Page 46 of A Touch of Royalty

She made a quiet little sound when his arms went around her. Happy and pliant as she settled into his arms, and she was gone into sleep before he took a breath.

It was to be expected, she hadn’t eaten or slept in two days, but it left him with her weight in his arms and far too muchon his mind. But they were mostly pleasant thoughts, combined with how he could prevent this from happening again.

Well, Ruby would never happen again, he’d sent it to the guards that she was no longer allowed in this wing of the palace. And he certainly had no intention of seeing her without his Emryn on his arm ever again.

There was no need to, she could go everywhere that he needed to be, and if that made her feel more easy in his affections than that was something that he would adjust his plans to ensure.

She was due in council the day after tomorrow, and the entire day tomorrow was like to be spent getting the report ready for the presentation. He knew what his mother was looking for in the report, and he would help her make certain that all the right elements were there.

He wasn’t aware of falling asleep, but the light was rising and the bed was empty. But the place where she’d been was warm, and he could hear the splashing of water, which meant that she was bathing.

He rolled over, meaning to get up and the flowers in the little cup at the side of the bed stopped him. He recognized the daisy, they were the flowers she’d been given by the people of the city.

Maybe he should get her some more flowers. Cas got up and tossed his clothes on, the gardeners would still be out and he could get their help in knowing which flowers were alright to cut.

He was back a few minutes later with his hands utterly laden with lilacs. The tree in the back corner of the garden had needed some pruning and the gardeners had been more than happy to give him as many flowers as he could carry.

As it turned out, he could carry an awful lot of flowers.

They hadn’t made it to the lilacs, and if she’d liked the honeysuckle, then the lilacs should make her smile as well.

She came out of her dressing room at the same time as he finished arranging the drooping lilac branches over the fireplace.

He caught the happy little smile as she buried her nose in the lilacs, humming happily and pulling back with a small insect crawling on her hand.

A ladybug, seven black spots on the red carapace. “I’ll go let it outside.” She smiled at him and stepped away.

“I’ll go change,” he called in her wake. “You might call for breakfast and then we can work on the report.”

He stepped out of the room, changing his clothes and bathing, trying to put last night from his mind. He shouldn’t have kissed her that way, but it hasn’t seemed like it had frightened her.

Which was reassuring.

Cas went back, just as breakfast was being brought in.

Enough for them, as well as the bowl that Brutus was dancing around on the floor with his entire head buried in.

“I think he’s going to take after his father.” Cas said, helping Emryn to her seat.

They had a quick breakfast and then spent the morning going over the report Emryn had written. It was surprisingly sound, only a few minor alterations needed.

But he should have expected that. She was more intelligent than he’d been aware of at first and her knowledge base meant that she knew how the water would affect the workers of the city.

In short, it was a very nice way to spend a morning.

They took Brutus for a walk, went back to the report and finished it by the time they were due to supper with the Court.

Tomorrow she would present the report to the council and they would all see that his common born wife was actually quite extraordinary indeed.

31

PRESENT

She’d done it again, somehow offended fate on an order of magnitude that meant she was again the focus of the council of Rodilla as well as the Queen.

Cas was there though, standing at her side as she walked in with her plan in her arms. Emryn needed to do this, the health of the people demanded it.

But Mother, she was scared. What if, even with Cas’ guidance, she’d somehow utterly misunderstood the assignment? What would happen when she revealed what this was going to cost? It was not a small number.

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