Chapter 42

“Pardon me?” Jecob asked, turning around to face the lady, Blankka.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t meaning to overhear. It’s just, I have several friends in Eastbury as well, and my understanding is that you got lots of practice in order to ensure you’d be one of the princess’s favorites should you ever have the opportunity to visit her chambers—not this one of course, the one you must be invited into. Do you know the history of how that land, the acreages you’d like to split up, was attained? I’ve not heard the entire story, but from what I do know, it’s not something you should be discussing either. You have no idea why that particular family was disgraced.”

Kit wasn’t sure whether or not she should tell Blankka to mind her place or wait to see what Jecob would say in return. She was more than a little lost herself, only gathering they were discussing unfairly confiscated land. Where it was or how it had been claimed by the crown, she didn’t know. She immediately thought of the burnt out house in the woods, the one she’d visited with Eli when she was younger. Her mother had told her to stay away from it, that it had belonged to a disgraced noblewoman and her family. No one had even told her why this family was disgraced, though she had asked anyone and everyone she could think of over the years. Perhaps that was the land they were discussing now. Why Blankka felt it was her place to defend these people, she wasn’t sure, but something didn’t seem quite right about it.

Jecob didn’t seem to like it either. “Listen, girl—you’re not nobility are you?” He didn’t wait for her to answer since he obviously knew she wasn’t. “I saw you drooling all over Eliason today. We all saw it. I bet if you ask the princess, she’ll give you leave to go see if he’ll suck your tits right now. Otherwise, stay the hell out of our private conversation.”

Kit’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at Jecob in horror as Blankka began to cry. “Jecob! She might not be a noblewoman, but she’s my lady!” She had no idea what Eli had to do with any of this, but the mention of his name in such a negative fashion was infuriating.

Jecob turned to look at the princess then, and his expression changed from cocky to apologetic. “I beg your pardon, my Princess. It’s only… I shouldn’t think your help would be eavesdropping like that. I didn’t mean to offend, only to teach a lesson.”

“Perhaps you should leave the lesson teaching to me,” she said with a tone she hoped conveyed she meant business.

“Yes, of course Your Highness. My apologies.” Kit turned her head toward Blankka, who was sitting on the edge of the princess’s bed now, her head in her hands as the other two ladies tried to comfort her. “I apologize, miss. That was rude of me. Perhaps I’ve had more to drink tonight than I should’ve.”

Blankka said nothing, but Avinia spoke up. “You have an early morning tomorrow, do you not? Aren’t you all to report to the physician first thing? Perhaps it is time for you to go.”

Kit wasn’t sure who to argue with. Avinia had no business telling her guests when to leave, and Jecob shouldn’t be addressing her ladies so disrespectfully. She was beginning to see there was a side to him that she had yet to completely uncover, and the passion she’d felt for him earlier in the night began to morph into something different, a curious sort of burning sensation in her gut that told her that something wasn’t right.

“I am growing weary myself,” she finally said, ending the staring contest between her cousin and the Representative. “Why don’t you go back to your chambers, and I’ll see you sometime tomorrow?”

With a loud sigh, Jecob wheeled around toward the railing, swinging his arms. “This is not what I intended at all!”

Kit moved backward so that she was pressed to the side of the barrier. “What do you mean?” For a moment a tinge of fear welled up in her, and she thought she might need to get back into her room before he accidentally knocked her over the side.

“Kit, darling,” he moved toward her, lightly grabbing both of her arms. “I’m so sorry. I came here to spend time with you, to get to know you, to talk to you about what you like, how you spend your time, all of your favorite things, and I’ve only gone and messed it up. Will you forgive me?”

He was looking at her with such sincerity in his eyes, it was difficult for her to be angry. She’d noticed he’d been using her nickname, despite the fact she’d never mentioned it to him. But it was hard to be cross with him when he looked so pathetic. “Yes, of course,” she replied, and that carefree smile was soon back on his handsome face. He leaned down to kiss her, and while Kit could tell it was different this time--she was more reserved--it still sent tingles down her spine.

Seeing as though he could potentially continue this all night, Kit finally broke away. “Jecob, go to bed,” she said quietly.

He grinned at her, his mouth still hovering so close to hers she could practically feel his lips grazing hers when he spoke. “All right, love. I’ll go. But only because you asked me to, and you’re my Princess.”

Despite herself, she giggled, and he leaned in and kissed her once more, softly this time, and then helped her up onto the windowsill. Avinia was there, offering her hand, and with her lady’s help, she managed to get her gown and the rest of her through the window. Once her feet were on the floor, she breathed a sigh of relief, hopeful she’d never be convinced to go back out there again.

Kit moved out of the way, and Jecobian glided through the window nimbly, coming to stand next to her. He took her hand. “Will you walk me to the door?”

“Yes, of course.” They moved around her furniture to the antechamber and paused next to the external door.

Jecob took both of his hands in hers. “I do hope you will forgive me my trespasses. I’m afraid I’m a rather passionate person, about everything, and at times, it gets me into trouble.”

It was an easy explanation to accept, and Kit nodded. “I forgive you, Jecob.”

He let out a long sigh, a smile planted on his face. “Very good. I shall see you tomorrow, then.” Once more, he leaned down to find her lips, and Kit let him linger there until she heard the sharp clearing of a throat from the other room. She pulled away.

“Good night, Jecob.”

“Good night, my Princess.”

He stepped out into the hallway, and she started to close the door but paused when she realized he was taunting her guards, saying something about not doing a very good job of protecting the princess’s virtue. She considered opening the door wider and scolding him, but she could see that it would do no good anyway. He clearly had a mouth on him, which he used for both passionate kisses and ugly gibes, and it was something he was going to have to get a handle on if he ever wanted to be her husband.

She pushed the door closed, thinking her guards would likely get a chuckle out of his antics since he was clearly no threat to them, and headed back into the other room. Blankka was done crying, but her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. “Blankka, you have to overlook all of that. Jecob has a way of putting things that comes out very rude at times, but you shouldn’t mind any of it. That’s just how he is.”

“He’s a pompous ass!” she declared, getting up from her spot on the princess’s bed and slamming the window closed so hard the glass shook before she moved around the foot of the bed and began her regular bedtime duties. “I don’t know what you see in him.”

“Muscles, stunning blue eyes? That blond hair?” Isla asked, and it seemed evident she was just as confused by Jecob’s two or more personas as Kit was.

“I agree he can be harsh, but calling him names doesn’t make you any better than him,” the princess reminded her friend. Blankka didn’t seem to like that and went about getting Kit’s nightclothes out with small huffs each time she moved anything or took a step.

Kit sat down so that Avinia and Isla could start unpinning her hair and thought the conversation was over until Blankka exclaimed, “How can you let him speak about Eli like that? The commander is your friend.”

While she was tempted to ask why Blankka was so quick to defend the commander, she didn’t do so. It had been evident for some time that Blankka was enthralled with Eli, and she began to wonder if perhaps there had been something between the two of them. Or maybe there still was. Kit didn’t feel as if it were her place to ask. “Had I been given the opportunity, I may have, but as I recall, you interjected yourself into the conversation quite readily.”

Blankka continued. “You do know that Jecobian has a reputation, don’t you, Your Highness? That I wasn’t speaking out of turn when I accused him of pleasuring half of Eastbury in an attempt to impress you?”

She couldn’t remember Blankka putting it quite like that, but if it were true, wouldn’t that just be a sign that Jecob was committed to being the one she ended up with? “Blankka, I think it would be best if you headed to your chambers now. You’re clearly upset, and retiring might give you a chance to get some rest. We will likely have another long day in front of us tomorrow.”

Kit could see the battle going on in Blankka’s mind, but after a moment, she nodded, set down the nightgown she had been holding, and excused herself. Kit took a deep breath and tried to place her attention on anything else.

“Maybe she should have taken Jecob’s advice,” Isla said under her breath as she finished with the last pins and began to comb Kit’s hair out.

“What’s that?” the princess asked, not sure she followed.

“Nothing. I was just thinking, clearly she’s enchanted with the commander. Maybe she should finally get up the nerve to approach him. That’s all.”

Kit felt her stomach tighten. That seemed like a horrible idea to her, but who was she to say what either of those two people did with their private lives? It shouldn’t mean anything to her.

“No, that’s not the problem.” Avinia moved to unhook the back of Kit’s gown.

“What do you mean?” Isla asked, stopping what she was doing and staring at Avinia over Kit’s head. She watched them both in the mirror.

With a sigh, Avinia said, “She already has. He has turned her down several times. She’s not a noblewoman; he has no duty to consent. That’s all.”

“Oh,” Isla said, mulling that over for a long while. Kit said nothing, only let them unfasten her. Eventually, Isla said, “Well, he could say yes. He has no reason not to.”

Avinia arched an eyebrow. “Unless he doesn’t want to.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to? She’s pretty enough.”

Avinia groaned and shook her head a little, and then she pulled Kit’s gown up over her head. There seemed to be some gesturing Kit was not privy to because she heard Isla say, “Oh,” again, and then the dress came off and there wasn’t another word about it. Kit didn’t bother to ask either. She didn’t need anyone else to tell her why Eli wouldn’t want to bed one of her ladies, and even though he owed her nothing, she was thankful he was a gentleman, especially since Blankka was most definitely pretty enough.