Chapter 34
Avinia’s voice off in the distance jarred Kit back to reality. While she was fairly certain they hadn’t broken any rules, she couldn’t take the chance. Kit pushed herself away from him, but Jecobian’s mouth would not release her neck. She tried again, wanting to say his name, to feel it on her tongue, but not allowing herself to speak. She doubted her own mother would have her head for any of this, particularly since the queen seemed to like Jecob, but she didn’t want to take the chance. One more shove, and he looked up, finally hearing Avinia’s cries, too.
He pulled on her arm, as if he would lead her farther into the garden, but she knew better. Avinia would have the entire guard out looking for her. She gestured back at the gate and realized she was allowed to speak to her cousin. “I’m coming! Just a minute!”
With a heavy sigh, Jecobian leaned down and kissed the back of her hand, and Kit soaked in the warmth that radiated up her arm. She’d take that sensation to bed with her that night, and she would feel his mouth on hers. Another smile between them, and they parted.
Kit made sure her gown was back in place and hurried to the gate, noticing the guards seemed more attentive now. Her cousin had a scowl on her face, and the guards’ had arched eyebrows. “What is it?”
“Did you run into a Venus flytrap in there?” Avinia asked, gesturing at her neck. Before Kit could answer, she said, “Come along. Your mother will be expecting you for dinner shortly, and clearly we will have to find a gown with a high neckline.”
Kit’s hands went to her throat then as she realized what her cousin was implying. She felt a flush come over her face as she followed Avinia toward the castle, the guards giving them plenty of space. “I must’ve gotten snagged on a vine.”
“Mmm hmmm,” Avinia said. “So long as no vines got snagged on you.”
Kit wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at but imagined it was some sort of a comparison between a man’s private parts and the plant she had mentioned. Deciding it would be best to keep her lips sealed, for once, Kit did not respond.
They climbed the short marble staircase to the door closest to her chambers, and Kit kept her head down as she walked along, hoping not to meet the eyes of any of her other suitors in the hall. She could only imagine what the flesh along the side of her neck where Jecob spent so much time must look like.
She heard a loud, familiar sigh and looked up. “Well, I guess I don’t have to ask how you are,” Eli said, one hand on his hip as the other ran through his hair. “Pitt, Ban, I need to have a word with you. Immediately. Marc and Curt will take over for you.”
“Yes, sir,” both men said, and Kit spun around to see they both looked ashamed of themselves. Eli was hurrying off toward his quarters, and they followed along behind him as Marc and Curt took up their positions.
“Wait!” Kit shouted, taking a few hurried steps to catch up with them. “I should hope they aren’t in trouble. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
Eli whirled around and the two guards stopped, leaving a space between them so that their commander could come back to address the princess. “They allowed an unknown man to climb over the shrubs and interact with the princess, apparently for a while, without even seeing whether or not he was a threat. I should say that’s quite serious. What if he’d meant you harm?”
“But he didn’t.”
“But he might have.”
Kit stomped her foot, not caring if she seemed like a child. “If he had been an assailant, I would’ve shouted, called for help.”
“By then, it might’ve been too late,” Eli countered.
She looked at the faces of her guards and felt terrible for putting them in such an awful position. “Don’t punish them. It’s my fault. We were quite sneaky.” She reached for his arm, thinking if she gave him a playful tug like she would’ve when they were just children, he might calm down, but she realized their relationship would never be the same as it had been back then, and she wondered if perhaps Eli was jealous of the relationship she had with Jecobian. They were from the same province. Was it possible her commander knew the Representative somehow?
“Your Highness, with all due respect, it is my duty to hand out the consequences when something of this nature transpires. Now, why don’t you fulfill your duties, and leave me to mine?”
“How did you even know?” she asked, still not willing to give up. Had someone followed Jecobian and run off to get them all in trouble?
“I saw him,” Eli replied, his tone still much calmer than hers.
“What do you mean? Were you spying on me?”
He scoffed, and she realized it sounded ridiculous coming out of her mouth. “That is my duty, my Princess. I always know where you are, what you’re doing, who you’re with.” That last part was pointed, perhaps a little pained, and she imagined he did know, then, that it was Jecobian, and maybe he didn’t like it.
“Well, then, why didn’t you come flying into the garden to rescue me?” she countered, her fists on her hips as if she’d completely reverted to being a five-year-old girl.
He was smiling at her, and part of her wanted to reach up and smack that silly grin off of his face. “Your Majesty, if you do not wish for your guards to be reprimanded for not minding you better, perhaps you should do less sneaking off into the bushes.” He stared at her for a long second, and Kit realized the conversation was over. She watched the three of them walk away and then spun on her heel, headed back toward her chambers.
“He’s only doing his duty,” Avinia reminded her, but Kit said nothing, only walked past her into her bedroom, fighting the urge to cover her neck with her hand as she did so.
