Chapter 35 #2
Two days passed as all the finely honed pieces of their plan, years in the making, were dusted off and put into play.
George and Isahn had Hildy over for cena to review details and catch up on other important matters.
Namely, George was desperate to learn what happened between Hildy and Burke.
Politics were of value but dull from overhandling.
The drama of her friends’ love lives? That would never lose its shine.
Popping a bite of baklava in her mouth, she savored the sticky sweetness as Isahn and Hildy rehashed Viceroy Doukas’s role in the matter of the king.
“Explain this to me again. There’s a fake dinner party?” Her lord’s foot bounced beneath the table, his knee vibrating against hers.
“It’s not a fake dinner. He’s really hosting. The invitation’s symbolic though,” Hildy explained patiently. Like George, she picked up on the fact that Isahn went full-Burke when he was anxious.
“Right, right. Because of the fake holiday.”
“Yes. Appia Day—which doesn’t really exist—is to celebrate the old goddess of life, fertility, birth, or—” She looked pointedly at George. “Rebirth, as it were. Maybe we should’ve invoked Lellin for a stronger death and rebirth theme.”
“Too obvious,” George replied.
By inviting all of their allies to the Appia Day Celebration, Doukas was effectively telling those who’d stayed in Nowosmont after the Great Assembly to prepare for an overthrow; to come over for cena and an update.
The invitation was also being sent far and wide to call back those allies who’d departed for their summer homes.
The move was brilliant. Viceroy Doukas was making an easily refutable, but clear-to-those-in-the-know, statement.
When the vacated viceroys received the symbolic invitation he’d insisted be forwarded, they’d turn tail and return to Nowosmont immediately, eager to witness the changing tides themselves.
“And you have everything you need, right, Georgie?” Hildy verified.
“Tucked safely away. Adda gave me extras, too.” Ceadda had finally perfected his recipe over years of morally dubious experimentation.
His pill was a lethal mixture of extracted and powdered herbal toxins.
If it could kill, Adda got his hands on it and worked it into the creation.
Infused with his powerful but undervalued magic, it tasted like honey and relaxation.
“I hate playing hurry up and wait,” Isahn grumbled as he topped up his whiskey.
“I know, love. It’s only a matter of time before my father invites me to dine again.” She squeezed his hand. Their fingers were perpetually intertwined ever since his return, unless they were otherwise occupied. That thought brought a rush of heat to her cheeks, which Isahn did not miss.
He began to snake a coil of deliciously hot water up and around her calves, and George widened her eyes as he reached her thighs.
“All right.” Hildy tossed her hands in the air as she pushed back from the table. She pointed back and forth between Isahn and George. “I don’t know what you two sick fucks are doing beneath that table, but I’m out of here.”
“Wait!” George laughed, using her touch magic to push back Isahn’s wandering water. She shot him a look that said “You wait, too,” before pouting at Hildy. “Please stay. You only finished talking business. I want to discuss the fun stuff.”
“Fine.”
“To the sitting room,” George said with a smile. They carried their wine glasses while Isahn followed along, toting his whiskey and the open bottles they’d gotten into.
“So, Burke?” George got straight to the point as she tucked herself beneath Isahn’s arm.
Hildy inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. “It’s done.”
“Done, done?”
“Done. Finigo. Finished.”
“No more Hildy, Dunstan, Burke drama. Wow. What made you end it?”
“You two, actually.” Hildy looked between them, her gaze lingering on Isahn. “Things we talked about. Seeing you together.”
He nodded, and George wondered what sort of topics her love and her best friend discussed on their lengthy journey. They’d recapped her time while he was away, but not the entirety of his, just the Peros part.
“You know, we’re maybe not the best example of how to find love, right?” George cracked a smile.
“Now, whatever could you mean by that, Mira?” Isahn rumbled, rubbing his thumb gently back and forth over her thigh.
“I wasn’t even thinking about the prisoner thing! We’ve had a bit of a whirlwind romance. Wouldn’t you say? Less than three weeks from meeting to first declaring our love?”
“Fair enough,” he replied with a shrug that ended with a squeeze around her shoulders.
Hildy chuckled. “I’m not expecting what the two of you have. I suppose I just... well... I’m expecting something now.”
“Where before you felt nothing?” George clarified, wanting to be sure she wasn’t misunderstanding.
“Oh, I felt many somethings. But I think they were the wrong somethings?”
Isahn nodded sagely, and George narrowed her eyes at him. What was he catching that she was missing? She’d have to pick his brain later. There’d be plenty of time. They had plenty of time.
Pressing against Isahn in an attempt to suppress the overwhelming urge to climb inside him, she squeezed his hand. Her future husband, her future king. He wasn’t going anywhere.