The silence extended, this one not at all under my control.
Con still returned my gaze with wariness, the leashed violence in his posture betraying his agitation. That was nothing new. How much was aimed at me, however, I couldn’t be sure. Great green Ejarat, why wouldn’t he—With a sour crush of chagrin, I realized my error.
Con didn’t read well. In my terrible mood and upset at Anure’s promised retaliation—which was arguably entirely Con’s fault—I’d forgotten about that. An unforgivable error, really, as Con couldn’t read because he’d been ripped from life as crown prince of Oriel and forced to labor in the mines of volcanic Vurgmun.
Did he think I’d intended to humiliate him as payback for his various transgressions? Not that I was above such tricks, but I wouldn’t use his past against him. I doubted Con knew that, however. I needed to resolve this détente immediately.
“Of course, husband,” I said, as if no lapse had occurred. I added a coy smile and a flutter of lashes to distract our observers. The anticipation sighed out of my entourage, a breath of disappointment that there would be no fireworks to describe at the festivities of the Night Court.
I drew nearer to Con, watching his gaze fire with the hunger we had yet to sate between us. At least there was that. “You know I treasure time spent in private with you.” I reached up and trailed my nails over the short, surprisingly silky hair of his dark beard, partly to make a show, partly to indulge myself—and partly to feel the thrumming tension of his response to me. A moment of perfect harmony shimmered into place. He closed his hand over mine in shared understanding, the hot, rough skin a reminder of his touch in more intimate places. I suddenly felt much better. Yes. Only sex, but at least there was that. “Leave us,” I airily told the others.
We wouldn’t be fully private, of course. Not unless we retired to our rooms, and even there I couldn’t be certain. Anure’s spies were everywhere, and even those loyal to me couldn’t resist feeding their curious interest in us when they thought they could escape notice. As Calanthe’s crown princess since my birth, and confirmed Her queen in my teens, I was accustomed to the constant attention. Con … not so much. The pervasive crowds made his skin twitch like a hunted animal’s, his golden gaze going feral as he constantly scanned every movement for potential danger. Giving him the illusion of privacy would help calm him.
Indeed, he relaxed fractionally as my ladies politely herded everyone away, until only my adviser, Lord Dearsley, and Con’s people remained. Kara and Sondra hung back, as if unsure if they should post a perimeter guard. I hadn’t yet gotten a good read of General Kara. He hailed from Soensen, a realm that had fought more fiercely than most kingdoms, held out longer against Anure than many, and fallen the hardest because of it. The tall, dark-skinned, and rawhide-thin man had barely spoken two words to me without Con present.
Sondra would speak to me, though she didn’t like me much. The warrior woman wore her pale-blond hair long and straight, always washed and brushed to a shine, although she paid no attention to any other part of her appearance. Ambrose did the opposite, making up for them all with his adoption of elegant attire. He stood beside Con, smiling genially, forest-green eyes alert with amusement, power shimmering around him with nearly palpable heat. The orchid on my hand shimmied its petals, as if coquettishly waving at him.
“You look very well in your garb as court wizard of Calanthe,” I told Ambrose. I’d stepped back slightly from Con, to give us some polite distance, but he retained hold of my hand, and I was unwilling to make a show of tugging it away, even if only in front of our closest advisers.
“Is that what that outfit is meant to be?” Con raised his brows dubiously, looking Ambrose up and down. “I thought maybe a night sky puked on you.”
Behind me, Sondra snickered and Kara cleared his throat. Lord Dearsley, who’d been my father’s adviser before me, and was easily three times my age, looked pained at Con’s coarseness. Ambrose only cocked his head at Con, his raven familiar echoing the gesture with uncanny similarity. “Such petulance. I pity Queen Euthalia in having to deal with you. Lady Sondra, General Kara, I believe we’re not wanted.”
At last. Though Sondra and Kara didn’t move until Con dipped his chin in permission. I wouldn’t let their fealty to Con first and foremost annoy me. Much.
“What are Your wishes for me, Your Highness?” Dearsley inquired, bowing to me with pointedly elegant manners.
“Please see to any of the petitions that don’t need My personal attention.” The ones that did … who knew when I’d get to them? Every day I seemed to fall further behind. The grind of the intensifying nightmares and fretting about Anure’s retaliation, on top of dealing with Con, made me inefficient and weary. Dearsley bowed again, more deeply than he had to, making a further point of showing respect, and departed.
“Walk with Me, Conrí,” I said, moving away from the many hiding places of the dense flower beds and hedge mazes, and out to a semi-enclosed folly on the cliff overlooking the sea. With a short grass meadow all around, at least no one could hide close enough to overhear, and the surf against the rocks made for a decent noise screen. Con strode beside me, scanning the area in his hypervigilant style, ever ready for the least hint of danger. It irritated me. He was the enemy who’d come to my island, cornered me, and manipulated me into this marriage. Effectively he’d conquered me and Calanthe both. I tried not to let that stick in my craw, as we were supposed to be allies now, but I couldn’t so easily forget who posed the most immediate danger to everything I’d built and tried to protect. Con had a different agenda, and I harbored no illusions that he’d sacrifice Calanthe to get what he wanted.
“I don’t think Anure will leap out of the bushes to attack,” I said, more tartly than I’d intended.
“Forgive me if I take your safety seriously,” he retorted. “I recall making vows to protect you.”
I bit back a sigh, regretting my words, and my resentment. No matter how we’d begun, the two of us needed to find ways to agree, not argue. Besides, I was the jumpy one, feeling the press of the dread future and Anure’s hot breath on the back of my neck. That had been true long before I even knew Con existed. “Thank you for that. Though My gardens are quite safe.” I said it to reassure myself as much as him.
Con glanced down at me, a brow quirked meaningfully. “No venomous snakes in paradise, then?”
“Just Me,” I replied. “I apologize for taking out My anger on you—and for My misstep in handing you the letter to read. I truly forgot. I did not intend to embarrass you.” Not for his inability to read, anyway. I’d wanted to call him out for his absence in court, for all the ways he’d turned my life and rule upside down. I didn’t often misfire that way. Except that I’d done it more often with Con than ever before. I had no idea what to make of that.
“I have thick skin,” he replied, his rough voice softer. We entered the folly, and he turned to face me, gaze going to my mouth. “It wasn’t your fault—I should’ve said something.” He paused, an odd expression on his face as he stared at me. “You look nice today,” he said, as if that explained something.