Page 15 of Ties of Dust

“The floor?” he repeated, as if she’d expressed a desire to sleep on the open ocean. “You’re not sleeping on the floor. You’re sleeping in the bed.”

Flora hesitated, a fresh flush rising up her neck. “Your Highness…I have committed myself to protect you from harm to the best of my ability, but I really don’t think that task requires such proximity as sharing the same bed.”

“No, no, you misunderstand!” The prince tried to laugh, but the sound came out strangled. “I meant, of course, that I would sleep on the floor.”

“Your Highness!” Flora protested. “I cannot allow that.”

“You can’t prevent it,” Prince Cassius contradicted. “I’m a prince, remember. I’m very used to getting my way.”

He said it with a casual, even amicable air, but something in his face made Flora pause. She had a feeling it wasn’t entirely true. But that was neither here nor there in the current dilemma.

“I suppose I can’t prevent you sleeping wherever you choose, Your Highness,” she said. “But I can refuse to sleep in the bed that’s been expressly secured for your comfort.”

“Well, that would be a pointless sacrifice, since I won’t be sleeping in it,” Prince Cassius pointedout.

“That’s up to you,” said Flora stubbornly. “All I know is I certainly won’t.”

The prince made an impatient gesture. “This is ridiculous. Just take the bed.”

“No.” For a moment she forgot she was talking to a foreign prince, her eyes narrowing in defiance like they might if she was bantering with either of Miriam’s brothers. “If it’s ridiculous of me, it’s no less ridiculous of you. Give me one good reason why you shouldn’t sleep in the bed your delegation secured for you.”

“Because me doing so would leave a woman to sleep on the floor!” the prince said, matching her tone.

“Don’t think of me as a woman,” Flora suggested. “Think of me as a guard.”

His expression was incredulous. “Since you went to such pains to dramatically reveal to me that you are, in fact, a woman, I’m finding it a little hard to think of you as anything else.”

For some inscrutable reason, Flora’s cheeks were feeling warm. “I didn’t do it dramatically.”

“You did,” Prince Cassius contradicted. “The way you released your hair, with that big sweeping flick?” He mimed it with his arm, increasing Flora’s embarrassment.

“That’s just what my hair does when it’s released from its bonds!” Flora protested.

“Well, when combined with a shocking revelation, the gesture is inherently dramatic,” Prince Cassius said with maddening poise. “And believe me, it had all the dramatic effect you could wish. I am well aware of the dilemma we find ourselves in.”

Flora sighed. “I have no argument againstthat, Your Highness.”

“So you’ll take the bed, then?” the prince asked optimistically.

Flora just sighed. “This is a fruitless conversation, Your Highness. The sooner we stop arguing, the sooner we can both sleep.”

The prince stood. “Very true. I’ll step outside for a minute, to give you some privacy. I’d like a word with my guards, anyway.”

Flora hesitated, on the verge of asking him whether he intended to reveal her identity to the guards. But she decided she didn’t want to know. The moment the prince stepped out of the room, she released a gusty breath and let her head hang forward.

What a mess.

But she couldn’t afford to wallow in her discomfort. Solitude was likely to be rare for the next little while. She’d be wise to make the most of the respite she’d been given to prepare herself for sleep. She was exhausted enough she thought she might actually be able to drift off on the floor. She sent the lightest of scowls toward the comfortable-looking bed. If she and the prince were to be tethered together, he may as well get her measure sooner rather than later.

He’d quickly learn that she was as stubborn as her word.

Chapter

Five

Cassius would have liked a moment to compose himself after leaving Flora in the room. But as soon as he stepped into the corridor, the guards flanking his doorway sprang to attention.

“I wish to speak with Lord Armand,” he said tonelessly. “Fetch him.”

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