CHAPTER 7 #2
The queen tilted her head toward him, a sly look in her eyes. “A guest like you is always welcome to speak his mind,” she replied.
“You have weapon-smiths for dinner often?” he asked, tipping his head sideways as he examined her.
“Not for the main course,” Princess Sakura said blandly. “They’re too tough to be satisfying.”
His head whipped toward her in surprise. The coolness of her tone and her haughty expression left little doubt as to her opinion of him and his presence there. But that had sounded like a joke.
Wasn’t it?
He clutched the hem of his waistcoat a little tighter.
Crafting weapons hadn’t taught him how to navigate the perils of conversation that didn’t involve price negotiations.
He’d learned to read body language cues from watching people in the market.
But this felt more dangerous than keeping an eye out for potential thieves or identifying someone in trouble.
“I appreciate you saving me from the storm,” he said slowly. “And you’ve treated me fine. But I don’t mind eating with the servants if my presence causes Her Highness offense. Think I’d be more comfortable there anyway. I mean no offense, Your Majesty,” he added hastily.
The princess picked up her fork and delicately lifted a small bite. She slipped it into her mouth without touching any part of her lips, nor did she make a sound as she withdrew the utensil. Her black eyes stayed focused on her food, avoiding Keenan.
Queen Arisa frowned. “I regret to hear that you are uncomfortable at our table. I should hope any guest of ours would feel as welcome here as at home.”
The princess made him feel as much at home as his foster brother ever had. But he kept that thought to himself.
Setting her fork gently on the table, Princess Sakura folded her hands in her lap and gave Keenan a pleasant smile.
The corners of her lips were barely curved though, and her eyes were as cool as her voice.
“Indeed. Dining with a commoner is such a rare treat. You must tell us how you came to join us here.”
“I was running from bandits,” he replied warily, drawing his eyebrows together. “I thought you knew that.”
“Not many people travel this part of the mountains. Were you on your way to see us?”
Keenan’s eyebrows pulled tighter. “Why would I have been on my way to see you? I’m not a peddler, and my only contact with royalty before now has been to sell my weapons.”
“You had no other contact with royalty?” Queen Arisa interjected, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.
Keenan fidgeted with his waistcoat. “Only if you count the day Prince Michael asked after Miss Liesl’s friend,” he amended. “I didn’t even see the prince when I volunteered to accompany her. The head of his guard had decided to escort her, and he was the one who said I could join them.”
“And why would he come?” Princess Sakura challenged calmly.
“A simple weapon-smith is an odd choice for a bodyguard, but the crown prince’s personal guard as escort for a shepherdess’s foray into the neighboring kingdom?
And now the guard is conveniently missing while you appear at the winter castle. ”
Her piercing gaze sent a thread of unease down his spine. “Prince Michael didn’t send us here to spy on your people,” he rushed to assure her. “Miss Liesl is Prince Axel’s sister-in-law, so it makes sense he would want someone reliable to protect her.”
He almost added that Princess Anne’s disappearance made her brother more worried, but he held his tongue. All of Hartford knew, but King Phillip might not want the information to extend beyond his borders. Keenan couldn’t mention something without being sure they already knew.
“Katrin’s sister decided to explore Ryuni, so Michael sent a single guardsman and a weapon-smith to protect her?” Princess Sakura sniffed. “I shouldn’t be surprised at such a choice from someone who decided to marry a commoner.”
Keenan bristled. “Princess Arabella may not be nobility, but she’s done a lot of good for Daraigh.” The food distribution program she’d started two years earlier had helped people in his old neighborhood. “Prince Michael couldn’t have chosen better.”
“Sakura, haven’t you been training that fox of yours to find people in the snow?” the queen interjected. She waved a hand toward her daughter. “If Keenan’s friend is such an important person, you should lend your pet to help.”
Smoothing her expression, Princess Sakura faced her mother. “Bunta needs something that carries the missing person’s scent. He can’t simply walk into the forest and find someone by magic.”
Keenan had brightened at the mention of a search animal, but now his enthusiasm dimmed. “I don’t have any—wait!” He reached for his pocket, then remembered he wasn’t wearing his own clothes. “She gave me a handkerchief. It should be in one of my pockets.”
The princess frowned, but her eyes flicked over to him. “That might suffice. As long as it hasn’t picked up your scent in the meantime.”
“I’ve only had it since this morning.”
She didn’t look pleased, but she nodded slowly. “It may work.”
“If it doesn’t, we’re no worse off than otherwise.” Queen Arisa looked much more satisfied with the situation than her daughter.
“Unless the guards waste time following Bunta on the wrong scent,” Princess Sakura replied. Looking down, she picked up her fork again, signaling that she was finished with the conversation.
Keenan set a hand on the edge of the table. “Do you mind if I fetch the handkerchief now?” he asked, barely restraining himself from bouncing in his seat. The many courses had yet to sate his hunger from the day’s adventures and short rations before that, but his stomach could wait.
Both of his companions stared at him with wide eyes. “Now?” The queen’s eyebrows could have touched her hairline. “In the middle of a meal?”
He stared back at her. “Miss Liesl could be in the hands of bandits or half frozen in a snowdrift. She has nothing but a staff to protect herself and her cloak and a cat to keep her warm. How is supper more important than that?”
Princess Sakura shot a look at her mother, then nodded to Keenan. “You make a good point.” Motioning to a footman, she waited for him to slide her chair out and continued, “I will accompany you to your room, then take the handkerchief to the stable.”
“But make sure you—” the queen began.
“Leave it with the kennel master to give to the guards. I know, Mother.”
Keenan wouldn’t have been surprised if the princess rolled her eyes, but she was too proper for that.
Neither spoke as they hurried through the hallways to Keenan’s borrowed rooms. The princess raised an eyebrow when she saw the door he opened, but she didn’t say anything.
Rushing in, Keenan dug through the pockets of the clothes he’d worn when he arrived. The pockets in his trousers were empty, as were the ones in his cloak. What had he done with it?
Struck with an idea, he hurried over to the bedroom and ripped open the flap on his travel bag. A sigh of relief escaped as he found the bit of red cloth. He reached down to pick it up, then stopped and grabbed a clean shirt. The less he touched it, the more likely it would work.
The princess gave him a begrudging look of respect when she saw his precaution. “I will deliver this to the man in charge of finding your companions.” She turned, then paused. “Why are you so determined to find her?”
“Why? Jealous?” Keenan grinned as he pulled his door closed, some of his tension easing with the hope buoying him up.
Since the princess hadn’t moved, he was standing much closer to her than before.
She was rather shorter than he’d realized; he could probably set his chin on top of her head without trying.
Might spear himself on that tiara of hers, though.
“Of a peasant? Because you might care about her?” Tossing her head of pretty black hair, she strode off down the hall. “Hardly.”
“No need to be rude,” he muttered. Clearly, the princess couldn’t take a joke.