Page 98 of The Rebel and the Rose
Like it mattered. ‘You freed them.’
‘With ease,’ he said, betraying a hint of arrogance. ‘There isn’t a prison guard on this continent that I can’t sway.’
Good.Good. ‘My best friend, Bibi, is in the king’s dungeon in the Summer Palace. She’s innocent. Only there because of me.’
The prince’s eyes narrowed, his easy grin twisting into a grimace. For the first time since she had met him, Andreas Mondragon Rayere did not look handsome at all. He looked like a lion, hungry for blood.
‘I’ve been meaning to pay a visit to the Summer Palace. I’ll see to it that your friend is freed.’ She wanted to press the matter, ask himwhenandhow, to urge him to hurry those plans, but the gift of his help was too recently offered that she was afraid he might take it back. Canting his head, he said, ‘After all, we are allies now, are we not?’
He might have noticed her beat of hesitation if it hadn’t been for the arrival of a young woman, who came sweeping into their bubble. With a veil of hair like spun gold and eyes as green as jade, the sight of her momentarily stole Sera’s breath. Her skin was golden tan, and she wore a blue dress of gossamer silk. It fell like waves around her as she came to perch on Andreas’s armrest.
‘Talisa,’ Andreas said with a sigh, without looking at her. Annoyance curled his lip, but if Talisa noticed, she didn’t care. ‘I suppose you couldn’t resist interrupting.’
The woman, who possessed the fine, dainty beauty of a forest nymph, revealed two neat lines of straight white teeth. ‘You’re hogging her, cousin. What did you expect?’
Playful now, he flicked her wrist. ‘I suppose pampered princesses are not raised to wait their turn.’
‘Grumbles the pampered prince,’ she chided, before turning her curiosity on Sera. ‘Our precious flower has arrived at last!’ The princess’s large eyes were glassy and her speech was slurred, so Sera couldn’t be sure of her words when she crowed, ‘Oh, butwhenis she going to bloom? I can hardly wait!’
Sera frowned just as Andreas cut in, ‘Seraphine, this is my cousin, Talisa Mondragon. Another one who needs a lesson in common courtesy.’ Another flick of Talisa’s wrist, his fingerslingering there this time like a manacle. ‘Don’t spook my guest, cousin. We’re still getting to know each other.’
‘Well, when you’re done, you might as well tell her I’m a lot more fun.’
Sera couldn’t give a rat’s tail if Talisa was good company or not. She hadn’t come here for friends; she had come for answers. And right now, the drunk Urnican was getting in her way.
If only the king could see her now, fraternizing with the greatest known threat to his reign and a princess of Urnica, gleefully guzzling all his precious Valterran wine. He’d have poor Bibi in the stocks by morning, dead and buried by noon.
Startling her from her thoughts, Talisa pitched forward, snatching Sera’s hand. She squeezed hard, her own clammy with sweat. ‘We’ll be great friends, you and I. I’m already so glad to know you.’
Andreas yanked his cousin’s wrist, drawing her back with a sharp tug. ‘Don’t mind, Talisa.’ There was an edge to his voice now. ‘She’s hideously overfamiliar with everyone.’
Talisa pouted. ‘Perhaps I’m just bored of twirling my skirts all night.’
‘And yet the music calls. Go on and dance, butterfly. Be merry.’ His eyes flashed, and for a second the room felt unbearably bright. Talisa was on her feet then, sashaying away with an unsteadiness that suggested she could fall over at any moment.
Andreas waved her off, like a gnat. ‘Excitable as a pup, my cousin. Loves a shiny new toy.’
‘Seems to me that everything here is shiny,’ said Sera. ‘I don’t know whyIwould hold such fascination.’
‘No, you don’t, do you?’ he said, chuckling as he swept a roguegolden lock from his eyes. ‘I suppose you are yet to discover how special you truly are.’
Sera’s cheeks prickled, the eagerness to beseen, to be known, clashing with another deeper discomfort she could not name. More questions gathered on her tongue, but they were interrupted again, this time by a group of grisly-looking men, who were not at all dressed for the Rose Garden. A collection of stubbled jaws and crooked noses, they wore work shirts and oversized britches, with stomping black boots. Mercenaries, then. Rebels who didn’t quite get the dress code, or perhaps shouldn’t be in here at all. The one in the middle had his sleeves rolled up, and there was blood splattered on his collar. It was fresh.
The prince held up a cautionary hand before any of them could utter a single word. ‘One moment, Callum.’
He turned back to Sera. ‘Forgive me. An urgent matter.’
‘So I see,’ she said, still eyeing all that blood. ‘More enemies, I suppose.’
Andreas gave a bland smile. ‘My uncle and his spies. He just can’t help himself.’
Guilt stiffened Sera’s shoulders. She hoped to all hell he hadn’t noticed. ‘Right. Of course.’
Summoning that buttery smile once more, the prince rolled to his feet. ‘Dance, Seraphine. Be merry. I’ll return shortly.’
His words were easy, enticing even, but they lacked the effect they had had on Talisa. Sera didn’t want to dance. She stood up, desperately wanting to ask him about his plans for the kingdom, what else he knew about her, and why he seemed so oddly fascinated by her.
He stilled for a moment, like he could feel her curiosity crowding in on him.
