The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) - Kiera Cass Page 0,25

mother’s, though, admittedly, her eyes didn’t sparkle like his. In truth, I’d never seen anyone’s eyes sparkle like his.

“You’d better be up to this,” Father warned me in passing, making me aware that I’d been staring. “You will not humiliate us in front of the lords again.”

I sighed. I’d gone from being the lady Jameson was going to dance with at dinners to his official companion for a visit from a foreign king. From what I remembered of Jameson’s mother, dozens of tasks fell on her for state visits. Was I expected to do everything a queen would? I shook my head. I couldn’t handle this alone; I needed my ladies.

Ten

“NO,” I SAID AS NORA pulled out another dress. “Too dark.”

“She’s right,” Delia Grace agreed reluctantly. “Maybe we should have something altered. The Isoltens do wear different sleeves.”

“I would knock over every single goblet on the table,” I commented with a laugh, which she joined in with rather quickly.

“And look like a jester,” she added.

I shook my head. “I just want to seem regal. I want to look like I belong beside Jameson.”

“I think you need to stick with your signature gold,” Delia Grace insisted. “And then, for the tournament, the rose dress will look nice in the sun.”

Nora agreed. “Rose looks lovely against your skin. And Delia Grace and I can see what we own that will look best behind you. I promise we won’t distract.”

Delia Grace was visibly inhaling slowly through her nose, not looking pleased to have someone speak for her. “I think anything in a cream color will look nice. Or the obvious Coroan red. Whatever you’d like, my lady.”

Some of the anger had passed. But not all of it.

Delia Grace went to answer the knock at the door, and I trailed behind her, knowing it would be Lady Eastoffe. She entered quickly, followed by her daughter, and they both sank into curtsies.

“My Lady Hollis, please allow me to introduce my daughter, Scarlet.”

“Very nice to formally meet you both. Please come in.”

She clasped her hands together as she walked. “Where would you like to start?”

I sighed. “I’m not entirely sure. I . . . I’m not the best pupil, but I just need to learn enough about Isolte to not look like an absolute fool.”

Lady Eastoffe’s face was equal parts sweet and serious as she weighed her words. “Every woman in your position has had a moment like this, when their era, so to speak, began. We will do everything we can to help you shine.”

My shoulders slumped as she broke the tension I’d been carrying ever since I’d woken up this morning. “Thank you.” I held my hand out, gesturing that they should settle in at my table.

Lady Eastoffe took the seat closest to me. “We have very little time, so we need to get to the important things first. I need to tell you about King Quinten,” she said, looking grave as I took my place. “He is a dangerous man. You may already know that the line of the Pardus family is almost as old as the Barclay family.”

I nodded, though I was only sort of aware of that fact. Jameson was the seventh descendant from King Estus, and no one on the continent could boast a direct line as long as the Coroans’. That I knew.

“Like all countries, we have had good kings and bad ones, but there is something . . . dark about King Quinten. He has always been hungry for power, wielding it as carelessly as a child. But fear has made him worse with age, and now he’s old and paranoid. His first wife, Queen Vera, miscarried several times and has been in the grave for six years now. Prince Hadrian is his only living child, and he is of a sickly disposition. King Quinten recently married a very young woman in hopes of producing more heirs—”

“Valentina?”

“Valentina,” she confirmed. “But so far, it’s been fruitless. All of his hopes now rest on Prince Hadrian—who I’ve heard some princess is reluctantly marrying next year. The poor boy looks as if he could die at any moment.”

“Is he really so ill?” I asked. Lady Eastoffe made a face at her daughter, who answered for them.

“He’s managed to live this long, so who can tell?” Scarlet hedged. “Perhaps he was just meant to be a pale shade of green.”

I allowed that comment a little smile before flopping back in my chair. “So your king is worried because his line may end