soulless doll stood in his place.
Then Cullen lifted his head slightly to peep around, noticed Eldest Moorland was distracted, and saw them watching. He made a face, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes, then ducked his head again.
His fingers, though, wiggled, indicating that they should join him.
“Scamp,” Eldest Whistler’s tight grin relaxed into a true smile. “Let’s rescue him from his family.”
“Ah, a husband raid,” Jerin whispered. “What us Whistlers do best.”
Eldest Moorland greeted them with a nod. “Whistler.”
Cullen flashed a grin at them and then returned to his demure mask.
“Moorland.” Eldest Whistler started the social dance. It had been explained to them that by protocol, any woman that wanted to speak to a man had to talk first to his sister. Cullen and Lylia had gone over the accept-able topics for the conversation, and the length needed prior to addressing the brother.
Luckily, there were no limits set on conversation between men.
“What happened to you?” Jerin whispered to Cullen.
“Eldest heard about our walk in the garden and gave me a blistering with her tongue.” Cullen whispered back. “She called me a Dru Hightower. Ha!”
“A what?”
Cullen risked glancing up to scan the room, then pointed out an elegant-looking young man, slightly older than the two of them. “In the east corner, in white-as if wrapping dirt up in clean linen could save face.”
“He was caught kissing a girl?”
“Worse. He was caught tumbling his betrothed wives’ servants during the betrothal period. It was a huge scandal-not that anyone really blamed him. His betrothed are all bloated toads, warts and all, but his betrothal contract had been signed, his brother’s price paid, so his betrothed had possession of him and everything. All the deal needed was the wedding-and a massive one had been planned. His betrothed hauled him back to his sisters and demanded a repayment.”
“Did they get it?”
“Of course. Damaged goods! No way to prove he was clean before the betrothal, and certainly they didn’t want to risk infecting the whole family. They say that one of the servants had been to a crib and caught something other than a baby. They say on his first night with one of his actual betrothed, his Eldest wife discovered sores all over his you-know-what.”
“Really?”
Cullen shrugged. “Who knows? People start making stuff up after a while.”
“I didn’t know wives could demand a repayment.”
“Happens all the time.”
Eldest Whistler turned to Cullen. “Your sister has given me permission for this dance.” She held out her hand, palm up. Cullen brightened and reached out to rest his fingertips on hers. They went out onto the dance floor, where other couples were gathering. How odd that the only time a woman and a man could be completely alone was in front of so many watchful eyes.
“Jerin,” a woman’s voice said, making him turn. Kij Porter stood beside him, smiling. She indicated Summer with her chin as she extended her hand. “Your sister has given me permission for this dance.”
He glanced to Summer, surprised. Summer gave him a helpless look, as if the older, politically savvy woman had outmaneuvered her. Corelle was nowhere in sight, apparently scouting out the rest of the men.
Jerin rested his hand on Kij’s warm fingertips and allowed himself be led out onto the dance floor. She took him to the opposite end from where Eldest Whistler waited with Cullen for the music to start. They were deep in conversation, and didn’t notice him joining the dancers.
“Do you remember your grandfather Prince Alan-non?” Kij asked.
“Yes.” Out of habit, he avoided giving out too much family information.
Kij seemed annoyed by the evasive answer. “He lived to be very old?”
“Nearly seventy.” Jerin reminded himself this wasn’t a country fair; it would be safe to discuss family here. “He was fifteen when my grandmothers…” He swallowed the word “kidnapped.” With the Queens’ coaching, they had come up with a “sweeter” version of his family’s history. He substituted in the word “… found him. We lost him to a fever three years ago.”
It was an important breeding point that none of his family had died of a weak heart, stroke, or other inherited illness. Only disease and accident had winnowed their ranks.
“I see,” Kij said. “Why didn’t he ever try to contact the Queens?”
“‘After the public executions of his mothers and sisters, he didn’t see any point.”
“Ah. Yet you saved Princess Odelia’s life. Wasn’t that a betrayal to his loss?”
Jerin blinked in surprise. “Betrayai? No.”
“He was said to be trained in the ways of k’lamour” Kij said.
Jerin blushed and ducked his head.
“You know what that means?” Kij asked.
“It’s not really a proper thing to talk about,” Jerin murmured, glancing to see where Eldest was in the shifting couples.
“He passed this to you?” Kij pressed.
“The paths of pleasure?” Jerin whispered, to quiet her. The music was coming to an end, and he didn’t want be overheard. “Yes, he and my father told me. Please, talking about sexual union isn’t the proper thing to do.”
“On the contrary. A woman should know what she’s getting.” Kij all but purred, taking firmer hold of his hand.
The dance, though, ended with bows. He spotted Co-relle coming toward them to claim him back. He gave Kij a false smile, tugged free his hand, and met Corelle halfway. Kij, infuriatingly, trailed alongside him.
“I would dance with Jerin again,” Kij stated, putting out her hand to him.
Corelle took Jerin’s right hand with her own, blocking any move to claim him. “I’m sorry, but we need to spend Jerin’s time wisely. A second dance would be impossible.”
“I don’t know if you realize, little mushroom, how important my family is and how much you would gain by courting us.”
“Your family of old controlled the portage over Hera’s Step,” Corelle said in a bored tone. “Your grandmothers bankrupted your family building the lock to replace the portage when it was destroyed by sabotage during the war. Through marriage and other means, you’ve reclaimed a controlling interest in the lock. Second to the royal family, you are the oldest recorded family, noted when a brother was married to the second generation of the royal princesses. You are not considered, however, the oldest noble family, as you gained your title through service to the crown-lending money-and not by marriage. In fact, you are one of the few noble families that never married a royal prince.“ Corelle flashed a grin. ”Unlike ours. Good day.“
With that, Corelle turned Jerin away from Kij and led him across the room.
“That was rude,” Jerin whispered after he got over his shock.
Corelle still smiled smugly. “Perhaps. I’me not going to have any sisters-in-law looking down their noses at us. They’ll see as equals, or not at all.”
“We’re not going to get four thousand crowns if you insult everyone that dances with me.”
“Perhaps.”
“How did you know all that, anyhow?”
“Her sister Alissa told me most of it. She went on and on like I cared. Eldest and I asked around to dig out the dirt.”
“It was still rude,” Jerin bowed his head in embarassment.
“Yes, but I thought you might want to dance with someone else,” Corelle came to a stop, loosing her hold on Jerin’s hand. “Your Highness, you asked for a dance?” Jerin looked up in surprise at Ren’s smiling face.
“Your sister has given me permission for this dance.” Ren said.
Jerin ducked his head again, this time to hide the grin that bloomed uncontrollably across his face. He slipped his hand into the princess’s, and she squeezed it slightly before leading him out onto the floor, where Summer was partnered with Cullen.
