Page 46 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
"Mmm." Linc fills a couple of goblets with some kind of fruit juice and hands one to me. "I suppose it would depend on if we had a daughter or a son."
"It's just another reason to be careful."
He chuckles and draws me off to the side of the ballroom. "Is this where I remind you that you're the one who keeps saying that you want to give in to temptation?"
"You're right not to let me. I don't want to face this court without you. I don't know what I'd do if I was on my own. And on my own with a child? That's even worse." Even though I know it isn't a possibility, I can feel the stress start to build within me.
Linc looks around and pulls me into a shaded alcove. He takes my drink from me and sets it down with his so he can pull me into his arms. "It's all right, Bea," he promises. "We're not going to let that happen."
"I know. I just..." My voice cracks and I bury my head into his neck. His familiar scent soothes me more than I expect it to and I pull him even closer. "I don't want to lose you."
"You're not going to," he promises. "We're going to enjoy a long life together where we'll make all of the difference we can for the people living here."
"But my father..."
"Won't be a problem if we manage him well," Linc says. "Though I'm not entirely sure how to do that yet."
Understanding dawns on me. "By giving him what he wants," I say, pulling back so I can look at Linc properly. "Not all of the time, and not when it goes against what we want. But the best way we can keep ourselves safe is by agreeing when it does us no harm."
"You think that will work?"
"It might do," I respond. "He's shown that he's not completely obsessed by traditions. He's letting us skip the feast for our wedding, and he didn't protest against your father saying no to the bedding."
Linc chuckles. "That was me, not my father. Though it will have come through him."
"Oh. I should have known. Thank you."
"Some things are just for us," he says, reaching out to brush some hair out of my face. "And if we haven't heard from Agnes before our wedding night, then it's best not to have any witnesses to what we do."
"I appreciate it. But I guess my point is still valid. Lord Fallmartin isn't going to oppose us changing things just because we're changing them. So maybe if we make it so that it's advantageous for him to keep us both alive and safe, he'll do everything he can to keep us that way."
Linc nods. "And I guess if he's not opposing anything we're doing, he's not really our enemy either."
"That's a strange thing to think," I admit. "When I came here, he felt like he was."
"I felt that way about my father too," Linc admits. "And I'm not convinced I'm wrong sometimes."
I glance out of the alcove to where the King is still on his throne. I don't know enough about him to be sure of where he stands regarding the things that Linc and I think are important.
But there's time to learn all of that. For now, the King, and the rest of the court, are likely to underestimate us based on how newly arrived we are, and how little Linc has previously interacted with anyone. We have to take advantage of that before people start thinking of us as political opponents.
The only problem is that I have no idea how we're supposed to achieve that.
FOUR
I take a sip of my drink and try to take in everything that's happening at the ball. My head is still swimming a little from our conversation in the alcove, but I'm feeling a little better about the safety of us all. Though I would be a fool if I don't consider that danger could come from more places than just Lord Fallmartin and the King.
My gaze falls on my brother where he's talking to a woman in a dress that either looks red or purple, depending on the light.
"Who is she?" I ask Linc.
He looks over to where Bastian is and frowns. "Lady Helene Dagworth, I think."
"Should I know the name?"
"I don't think so..."
"You should," a new voice says.
