’t the only occupants of the room.
Yes, such a great thief, I was. So observant.
There were perhaps ten other people nearby, courtiers of some sort or another, if their clothes were anything to go by.
Nobles, most assuredly. Some watched the siblings’ reunion with soft, indulgent smiles, but most had their eyes on me, narrowed, disdainful, and contemplative.
“It’s so good to see you whole and hale.” Telurin stepped back, but kept a hand cupped on Kason’s shoulder as Desha embraced him. “We’d heard tales that— Is this him?”
I froze under the prince’s sudden regard.
Desha’s bell-like laugh didn’t make me relax. “Gods’ mercy, brother, you could have taken him to the magistrate before coming to see us.” Looking over Kason’s shoulder at the guards stationed at the edge of the room, she jerked her chin delicately in my direction.
“He stays with me.” Kason’s hand gripped mine, a gesture that didn’t slip past either his siblings or the guards, but Kason didn’t expand on it. Not yet. He would though? Right? “Where’s Mother?”
“Resting in her rooms.” Telurin eyed Kason’s hand in mine, his lips curling in distaste—much like the looks I’d already garnered from the crowd of nobles.
“If she’s able, I’d like to speak to all of you at once.”
A shrewd look entered Desha’s eyes, then left as quickly as a breeze, replaced by a bright smile. “I’m not sure now is an ideal time?—”
Telurin spoke over his sister. “And certainly not with that… creature .”
Yes, that was more in line with what I had expected. The down-the-nose look, the haughty expression, the disgust in his tone. Kason’s fingers tightened on mine, but that didn’t help dull the sting of his brother’s words.
Kason firmed his shoulders, and for the first time, I realized just how much larger he was than either of his siblings. He was a good head taller than Telurin, and much broader in his shoulders—a man built for fighting rather than political scheming.
“That creature,” he spat at his brother, “is my husband, Mokido Azenas. You will show some respect.”
The way Telurin’s eyes narrowed, I highly doubted I’d get that respect anytime soon.