Chapter 17

Kit and her two ladies in waiting, Avinia and Isla, walked along in silence to Kit’s chambers, and once they were inside, the cousins went about readying her for dinner with her mother. There would be music before the meal was served, which was why she was expected so early, and Kit imagined her mother would introduce her to the son of some foreign dignitary, someone meant to find his way into her chambers. She was aware that queens had been bargaining with turns in their daughters’ beds for generations, and while that was just the way of it, Kit liked the idea of choosing one of her own guard members far better than the thought she might spend the night with a prince from another land who was only there because he was seeking pleasure as well. It was almost ironic that a queendom built on the belief that women superior to men and were entitled to be pleasured by them could make such deals, but that wouldn’t be the only law of the land that seemed backward to Kit.

Once she was ready, her cousins walked her to the door, and Kit stepped into the hallway to see that the same two guards who had escorted them to the windows were still on duty. She hoped her face did not betray her disappointment. She wished they would’ve switched out with two men who knew nothing of the previous conversation she’d had with her ladies, but then, she wondered how many of her guards had seen the trio spying on them. Surely, at least a few had noticed, and they had likely shared what they’d discovered with the rest of the men. There was little chance any of them could’ve escorted her without prior knowledge of their shenanigans.

They walked along in silence for what seemed like a league, though Kit knew it truly wasn’t that far. The low-heeled boots she wore beneath her pink gown were better for walking than some of the other footwear she often had thrust upon her, but she was thankful she wouldn’t be doing any dancing that night. When they were nearly three-quarters of the way there, she thought she may be developing a blister. She’d have to do her best to walk on without drawing attention to herself.

Her guards picked up on it immediately. “Are you well, my Princess?” the blond asked, slowing his pace slightly.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said quickly, not wishing to alarm anyone. Any chance at changing her shoes would make her late, and she would rather have a blister than anger her mother.

“We can slow down if you’d like,” the other guard, the married one, added.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Kit reiterated, but their pace did not pick up again, and part of her wanted to just run the rest of the way and get it over with. But she kept her shoulders square and her head held high.

“Your Majesty,” the blond began, his husky voice low, nearly a whisper, “I hope you don’t mind me addressing you, but… there is something I wish to say.”

Kit turned her head, an eyebrow raised. All of her guards knew she was just as fond of speaking to them as she was the rest of the people who lived and worked in the castle. She’d had lots of conversations with the men who escorted her, though never in front of her mother. Except for with Eli, of course. She pushed him out of her mind. “Yes, of course,” Kit said, returning her gaze to the hall in front of her.

He cleared his throat, and Kit felt a tightening low in her belly. There was something alluring about the sound, almost as if he were a wild beast who needed taming. “My Princess, I was not intentionally eavesdropping on your conversation earlier, but you should know, if you are in need of someone to teach you, I would willfully volunteer my time and expertise.”

Kit’s face caught on fire as her eyebrows shot up. She never would’ve expected him to say those words. She could easily think of a dozen or more statements she would’ve thought more likely than the ones he actually spoke. Without turning her head to face him, she cleared her throat, thinking she sounded like a mouse or a small child, and only managed, “Oh?”

“I hope that you don’t think me too forward, my Princess,” he continued, his voice husky. “But it would be an honor.”

The blister was long forgotten as she continued on to the music hall near her mother’s dining room. She must’ve taken a few dozen steps, not knowing what to say to him, but before she reached the entryway, where her mother’s guards would be sure to overhear, she took a deep breath, and remembering all that her cousins who loved her dearly had advised, Kit said, “Yes, thank you. I shall be in my chambers—the other ones—by eleven.” For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to call them what they were—her pleasuring chambers. But she knew he’d understand.

“Yes, my Princess,” he replied, and Kit thought she heard a snicker out of the other guard, though she did not turn her head in his direction either. She continued to face straight ahead.

As her guards handed her off to the others, her mother’s stern, scowling bucks, Kit said quietly. “Forgive me, but I’m unsure of your name.”

“It’s Terrowin, my Princess,” he said, his deep voice reverberating in her ear, though he did not stoop to whisper. And then, as if his message was sent on the wind, he added for only her to hear, “I shall be counting the minutes.”

A shiver went down her spine like the charged air of a lightning storm, and all of the fear and embarrassment she’d been holding inside dissipated, at least for that brief moment. Kit turned and looked at him, thinking her eyes must be twinkling, and his dark orbs smiled back at her, as if it was just their secret, something no one else ever need know.

Kit passed into the music hall thinking she may also be counting the minutes until she could leave this place. Perhaps by then the timidity she had felt would have returned, but something told her one night with Terrowin would change all of that forever.