Page 95 of Realm of Thieves

Please, not Andor, I think hopelessly.

“This is your one and only duty in your life, Andor,” his father grinds out, and the reveal is a dagger to the heart. “Don’t you dare think you have agency. Don’t you dare think you can fuck this up for me, for your family.”

I feel like I’m bleeding out as I stand here, my hand at my stomach.

“I’m not fucking up anything,” I hear Andor finally reply.

Oh gods.

“Brynla?”

I jump and whirl around to see Steiner standing at the end of the hall, his cat perched on his shoulder.

Damn it. Just caught snooping.

But Steiner doesn’t approach me, nor does he say anything else. He just walks away, heading in the direction of his lab.

I stare at the office door, knowing it’s only a matter of time before they discover I’m eavesdropping. Now I have to make sure Steiner doesn’t say anything.

I decide to hurry down the hall after him now, moving as quickly and quietly as possible past the dining hall and the kitchen, coming into his lab just as he’s about to close the door.

“Wait,” I say, wedging my shoulder in. “I need to talk to you.”

“I assume it’s about whatever you were just spying on my father for,” he says, but he steps back from the door and lets me in.

His cat hisses at me and then jumps off his shoulder, running down the shelves that surround the room. “Don’t mind Woo-woo; he can smell Lemi on you.”

“I can explain what just happened,” I say to him, trying to catch my breath.

“Can you explain why you’re in just your nightshift?” he asks idly, glancing briefly at my chest. “You must be cold because your nipples are showing.”

I gasp, quickly folding my arms over my chest, my cheeks flaming at how casually direct Steiner is. “I overheard a fight outside my room,” I tell him. “I was curious to hear what it was about.”

He tilts his head. “And what was it about? I assume you thought it was your business?”

I give a half shrug, weighing that. “Well, more that it involved Andor…”

“And Andor is your business?”

I swallow. “I want him to be,” I admit.

Steiner gives me a tiny smile just as the door opens and Solla pokes her head into the room. Her eyes go round when she sees me.

“Sorry. I didn’t expect you to be here. Do you need privacy?” she asks, noticing the way I’m dressed.

“No,” Steiner answers. “I just caught Brynla eavesdropping outside our father’s office.”

Ah, shit. Thanks a lot, I think.

But Solla only looks curious. “Oh really?” she asks brightly, closing the door behind her as she comes into the room. “Why? What were they talking about?”

“Andor,” Steiner says.

“What about him?” Solla asks.

“We didn’t get that far,” Steiner says.

I sigh. “I heard them arguing outside my door. I heard them mention something about a princess and so I had to learn more.”

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