Adrian stayed at Draka’s side as he led Vigora to the ferry where Hugo was waiting with the packs over his shoulders. The look on Hugo’s face was filled with the back and forth of anyone who was trying to reason their way through something that made no sense. Why was he carrying saddle bags for a horse that was still saddled?

  Well, if Draka could, he would explain that Vigora needed a break from the weight. But, also, he wanted to see how long it would be before Hugo realized he didn’t actually have to carry it the entire way back to the house.

  Hugo wasn’t going to put them down. He always had that mindset of doing whatever Draka wanted, exactly as he said. Even Enya was baffled by the sight. Draka will one day have the opportunity to tell him how that will, one day, prove to be the kind of trait a man wants by his side. He needs to learn when not to be a fool about it, but that will come with time.

  “I understand that you’re tired from traveling and all,” Enya insisted, following them. “But you really should speak with her before you go.” Enya glanced at the faces surrounding them. She leaned to Draka’s ear, “It is urgent.”

  “I don’t know you,” Hugo eyed Adrian with a jerking shift of the bags over his shoulder.

  “An odd way to greet someone,” Adrian said with a crinkled brow. “I don’t know you either. But my name is Adrian and if you tell me yours, then we can say we know each other.”

  Draka drew in a breath. He stiffened his jaw and met her eyes. A head taller than him or no, she understood with a sullen nod. He wasn’t going to do anything ‘official’ until he’s tended Vigora and made sure Adrian has a place to sleep. He pointed at the sun that was only slightly west of above them and then to the horizon.

  “I’ll bring her to you after supper, then?” Enya cocked a brow at him. Draka nodded.

  “Hugo Vorner, the Princess’s cousin,” Hugo shifted the saddlebags again but he smiled. “What brings you here, friend?”

  He saw Adrian regarding Hugo with a slow moving finger at the saddle bags from the corner of his eye. “Those look heavy, maybe if I…”

  After waving for Enya to move on to whatever she had been doing before, Draka pulled a pair of belted saddle bags from Hugo’s shoulders and plopped them on Adrian’s. Adrian let out an agonized moan and straightened his back. Hugo straightened with a breath of relief.

  Draka pulled another and plopped it on top of Adrian’s other shoulder. The last one on Hugo’s shoulder, Draka pulled onto his own, winking at the young man with a smile.

  “I was just about to—” Adrian straightened.

  “I’ll take Vigora to her stable and bed her down, your Majesty,” Hugo took the reins when Draka handed them over.

  Once they reached the other end of the lake, Draka put the last saddle bag on Adrian’s shoulder with a wink. Adrian shook his head and followed Hugo up the hill while Draka slowed his pace from them.

  Maybe if he talks to Maud with quill and paper, he can resolve this fight and actually find out what is bothering her so much. He was glad to see Rosemary’s swishing black tail from the little covered stall that had been built on the lakeside of their tall stone house. That meant she was inside.

  Aurie met him at the door with a press of her hand on his chest and a look over her shoulder. She shut the door behind her and Draka’s breath was taken from him before his first step backwards met the ground.

  Her pale blue eyes met his and his heart beat his lungs into submission. For a second, maybe less, maybe more—he’ll never truly know—her eyes slanted like a doe’s, the curl of her grin that tightened those wide cheekbones, looked just as pleased to see him. And with her hair tied back, he truly had to concentrate not to let his gaze graze across her long neck.

  Lord, forgive me, but she is…perfect. Draka finally caught his breath.

  Aurie coughed a chuckle, beaming, then said, “She’s really angry with you.”

  Draka frowned at that. He held out his hands while looking over her shoulder at the door.

  “It’s the Ribbon Dance,” Aurie grabbed his chin and turned him to look at her. She wasn’t smiling anymore. “She’s worried. It’s not as if she’s been practicing. Any man worth his salt on that pole will be snatched from her in seconds and she knows it.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Now, there’s an idea, Draka grinned with a flick of his brows.

  Aurie seemed to know what he was thinking. She grinned just as mischievously. Another look over her shoulder, another press into his chest for him to move further from the door, and she hushed to a whisper, “We both know she’ll never forgive us if we do that.”

  Only for a while, Draka was confident.

  “No, we need to handle this delicately. Trust me, we’re a rebellious lot. And…” Aurie stammered, looking like she was struggling to find the words, “Passionate. She’d get herself pregnant just to make certain we had no choice but to let her marry that twat. We need to find her a better match.”

  Do we?

  “She needs a husband, Draka. It’s time. She’s ready to have her own home.”

  Draka made as if he was ruminating on that for a moment—he wasn’t—then shook his head at her.

  Aurie swatted him, making him laugh.

  Aurie shook her head, “You really are the absolute opposite of Balor, you know that? He’d be fighting me tooth and nail to let her get married tomorrow. Not you. I wonder what standard you have set for my Windleaf. I mean, I know why I dislike Karl, but why don’t you like him? You’re the one who chose him to be our guard.”

  That was before he began attaching himself to my daughter’s face like a leech whenever he thought no one was watching. And Draka knew better than to think that those hands were staying on Maud’s arms and face.

  Aurie’s eyes widened. “Don’t kill him.”

  I know, Draka scrunched his nose.

  “What about this Adrian? He’s about her age, right? He said he was your ward, but he’s Taggerty’s son, right? And you know him. He’s like a younger, prettier version of you.”

  Draka couldn’t help chuckling proudly at that. Adrian had some of his mannerisms, but he had Philip’s personality and his mother’s features. But that was neither here nor there. Maud can choose her match. Just not Karl. Or Andre. Or Raphael. Or Samma. Or Olaf. Or…Draka huffed at himself. She might have a point.

  “How old is he?”

  Draka pointed for Maud and then down, five fingers.

  Aurie’s mouth gaped. “He’s seventeen? That man is only seventeen? He said you were his guardian for sixteen years. Why would he lie?”

  Draka shrugged and shook his head. He was sixteen when he left him in Sodiulakim. But he was seven when he became his ward, though with all the time he spent with the boy in between campaigns, it might as well have been his entire life.

  Aurie seemed to glow when she grinned at him then. “That’s a father’s look. That boy was raised by you, wasn’t he?”

  Draka wiggled a hand, more or less. Philip wasn’t exactly a fatherly type and Isa—he suspected—used it as an excuse to keep him around until he was able to take Adrian to Jerusalem...for a while...without her.

  “Well, never mind about him, then. We’ll have to figure out something. We have eight days to figure out how to keep her from being engaged, out of the Dance, or pregnant, without insulting the entire village or killing Karl in the meantime.”

  Draka nodded. He could have Father Hagen circumcise him and just…slip.

  So many things to ask forgiveness for when he prays tonight. And probably the next few days because he knew it would take time before he actually felt bad about thinking half of these thoughts.

  “And don’t worry about her, I’ll calm her down. You just keep yourself scarce for a bit. Let her approach you,” Aurie touched his hand. “And I’ll make sure Maud keeps away from your meals until she does.” She let go of his hand to take a step back from him. “Alice gave me a brief just before you got here. Perhaps, we can have that treaty signed in Nancy or Strasbourg. Leave Karl and have Paladinate guards only, that way we can maybe see how she mingles with those that are supposed to be equal to her in class, but mostly to give her a break from him and have a chance to see that she fell for him out of lack of options.”

  Draka blinked thoughtfully. He did need to survey the rest of his Kingdom. Michaelmas was barely a month away. He nodded. He’ll take Maud with him. Aurie, too. He wasn’t certain he could ever rule his kingdom without his Paladin Regent at his side. Certainly not as well.

  “Nancy or Strasbourg?”

  Draka thought for a moment. He needed to venture west and see the other side of his Kingdom. A thumb over his shoulder, toward Nancy.

  “I’ll let Valmond know and begin preparations and correspondences. Now, go, catch up with your other ward. I’ll see you after supper.”