Page 168 of A Queen's Game
“If you’re not early, you’re late,” Amryth said with a shrug.
“If you’re late, you’re fashionable. And you don’t have to have forced awkward conversations with clucking hens.”
Amryth laughed, shoving her hands into her pockets. “How Keyain traveled with you in Enomenos is beyond me.”
“Hey, I kept to his schedule,” Marietta said, batting her arm. “Well, most of the time anyway.” From down the hall, Elyse poked her head around a corner. “Thank gods, Elyse. Wait—where is she going?”
As soon as she appeared, she darted back out of sight. Like hells, she would sit through tea without her, especially if she had gotten any more of those letters. “Come on,” she said, pulling along Amryth.
“Elyse!” Gods, she walked fast. “Elyse, it’s Marietta.” That got her to spin on the spot, her eyes wide.
“Oh, sorry about that.” She found a rogue lock of hair to play with that fell from her knot.
“Cute dress,” Marietta said, leaning to see it from the side. The flowy black material hugged through her chest and waist but loosened on her legs, ending above her ankles to show a pairof green embroidered slippers. Peculiar, she hasn’t seen other ladies wear such a style. “And I love the shoes.”
“You think so?” she asked, looking down at herself. “I thought it was a mistake, so I—”
“Went to go change? Nonsense, you look stunning. Plus, you can’t leave me up there all alone.”
Elyse hesitated. “I can’t go—I can’t deal with the embarrassment.”
Marietta exchanged a glance with Amryth. “What do you mean?”
“I haven’t been to tea since the very short betrothal with Brynden and the emancipation from my father. Grytaine will be more unbearable than usual.”
Marietta snorted, looping her arm through Elyse’s. “If she says anything, I’ll toss it back at her. After all, she’s married to an elderly man, and you had a dashing, young foreign lord writing you smutty letters after the betrothal ended. Let her say something. I’d love to mention that.”
Elyse turned wide-eyed towards Amryth.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you two—”
“We’ve met,” Elyse murmured. “Keyain introduced us years ago.”
“Then why that face?” Marietta asked, gesturing to her expression.
“Because it’s embarrassing to talk about that letter when Keyain is like a brother to me and Amryth works for him.”
“It’s alright,” Amryth said with a crooked smile. “The other day, I walked in on Marietta with just about no clothes on after a sensual night with Keyain. I didn’t even blink.”
“Oh, my gods,” Elyse said, clenching her eyes as her face turned red. “I don’t want to think about Keyain having sex.”
Marietta snorted, pulling her down the hallway back towards the stairs. “You were with him for five years. What did you two do during that time, if not sex?”
“It was never like that,” she said, grabbing Marietta’s arm.
Marietta caught Amryth’s bemused grin. “It’s alright. Even if you did, it wouldn’t be your fault. You didn’t know I existed.” Marietta didn’t even know she was married to Keyain. “So, what did you do when you spent time together?”
“Read most of the time, though Keyain’s books were boring,” she said, a smile cracking her face. “Who wants to read about war tactics when they’re not working?”
“Thank you!” Marietta raised her free arm for emphasis. “I told you, Amryth! Keyain has the worst taste in books.”
Amryth chuckled, shaking her head. “As if I don’t also enjoy those books.”
“I’d always bring my own,” Elyse said. “Two—to make sure I wouldn’t need to borrow one.”
“And were they smutty like that lovely little letter?” Marietta asked, teasing with her brows flicking up and down.
“I should ask Keyain to select some more smutty books for the suite,” Amryth said with a sly grin. “Maybe then you’ll make it more than two paragraphs before daydreaming.”
