Chapter 69
Eli’s eyes trailed Kit as she disappeared out the door and down the hallway. It was evident she was concerned about his welfare, and he couldn’t blame her. There was reason to assume Rona would take any opportunity afforded her to remove his head.
Once the princess was gone, he tried to push her out of his thoughts, a difficult task considering his lips were still burning from the most sensual kiss he’d ever stolen. But Blankka clearly meant business. She walked to the library door, looked out into the hallway, and then closed the barrier with a resounding thud before coming back to stand in front of him her arms folded beneath her chest.
“Well, Commander, I suppose you realize what a precarious position you’ve placed yourself in. I suggest we go straight to my room, and you finally pleasure me, or else I’ll have no choice but to go directly to the queen.”
He should’ve been surprised; Blankka was supposed to be loyal to the princess after all, and she must know that anything Queen Rona did to punish him would absolutely destroy Katrinetta. But it hadn’t taken him long at all to discern Blankka’s true motivation. She was selfish to the core, and since it wasn’t in Kit’s nature to suspect anyone, he was certain Blankka would work every last angle to her advantage. This, however, seemed low even for her.
“Are you honestly attempting to force me to bed you in order to keep you from telling the queen what you think you just saw?” He rested his hands on his hips, wondering how in the world she had gathered the gall to approach him with such a ridiculous demand.
A smirk formed on her pretty face. “Force seems like a dirty word the way you use it. But, yes. It’s not as if you won’t enjoy it.”
“Because I am a man, so it really doesn’t matter who the woman is so long as I have the opportunity to pleasure her?”
“Precisely,” Blankka replied with a pouty bottom lip. “Everyone knows that.”
Eli realized it was ridiculous to try to tell her she’d been misinformed and decided to revert back to his previous point. “Listen, Blankka, I’m not going to do that for all of the reasons I’ve mentioned when you’ve asked me before. And I strongly suggest you don’t go to the queen with this. It can only do you harm.”
Blankka’s eyes widened, and her face started to turn a deep crimson. “After that, you still deny me? Do you not understand what I have just witnessed? I saw you—I saw you kissing the princess, during her Choosing! That is a crime punishable by death. And if the queen wanted to, she could punish Katrinetta as well, although, if the princess was smart she could simply tell her mother that you forced her. I’m certain her mother wouldn’t want to end her royal line over an errant kiss in the library from a man she detests. But you must know how this will end for you.”
“Blankka, your loyalty should be to the princess. She trusts you. You’re her lady-in-waiting.” Even as the words were leaving his mouth, he could see she would not be convinced.
“My loyalty first and foremost is to the queen! Clearly, you do not feel the same way. Yet another reason why she will have your head before dawn!”
Eli took a deep breath, unable to understand her reasoning. “So now that I have denied you, you will go to the queen and tell her what you’ve seen, and once she has my head, you’ll, what? Spit on the bleeding stub of my neck and do a little jig?”
“You seem to think this is funny!”
“Not in the least.”
“Fine! Yes, that’s precisely what I will do. So I will ask you once more, Eliason Goedwig of Eastbury—will you accompany me to my room or not?”
With as much resolve as he’d ever replied to anyone, Eli said, “I will not.”
Blankka’s eyes narrowed. “You will be sorry.”
“I would rather be dead than betray Katrinetta’s trust, and I think you should consider what you are doing long and hard. I’m warning you, Blankka, regardless of what happens to me, this cannot end well for you.”
Blankka spun on her heels, her green gown flowing out around her as she headed for the library doors. Eli was certain that she would head directly to the queen, and while Blankka might think she was presenting a situation that wouldn’t bode well for him, he was only concerned about Kit. Once the princess found out her own lady had betrayed her trust, she would come undone.
