Page 109 of Brighter Than Gold

“Briar.”

The girl stood and walked over to me. “Hello,” she peeped.

I looked down at her smiling face, as guilt crashed through me. I hadn’t been able to help her. I had put the Princess’ safety squarely before hers and she’d paid a devastating price. I was suddenly frozen.

“I’m—I’m so sorry…”

She quickly shook her head and looked away. “No, I don’t—I can’t—”

“Of course. Of course not, I didn’t mean—” I took a steadying breath. “I meant to say that I’m happy to see you well.” A quick smile darted over her lips. “You’re in uniform. Are you back serving the Princess?”

“I am, yes. And happy to be back.”

“I’m very glad to hear it, Briar.” Seeing her smiling had lifted my curmudgeonly mood. She was like a breath of fresh air.

“I’ve actually just come from Her Grace’s quarters.”

I felt my pulse surge at the mention, but outwardly remained unaffected.

“You have? And how is she?”

“She is…tired, I think. Overall. She told me she feels homesick.”

My heart ached. I knew how muchIhad been missing her, but to hear she was unhappy made my angst tenfold. “Homesick? How so? She’s been back now for several weeks.”

“Yes, I didn’t quite understand either,” Briar mused.

The last time I’d seen Reyah was at our mock tea party. She had served hibiscus tea, once too sweet and floral for my taste, it was something I’d been drinking at least once a day now, just to have some essence of her.

“Did you know that Princess Cressida is in labour?” Briar asked.

“I was aware, yes.”

The girl simply nodded at my answer.

“Briar, why are you here?” Her pupils widened, her hands clasped and she rocked back on her heels. I held my glare and continued to scrutinize as she evaded my question.

“I just wanted to make sure you knew. About Cressida,” she repeated.

I suddenly grew nervous. Had someone put her up to this? Was she simply testing a theory? I pushed.

“Did you want to tell me about Cressida being in labour, or about His Highness being occupied for the night?”

She swallowed and flushed at my question.

“I don’t think the Princess is homesick for aplace,sir,” she whispered. “I’ll take my leave now, I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you. Have a pleasant evening.” And with that, she slipped past me and through the door.

I sat in the office, head and heart at odds with each other, wrestling over the idea that Briar had planted in my mind. I missed Reyah so much, and the misery of being away from her was growing worse each day. Every morning when I woke up alone my chest felt like it was going to cave in on the place my heart once was, and every night I’d tugged my cock to the memory of her taste, of her moans, of that vicious grin when she wanted to play. It was easy to keep myself busy and distracted, but every single silent moment, when I was waiting for a meeting to begin, or if I turned my lamp out to sleep, my head raced back to thoughts of her. Reyah was like a creeping ivy, winding her way into my every thought and interaction, and I might have thought myself going mad, but I relished in it.

Since becoming a general I never,ever, did anything stupid or reckless. At least until Reyah. And while my head screamed for me to stop, my legs pushed me up from the chair and out of the office.

No one gave me a second glance as I wove through the halls, and if they did, they quickly averted their eyes realizing who I was. I ducked into the interior walls, snaking my way through the stone cut tunnels for part of the way to make my path up the Burke tower a little less conspicuous, but I’d have to walk right through the main hall to get to Reyah’s quarters. There were no secret passages into the bedrooms of the Queens for reasons just like this one.

The guards posted around each corner either gave me a cursory nod or looked at me nervously like I was doing a late-night check on them. I’d rather them be scared than suspicious.

I’d finally reached the long, elegant hallway that led to Reyah’s quarters, and to my surprise it was all but abandoned, save for one small girl by the door.

“Sir,” Briar said tipping her head down. I didn’t miss the half smile, which eased my mind that this wasn’t a set-up.

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