Page 30 of The Alliance

I nearly felt sorry for her, but not quite. I knew she and Dum had been sneaking round the Somerville territory recently, and I assumed it was because they wanted to cause trouble. If Edith had sent them, though, it was because she wanted them to get in and check Alfie was okay.

I decided I’d had enough of them and their severed finger, so I took Prince’s arm and led him away. I made eye contact with Edith on my way past, and she gave me the slightest nod. She would stay beside John for the rest of the night.

Prince was leaning on me as we went, and I stopped and wrapped my arms around him. “We really must find somewhere more secure to put that finger.”

He leaned harder against me, finally giving me all of his weight and letting me hold him up. I got a real kick out of being the one to hold him, support him. It made me feel complete in a way that nothing else did.

His voice was muffled because his mouth was pressed against my pecks.

“I don’t suppose we can burn it, if it was a gift from Dee, right? She’d probably be offended.”

I considered. “She probably wouldn’t notice, if we gave it a few weeks to let her forget.”

“Nah, I don’t want to upset her. But maybe we can put a lock on the box. Or at least put it where Frosty won’t keep knocking it into my lap.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of Prince’s head. “I’ll do that tomorrow. Why don’t we go into the other room?”

We were standing in the corridor, where we could be alone for a few moments.

Prince said, “In a minute.”

I kept my arms tight around him. “Take as long as you need, Prince.”

We stood like that for a few minutes, and I was content to have my mate in my arms. His weight against me was solid and warm, and I was soothed by his regular breaths.

Eventually, though, he stood up straight and pulled away from me.

“Right, okay, I’m ready.”

I smiled. “You sound like you’re going to war.”

“I’m just a bit nervous about talking to the Somervilles. They’re all, like, posh and I don’t know what to say to them.”

I took his hand. “We’ll talk to them together.”

It had been a while since I’d had to make small talk with a group of strangers, but I had done it before. I’d never particularly enjoyed it but I’d also not hated it. With my mate’s hand in mine, it didn’t seem so bad.

We walked into the room and Prince said, “Ooh, look! I haven’t seen it up close yet.”

His eyes were fixed on the new painting that the Somervilles had bought as a gift. He dragged me round the edges of the room, where he thought we wouldn’t be seen, and then he stood and looked at the painting.

I admired his profile for a moment, feeling proud that Fate had given me such a handsome and kind mate. Then I dragged my eyes away from him or I’d just stare at him while he stared at the painting, and there was an old lady sitting near us. I had to at least speak to her.

“Good evening,” I said.

She introduced herself as Evangeline and inclined her head. I introduced myself and Prince.

“Don’t disturb him,” said Evangeline. “Silvia would be pleased he’s so enthralled by her painting.”

I made small talk, asking how she found the journey to the Hoskins castle – I figured it was a safer topic than asking about her own territory or asking how she felt in someone else’s territory – and she was answering in a quavery old voice when a woman appeared beside her, as though she’d been summoned by an invisible call.

“Ah, this is Silvia, the artist.”

Prince’s head whipped round and he blurted out, “I wasn’t touching it!”

We all looked at him in shock. Silvia said, “Oh, I see.”

I hooked my arm around Prince’s waist and pulled him close to me.

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