The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) - Kiera Cass Page 0,11

gifted at entertaining than planning. As she cinched up the last string of my kirtle, a knock came at the door.

She tied off the knot and went to answer it as I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure everything was straight before my company came in.

Lord Seema was standing there, his expression looking as if he’d recently been eating a lemon.

I sank into a curtsy, hoping my shock didn’t show on my face. “My lord. To what do I owe this honor?”

He wrung his fingers back and forth over the paper in his hands. “My Lady Hollis. It has not escaped my notice that you have gained the king’s special attention in recent weeks.”

“I’m not sure about that,” I hedged. “His Majesty has been very kind to me, but that’s all I can really say.”

He glanced around the room, looking like he wished he had another gentleman to share the moment with. Finding no one worthy, he sighed and went on. “I can’t tell if you are playing ignorant or if you truly can’t tell. Either way, you do have his attention, and I was hoping you might do me a favor.”

My eyes darted to Delia Grace, who raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Go on!” I clasped my hands in front of me, hoping to look modest and attentive. If I needed to learn about the politics of court, I supposed this was as firsthand a lesson as I was going to get.

“I can’t make any promises, sir, but please, tell me why you’ve come.”

Lord Seema unfolded his papers and handed them over to me. “As you know, Upchurch County is at the farthest edge of Coroa. To get there or to Royston or Bern, you have to take some of the oldest roads in the country, the ones made as our ancestors slowly worked their way toward the forests and fields at the end of our territory.”

“Yes,” I said, and, for what it was worth, I did remember that little bit of Coroan history.

“As such, these roads are in the greatest need of repair. I have fine carriages, and even they struggle. You can imagine the strain this puts on the poorest of my community who might need to travel to the capital for any reason.”

“I can.” He made a good point. Back home at Varinger Hall, we, too, owned and kept lands, and we had many families who lived on them and paid rent to us in money and goods. I’d seen their old horses and weathered carts. It would have been a challenge to come even from our closer county to the castle with those things. I couldn’t picture trying to do it from the farthest reaches of the country. “What is your aim here, sir?”

“I’d like a royal survey of all the roads in Coroa. I’ve tried to mention this to His Majesty twice this year, and he’s brushed it off. I was wondering if you could . . . encourage him to make it a priority.”

I took a deep breath. How in the world would I go about that?

I looked down at the papers I had no hope of understanding before handing them back to Lord Seema. “If I can get the king to focus on this, I would ask a favor of my own in return.”

“I assumed nothing less,” he replied, crossing his arms.

“If this project moves forward,” I began slowly, “I expect you to speak kindly of me to anyone you pass who mentions my name. And if you discuss this interaction with the other lords, would you please tell them I received you graciously?”

He smiled. “My lady, you make it sound as if I would have to lie. You have my word.”

“Then I will do all I can to help you with this worthy project.”

Satisfied, he gave me a deep bow and left the room. As the door shut, Delia Grace burst into a fit of laughter. “Hollis, do you realize what this means?”

“That I need to learn how to make the king care about old roads?” I offered.

“No! A lord of the privy council just came asking for your help. Do you see how much power you have already?”

I paused for a moment, letting that thought sink in.

“Hollis,” she said with a grin, “we are on our way up!”

This time, when I walked into the Great Room for dinner and Jameson waved me to approach the head table, Delia Grace came with me. My parents were already