Page 45 of The Crownless Prince

Lucien and Marcus both gaped at her. Belatedly, her mind caught up to her, but it was too late.

“That would be far outside of the bounds of propriety,” Lucien protested.

“Adriana and I could share a horse and the servants could share the other,” Jairus said. “That would hardly be improper.”

“No!” Adriana opened and closed her mouth, searching for a reason why that wouldn’t work.

“Neither of us knows how to ride,” Marcus said with a small bow. “I’m unsure it would be wise for my brother or myself to attempt it for the first time in the snow.”

Jairus made a humming noise. “And my steed is spirited. Misbehaves if there isn’t a steady hand on the reins.”

“I’m not letting an inexperienced rider handle my horse, either,” Adriana declared. She waved to Marcus. “Hurry and get on behind me, then. I’m to be your lady, which means you’re to serve me, so you may as well start obeying me now.”

Marcus’s mouth twisted as if he was trying not to laugh, and there was something dangerously flirtatious in his eyes that made her very grateful his back was to Lucien.

“Come on, then—Edward, was it?” Jairus asked.

“Edwin, my lord,” he said as he edged closer.

“Marcus and Edwin,” Jairus mused. “Those names sound so familiar…” Panic leapt up Adriana’s throat, but he was already shaking his head. “Well, up you come, Edwin.”

Similar fear shone in Marcus’s expression for a moment, but he blinked and it was gone. As Edwin approached Jairus’s horse, Marcus reached up and grabbed the cantle of Adriana’s saddle, his fingers tucking between the top edge of the cantle and the base of her spine, and then he swung up behind her with a muscular agility that caused her breath to catch.

Before Lucien could argue, Adriana urged her horse into a trot and then a canter. With every beat of her horse’s hooves, Marcus’s knuckles brushed against her lower back. The wind whipped around her ears, and she realized that despite her hair being tucked into her cloak, with her hood down, Marcus was probably getting a face-full of curls. That was less romantic than she’d pictured sharing a horse to be.

“Thorne has a secret,” Marcus said quietly, close by the back of her head. “If we can expose him, there won’t be a wedding. That’s all I dare say right now. I don’t want to act too soon and risk anyone getting hurt.”

How would exposing this secret result in someone getting hurt? Remembering the bruises on Marcus’s and Edwin’s throats, she decided not to push it. She would trust Marcus and wait until tonight.

When they arrived at the stables, a servant was waiting for them.

“Your Highness,” the man said, bowing to Jairus. “Your father the king requests your presence in his study at once. He has been waiting for some time.”

Jairus winced. “Apologies, Lord Lucien, Adriana. It seems I have to leave you, at least for a while.” He leapt off his horse and rushed toward the castle.

Adriana bit her tongue to stifle an objection. Losing Jairus as her support and buffer after challenging Lucien was poor timing. Marcus jumped down and held out his hand to help her dismount, but as she reached for him, Lucien shoved him out of the way so hard he slammed into the side of an empty stall with a groan.

“Marcus!”

Her horse skittered as it pinned its ears back, and she had to turn her attention to calming the animal. Lucien seized the reins and held out his other hand to her as the horse calmed.

With a gulp, she took his hand and dismounted. His fingers tightened around hers, and he leaned over her, making her feel small and trapped between his hulking figure and the horse at her back.

“Tell me again, Adriana,” Lucien said in a low voice. “Does my servant capture your fancy?”

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer.” She tried to pull her hand free, but he only held on tighter.

Behind him, Edwin checked on Marcus, who winced before straightening.

“Is everything all right, Your Highness?” A stable hand edged closer, a pitchfork casually grasped in one hand.

Lucien stepped back, no longer looming over her. While it would be risky for a servant to attack a lord, if the servant was defending his own lady, the servant likely wouldn’t be blamed. Not to mention an altercation because the groom was acting threatening toward the bride-to-be might ruin the wedding. Thinking about it that way, Adriana almost wished the servant hadn’t intervened so soon and that Lucienhad done something worse than squeeze her hand.

“Apologies.” Lucien sounded anything but apologetic. He offered her his arm. “Shall we return to the castle?”

Ignoring his arm and marching past him was sorely tempting, but that might attract more suspicion. She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and let him lead her around the castle and back inside. Edwin and Marcus trailed after them, keeping a respectful distance.

Once inside, Lucien claimed he needed to use the water closet and promised to meet her shortly in the sitting room. Marcus and Edwin trailed after him, and her stomach churned. Would he hurt Marcus because of what she’d done?

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