Page 19 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

Lessia smiled as the love she held for him won over the unease from last night. “I’m not complaining. This looks delicious.”

Rubbing her stomach, she lowered onto a chair, holding back a grimace when her legs protested.

As Lessia popped a piece of meat into her mouth, she groaned.

She and Amalise were lucky Ardow could cook. Neither of them had ever learned, and they might have starved those early days when they couldn’t afford to go to a tavern, or even buy much at the market, if it hadn’t been for Ardow’s skills.

“That good?” Ardow slipped onto the chair beside her.

She only nodded, stuffing her belly with the bread he offered. They ate silently for a while, until she could barely take a sip of water without nausea roiling in her gut.

Leaning back in her chair, she patted her stomach. “I definitely overdid that. I will miss this, Ard.”

When his eyes lowered, she silently scolded herself. “I mean, I guess it’ll just be a few days, right? Then I’ll be back here for you to fatten me up.”

He snapped his eyes to hers. “You know the election process takes months, don’t you? And you’ll need to stay with the other nominees for its full course.”

“No?” Her stomach flipped when he eyed her again, his brown eyes narrowing.

“Gods, Lessia. It’s a whole bunch of events and tests. How do you think people would know who to vote for if not?”

She shrugged. She’d never thought of the election—she’d known it was coming up, but everyone assumed Loche would be elected again, and she didn’t particularly care either way.

As long as whoever ruled left them alone, let her run her public businesses and continue her secret occupation, they could go back to a monarchy for all she cared.

Fidgeting with her tunic, she reminded herself she didn’t need to win.

She only needed to get through—find out what the king sought, and find out why he was having her do this.

The apprehension shifted into resolve.

She would do this.

She’d made too many mistakes in her life.

This time it would be different.

It was an election. How hard could it be?

Ardow tapped the table impatiently. “Lessia, it’s not a game. They take this very seriously. And I fear this one will be worse, given how things turned out when Loche took power.”

Unease rippled across her skin, but she shook her head, pushing it away again. She didn’t have a choice, and the prize at the end—her freedom—was too great for her to let fear take root.

Lessia rested her elbows on the table, putting her chin in her hands. “What happened when Loche was elected? I thought he was the most well-regarded regent in the last century?”

Ardow rose and picked up some of the plates, casting her a warning glare when she made to help.

Sighing, she leaned back.

Her body would probably thank her for it.

“He is. By the commoners, at least, by the fishermen and farmers. But not the nobles, Lessia. Even if we got rid of the greedy royal family after the war, there was always—and I mean always—a noble as regent. You know they still own most of the land, control the ships, and keep most of the wealth to themselves. Even if it got somewhat better, it wasn’t until Loche that things started to truly change. What you’ve seen the past years isn’t how it always was.”

Ardow glanced out the window, drawing it shut.

“Loche was a bastard-born nobody, Lessia. He came out of nowhere but had built a network of allies across Ellow, across every human inhabited isle in Havlands. No one knows how he did it. He just showed up on nomination day with that gang of terrifying men of his and won the election.”

Lessia picked at a burn mark on the table. “All right, but he has done good things for Ellow. Everyone must see that, so I don’t understand why this election would be worse?”

---