Where must they be in the castle to have thisview? She’d never noticed a field of any sort, though she supposedthere must be some place for the horses to graze. But this fieldheld a herd of cows. She leaned against the stone wall, resting herelbows on its flat, polished top.
Laurents’ short cap of white hair lifted withthe breeze and seemed to dance on his head. Her own ponytail ofwavy locks joined in, brushing her cheeks. She captured the dancinghairs in her grip and held it down at her shoulder.
“Is Russal being protective?” he asked, agrin splitting his face. “Joulette won’t let me out of hersight.”
Kambry raised a brow. Lady Laurents hadn’tbeen in the drawing room, and she wasn’t on the balcony either.
“I begged her to get me my favorite drink,and then you two arrived.” His struggles with the sword wielder inthe maze seemed weeks in the past, going by his buoyantdemeanor.
“There you are,” Lady Laurents’ stridentvoice sounded behind them. “Here.” She handed him a tall glass of aruby-colored liquid, condensation dripping down the sides.
He took it and leaned in to kiss hercheek.
Lady Laurents murmured something in his ear,and he gave her one nod.
“We’ve left Russal alone,” he said. Hesqueezed Kambry’s shoulder and whispered, “Keep her busy for awhile, hmm?” then practically skipped out of the room.
Lady Laurents’ face lacked a reaction to herhusband’s exuberance, though Kambry thought she saw her browtwitch. Whether in amusement or annoyance, Kambry couldn’ttell.
“Russal is unhappy, and you don’t appear anybetter,” Lady Laurents said. With studied grace, she walked to apadded bench along the balcony wall and arranged her full skirtsbefore sitting down. The bright sun shone on her whitecoiffure.
Kambry watched her, feeling a lecture in herfuture.
“Come sit, Kambry.”
She sighed inwardly. “Have you recovered fromthe excitement of last evening, Lady Laurents? Lord Laurents looksunfazed.”
“You and Russal are estranged. Why?”
Kambry kept herself still. “I don’t know whatyou mean.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I’m sure it is not unusual for a new coupleto be awkward together.”
“You should cling to each other.”
Head up, voice steady, Kambry emulated LadyLaurents. “Do you cling to Lord Laurents?”
“I’m not the clinging sort.”
“Neither am I.”
Lady Laurents cold blue eyes gazed ather.
“I don’t cling,” she repeated, and noted theslight whine in her voice. She needed to work more on this stiffpride Lady Laurents carried so well.
Lady Laurents’ gaze remained fixed on Kambry,her expression flat.
An uncomfortable moment filled the airbetween them.
Lady Laurents assessing voice crowded her.“Is it possible you have determined too late that you have marriedthe wrong man?”
Kambry rose to her feet, looking out at thedistant woods. “Don’t be ridiculous.” This was the second timetoday someone had implied there might be someone else for her. Shemight question who should be king, but she knew she liked Russalvery much, loved him. She settled her shoulders.
“If there could be another man for you, whowould it be?”
“Nobody.” She turned and faced the irritatingwoman. “There is nobody else. How could there be? I was completelyalone in Paddlyrun. No one noticed me.”
“So Russal was the first to take a longlook.”
“You make it sound as if I went with thefirst kind expression that shifted my way. I didn’t even like himwhen I met him. He terrified me, accusing me of treachery,conspiracy and lying.”
“So what won you over if he was such amonster?”
Pausing, Kambry found her words slowly. “Hewas intriguing, exasperating and humorous.”
“Hmm.”
“He needed me.” That didn’t explain herattraction any more than her previous statement. “I came to lifearound him.” She stamped her foot. “I don’t know how to explainit.”
“Keep trying.”
Kambry closed her eyes. Her heart thudded inher chest. “In Paddlyrun, I never talked to someone like I talkedto Russal. I didn’t argue, but I did with him. I didn’t demandrespect, but I did with him. He listened.”
“Did he stop listening?”
Her attempts to explain herself tumbled to ahalt. “Last night, he ignored me and set me aside like I hadn’tbeen training to defend myself all this time. He acted like he sawme the way I was in Paddlyrun.”
“And that made you angry.”
“It hurt.”
“So what did you do so that heunderstood?”
“We talked it out.”
“And?”
“Covey was in our rooms while Russal spokewith the marshal.”
“Does he see you the way Russal saw you, likeyou were worth paying attention to?”
Kambry sat down. She didn’t know how toanswer the question. Covey held her attention, and she wasn’t sureif that was because she didn’t trust him or because she did.Sometimes, she had to admit, he intrigued her. But when he wastaking her away from the Grand Review, he had stated she wasn’t thetype Russal would have a lasting interest in. Even then, FelipCovey had argued he was protecting her from Russal. Did that meanhe thought her worth his effort? Not so long ago, she had beenfrightened of him. But she had been uncomfortable with Russal atthe start, too. Last night, Felip Covey had been softer, kind andattentive. Her jaw clenched. He had pinned her down and forced herto listen to him.
“I’m very confused, Lady Laurents.”
“One often is when two men vie for one’sattention.” She patted Kambry’s hand. “He’s patient. He’llwait.”
“Will he?”
Lady Laurents’ expression softened. “I thinkthe real question here is which he are we talkingabout?”
“Russal!”
“There. I think you have answered yourquestion.”
Lady Laurents had asked all the questions.The woman was maddening. Perhaps that was where Russal got it. Shehoped Lady Laurents was correct about her answer. She still feltconfused. That it was Russal that pulled at her heart gave her someconfidence. “How did you meet Lord Laurents?”
“His mother invited me to dinner. She madehim attend.”
“What did you like about him?”
“He noticed me.”
Kambry grinned. “Was he intriguing,exasperating and humorous?”
“Very.” Lady Laurents smoothed her skirt.“And we needed each other.”
~~~~~~~
Discreet guards followed Kambry and Russalalong the corridors to the guest suites on the other side of thecastle. Russal took Kambry’s hand, and often raised it to his lips,softly kissing her fingers between remarks. Her heart raced, thoughher thoughts still tumbled.
The plush
