Ryan sprinted off, zigzagging through the lunging, grunting, and groaning men.
You’re randy this morning, Dove. Need me to do something about that?
Can you hear me from across the country?
With that bead, yes. How do you think I built my spy network to be so efficient?
I shoved down how impressed I was by that. Leave me alone. I need to focus.
Quinn sent me an image of a duck trying to mount another duck and continually falling off.
I burst out laughing. "Stop it."
"I'm not doing anything,” Declan stared at me and shook his head.
"Not you. Quinn is in my head. Sending duck sex thoughts."
"Oh. Yeah, he can be a shite."
"Do you have a bead, too?"
"Yep. We all do. Just in case he’s out and needs a contact back here.”
Ryan ran back toward us. This time he didn't have a shirt.
I openly stared at his pecs, ogled his six pack, and let my eyes gaze at his happy trail.
"Did you lose your shirt between your captain and here?" Declan rolled his eyes.
"Nope. Quinn said Bloss was feeling naughty."
"Argh. Quinn, I'm killing you." I covered my face with my hands.
The mental image of Quinn running around me, waving a shirt and whooping like a wild man, appeared.
"What's he sending you?" Ryan leaned close and trailed my hand down his chest.
Oh Lord. I was about to combust from mental dissonance—the ridiculous mental pictures and the roaring lust. "What the sard am I supposed to do when you all gang up on me?”
“Just a little payback, Dearling,” Ryan whispered, dragging my fingers up to his lips and kissing them one by one. He sucked my pinkie into his mouth just as Quinn sent me an image of a firework exploding.
I nearly exploded myself. I turned to Declan and grabbed his vest by the lapels. “Save me, please.”
His eyes popped, and he reached up to pull my arms off of him. “Even if I wanted to help you, which—to be clear—I don’t, what am I supposed to do?”
“Dump water on him, like you did the other day—”
“That will just make his abs glisten in the sunlight,” Declan couldn’t help the shite-eating grin that popped up on his face.
“Mercy!” I cried. “Give me mercy.”
Declan took my arm out of pity and I led him out of the practice yard, glad to escape.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“The stables,” I replied. “We’re going out for the day.”
He nodded, and we walked in silence for a bit. Then Declan surprised me by saying, “Quinn sent us all an update on what happened last night.”
My body heated up, like I was on a spit, over a fire. No.
“Yes, tonight, when it’s my watch, I can’t wait to see what you’ll dream about,” Ryan murmured.
I couldn’t cover my face with my hands; a group of noblemen walked by just then, on their way to the practice arena. I had to fake a smile and a nod and maintain my composure.
Part of me felt like laughing. But the other part of me felt like crying. Because this either meant that my husbands were on their way to forgiving me, that they were joking with me and including me. Or it meant they truly and completely hated me and were determined to torture me. I wasn’t sure which it was.
Chapter Fifteen
We reached the stables, which housed not only horses, but pegasi, bulls, donkeys, and two ancient horned gargoyles. Noble and servant children alike skittered in and out of the doors of the stable. It was a popular place to visit.
The beast master, Jase, was a grim, dark man with a jagged scar across his chin. He strode out the stable doors to greet us, a bag of apples in hand. He must have been feeding the horses.
He grunted at me. That was as much of a greeting as he ever gave.
Behind him, I saw three servant children pointing and making faces. Jase was both revered for his abilities with animals and feared for the scar on his face. He also had an uncanny sense of his surroundings. Without turning from us, he threw an apple backward, smacking one of the kids in the chest.
“Off with you!” he groused. The children scattered like mice.
"Morning, Jase. May we have three horses please?"
“How long a ride?”
“We’ll be heading to Terra.”
He nodded, gave a perfunctory bow, and disappeared into the stables. I heard another thunk of what could only have been an apple hitting wood.
“Get outta here, you mangy curs!” Jase bellowed.
Another group of giggling kids ran past us, one of them munching on a slightly bruised apple. I wondered then, if the apples really were for the horses or if Jase kept the treats for the children. The old hard-ass would never admit to it but … I bit my lip and resolved to send him a barrel of apples.
I laughed as the children ran down to the paddock and climbed the fence to watch the gargoyles stretch and run; I was as excited for my adventure today as they were for theirs. What I had planned was so much better than being stuck with tutors yet again.
"What exactly are we doing? Declan asked. “Terra’s at least an hour away.”
I shrugged. “Each fall, the farmers near Terra go into the hills and pick berries. Today is the first day of picking. I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to test your magic because it requires precision. And because you couldn’t possibly drown anyone in the process."
“You did not almost drown!” Declan protested.
Meanwhile, Ryan grumbled. "I thought we would do something exciting. I thought we'd have him divide knives in half or something to help fend off an attack."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure you think farming is exciting when food’s brought to the table every night."
Declan laughed, "She's got you pinned, Ry!"
Ryan smacked Declan on the back. “Shut it." He turned to me, “What am I here for?"
“Isn’t your family from Terra? I thought you might like the chance to see them.”
Ryan groaned. “This is all a ploy to meet my family?” He pointed a finger. “You’re going to try to get my mother to guilt me back into liking you, aren’t you?”
“You liked me at some point to begin with?”
He bit his lip. “I didn’t say that.”
“Dec, Ryan liked me!” I threw out my arms and spun around. “Oh. Nope. You did not just see that. That was not queenly at all. Do not tell my mother.”
Declan shook his head. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Castle fever. I haven’t been stuck inside this long in forever.”
Declan cocked his head. “Ah. The real reason for this trip is revealed. It’s selfish.”
“No. I’m a political savant. This is a triple win situation. We all get something we want.”
Declan looked at Ryan, “Did I say I wanted to practice my powers?”
Ryan raised his hand. “How am I getting something I want?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Ryan Hale, I’ve heard you rave about your mother’s berry pies since you were in the lower guard. So, stop pretending you aren’t aching to see her.”
“Fine. I could eat.”
I laughed.
Ryan shook his head. “I need to go grab a few guards.”
“Guards? Why?”
“Because a crown princess doesn’t travel unescorted. Unless she’s planning to try to escape.”
Both men stared me down. “I’m not trying to escape. Really,” I sighed. “Fine. Get the guards.”
As Ryan sauntered off to request more guards and horses, I turned to Declan. “This will be fun, don’t you think?”
Declan bit his lip and shook his head. “Did you really think this through? Do you really think the people of Terra want to see the invader knight?”
“Invader?”
“Foreigner, then?”
My blood boiled. “Who called you that?”
He snorted. “It gets whispered nearly every day. Surprised you haven’t heard it since you came back.”
I raised a brow. “Well, it seems I have some work to do on the nobles then. But, let me assure you, the people of Evaness don’t feel the same.”
“What?” Declan’s blue eyes flickered to mine, confused.
I smiled at him. “You’ll see.”
Just then a page approached with a message for me. I stepped away from Declan to read the letter, and then bent and whispered instructions to the boy. He scampered off with a grin. And I couldn’t keep a wide smile off my face.
“Good news?” Declan asked.
“We’ll see.”
Ryan arrived shortly after that and we set off on a winding trail to the northwest. We let the guard spread out around us, so that we had some semblance of privacy.
“Quinn’s pouting that you didn’t invite him,” Ryan gave me a sideways grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Please, he’s probably already snuck down there. Besides, he got ‘alone time’ with me last night.”
Ryan belted out a laugh and Declan shook his head.
I turned to look at Declan as we cantered along. “Have you thought of any possibilities regarding that request I told you about?” I didn’t want to use Willard’s name in front of the guards. Just in case.