Sir Weston nodded, picking up his own wine glass. "You go to speak with your mother, I take it?"
My grandmother's current illness wasn't widely known yet. My mother had wanted to wait for my return to make the announcement, and there'd been a letter waiting here at the Popes' when I'd returned from the woods, reassuring me that my grandmother was holding on, remaining on bed rest.
"I'd like for her to be aware of everything I've learned with my time away from the capital," I said. "My mother loves this kingdom deeply."
Sir Weston's eyes slid away, his head still nodding but with less enthusiasm.
"You must look forward to seeing your sister, Camellia. My sister Nancy and I can barely stand to be parted," Lady Evelyn Ashley said, and her husband huffed gruffly. "Lord Ashley is so tolerant of my getting to see her a great deal. We should always be visiting one another if we could."
"Not sure sisterly love always extends so sweetly amongst the royal families," Lord Ashley chuckled. He'd taken every offering of wine Miriam Pope posed until they'd no longer been issued. "Wasn't it Queen Rose who had Princess Gardenia shipped off to some ruinous palace at the western border until she might be married away?"
"She died before the marriage," Sir Weston said gravely, swirling his wine in his glass.
I looked between the men. "You both know a great deal of my lineage."
"It was common before your great grandmother's time for the noble families to keep a record of the queen's line. Births, marriages, deaths," Douglas Pope said with a shrug.
"Banishments," I added and watched the men shift uncomfortably. As if I might be unaware of the ugly competition between two princesses for a crown.
"Ladies, I hope you might join me in the sitting room. I have been longing for a decent game of cards, and it is never as much fun with Douglas for I always know how he will play his hand," Miriam said, the men all rising from their seat to see the women out.
"I hope you won't mind my absence from your game," I said, rising too. "I was hoping to have a word with the gentlemen.
"I can take your place," Cosmo said quickly, meeting my gaze and nodding at my grateful smile. He would charm the women and also keep them from gossiping together through my discussion with the men.
"Are you sure it's safe?" I whispered to Wendell as the bodies shuffled around the table.
"Lord Ashley and my father have no political ambitions, and they take Sir Weston's advice in most matters. And we know he is on your side," Wendell said, arching an eyebrow.
"I suppose that means no pipe and whiskey," Lord Ashley grumbled, not quietly enough after all his drinking.
"By all means," I said, catching the words. Of the three men not part of my Chosen, I trusted Lord Ashley the least, and it might be better if he remembered less of the conversation about to take place. "I don't want to interrupt your routine together, only speak a little more with you."
"Let's move this to the study so dinner can be cleared away," Douglas said. And so the servants aren't all listening in, remained unspoken.
Daniel offered me his arm, his muscles tense beneath my tight fingers. It was a gamble to approach any political topic with these men, but we already knew Camellia had her mouth to the council's ear—if not elsewhere, I thought darkly—and I couldn't be the innocent and naïve girl who'd left the capital on my return. I needed solid allies, and I needed them speaking in my favor.
My Chosen were my shadows in the hallway as we moved, quiet support, their energies almost tangible at my back. Wendell's studious and careful nature weighing the coming conversation, Thao's confidence shoring me up to hold my chin high. Owen's devotion and utter faith in me, Daniel's steady commitment to serve me and his growing affectionate interest in belonging. Cresswell appeared from the shadows in his crisp uniform, warm tawny skin glowing in the lamplight, his eyes watchful over my head, ready to defend me at every moment. And Aric, a little bored, a little tempted, a little disgusted with himself for the finery of the evening, and every bit as loving and constant as he'd proved himself to be in the past month.
Daniel led me to the couch in the study, and I held his arm, coaxing him into sitting with me, Owen happily taking the other side of me. Cresswell remained at my back and Aric moved to lurk near the windows, watching the scene from afar, as Thao and Wendell both grabbed chairs near me. Lord Ashley was busy helping himself to the whiskey, but Sir Weston and Douglas Pope both sat near the fire, facing me immediately.
"I take it from your visit to our council meeting that you don't intend for the council to hold the same influence it's been privileged with in the past century," Sir Weston said immediately. He looked easy, untroubled by the notion, but I didn't want to take that for granted.
"I don't believe it would be possible for a queen to rule a kingdom single-handedly. The council is of great value to Kimmery," I began.
"In theory," Aric said softly from the window, before ducking his head in apology to me.
It was a bit of an act, actually, Aric playing my rude and outspoken Chosen. He was my rude and outspoken Chosen, but in this moment he had my permission to be so.
Douglas huffed and raised his glass to Aric. "No offense, Weston. You know how highly I think of you."
"And you know how poorly I think of many of my peers on the council," Sir Weston said with a shrug. "No offense taken. Your Highness, I do wish you would feel comfortable here in this company."
"I only wish not to be mistaken. I have no intention of doing away with the council. I am not greedy for control. I am simply desperate to do well by Kimmery," I said.
And this was my role for the evening, the heartfelt young woman only thinking of others. Sir Weston might've seen through it, he'd witnessed me sharp and demanding in front of the council, but it was a kind of shield against Lord Ashley or even Wendell's father's opinions. If my experience with the council had taught me one thing, it was that some men didn't appreciate a young woman having her own strong mind. I was learning from Wendell that a lot of diplomacy had to do with pretending to agree with a person while tricking them into agreeing with you.
I sometimes related to my mother's disinterest in ruling and understood how the responsibility of the crown had been shuffled into the council's hands.
"Some control will have to be seized," Weston said with a shrug. "Thomlinson and Roderick won't cede, you know. Not while they have other ears to bend to their own purposes."
Those ears being my mother's and Camellia's.
"Her Majesty has sincere love for her people. She has a great deal of confidence in Kimmery. Perhaps more in the council than I have though," I said carefully.
Lord Ashley snorted, taking the responsibility of rudeness out of Aric's hands for the moment.
"There is a curious phenomenon in the queen's line. Two princesses is a rare occurrence, and not once has there ever been two heirs remaining when it was time for succession," Sir Weston said.
"How often has it been avoided?" Wendell asked leaning forward. "We've been attempting our research in the Winter Palace, but the library there was obviously stripped before our arrival."