Page 66 of The Twisted Throne

“Yes,” Hazel said, smoothing one of her curls. “Unless what you have to say makes it reasonable that you came before the other ladies. Give her some gossip, my lady.”

Ahnna opened the door and stepped outside. She found Taryn standing in the hallway with two of Ahnna’s new bodyguards, Louis and Alfred. Her cousin’s eyes were bloodshot with a hangover, her color poor, and she gave Ahnna’s dress a sad smile.

“Where’s Bronwyn?”

“With Jor.” Taryn sighed. “He’s really not well. His cough is horrible, and Bron is worried. She thinks he should return to Ithicana.”

“I’ll make arrangements,” Ahnna said. “I’ll speak to him myself after I know more.” She hesitated, then added, “Stay with him, would you?”

Taryn cast suspicious glares at the two guards but then nodded and headed off toward the servant staircase.

“If you’d follow me, my lady.” Alfred started up the hallway.

It was still tiring to exert herself, the act of walking the circuitous route around the palace leaving her slightly breathless, just as Bronwyn had warned her. Having been fit and healthy the whole of her life, Ahnna found the weakness irritating.

Another set of guards stood outside the double doors. One of them rapped sharply on the thick oak, which then opened from the interior. “The Lady Ahnna,” he said rather unnecessarily to the maid.

The maid bobbed a curtsy, and Ahnna smiled at her, sick of how long it took to do anything in this place with the endless middlemen.

“The Princess Ahnna, my lady,” the maid announced as she stepped inside, and Ahnna’s eyes went immediately to Virginia. The young woman was seated on a lavender velvet sofa, a saucer and teacup balanced on one knee. Across from her was Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Silverthorn, and an absolutely vapid idiot from what Ahnna had gathered at her welcome banquet.

“Ahnna!” Virginia rose, navigating carefully around the furniture, then reaching out for Ahnna, kissing the air next to both her cheeks. “I was horrified to hear of what happened. Jamie gave me barely any of the story, but Georgie was more forthcoming. I hate to think of what might have happened if my brother hadn’t been with you.”

“I’d be dead, no doubt,” Ahnna said. “Both assassins were very skilled.”

“Amaridians.” Virginia wrinkled her nose. “I swear they are asking for war. This behavior cannot stand. Have you sent word to your brother?”

“Not yet.” There had been no need; Lara probably had spies in Verwyrd with instructions to report, and the events were no secret. “I’m fine.”

“You’re so brave.”

Virginia linked arms with her, leading Ahnna to the large windows that overlooked Verwyrd’s expansive courtyard, where several men were training with swords. Ahnna immediately recognized James, partly from the copper gleam of his hair but mostly from his size.

“Where is Bronwyn? Hazel was to invite her as well. Did youknow shesparredwith the candidates for your new guardsmen instead of interviewing them? Beat every last one of them, and I think Georgie despaired finding anyone who suited.”

“Bronwyn has had significant training. Unfortunately, she’s attending my countryman. He’s ill, and she’s educated in herblore.”

“Shame for the illness and the absence. Bronwyn has a delightfully salty tongue. Veliants are always entertaining. We have several of her cousins and even a few half siblings floating about Harendell. I’ve heard that her half brother, the Empress of Valcotta’s consort, is the most beautiful man in the world. Have you met him?”

“Keris?” Ahnna had only half heard Virginia’s question, her attention all on the duel going on below between James and George. Both were stripped down to their shirtsleeves, James’s pushed up to his elbows to reveal muscled forearms. He pressed George backward, using his superior height and skill to his advantage. Every step he took was smooth and certain, not an ounce of hesitation. Like he’d been born to fight. The idea rose in her again that propriety was a mask he wore, not at all reflecting the man beneath. The man she’d seen glimpses of. The man who had kissed her like she’d never been kissed in all her life. “Keris is good-looking,” she finally answered, her toes curling slightly in her shoes as James disarmed George. “If you enjoy blonds. And salty tongues. He makes Bronwyn seem sweet by comparison.”

“You don’t?”

“Don’t what?” Ahnna asked, distracted by James dragging a forearm across his sweaty brow. The fabric of his shirt strained over his chest, the garment at risk of joining the ruined clothes that he seemed to leave in his wake. Ahnna’s heart sped, heat pooling low in her stomach, but she kept her expression schooled to bland interest.

“Prefer blonds?”

Ahnna twitched, turning her head to find Virginia staring at her in that uncanny way she had, as though she saw more than shadows. “Not really, no.”

Virginia made a soft humming noise and turned to the window. Below, James was now facing off against two men whom Ahnna didn’t recognize, his expression still as grim as one going into the last battle of his life.

“How fortunate that my brother isn’t blond.”

Ahnna’s breath caught, certain that Virginia had noted where her attention lay, but then the princess said, “All three of us favor our father’s coloring, though James got lucky with the copper highlights. Not that he cares. Vanity is not one of his faults.”

Instinct warned Ahnna that Virginia was prying into her opinions of James. Knowing she couldn’t give the princess any clues that her attraction lay with the wrong brother, Ahnna made use of Hazel’s suggestion. “Keris saved my brother’s life when they rescued Zarrah from Devil’s Island. Took an arrow for him and nearly died.”

Virginia’s eyes widened. “Really? That surprises me, for I had heard that he’s quite bookish.”

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