The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) - Kiera Cass Page 0,26

with either himself or his son?”

“Yes,” Lady Eastoffe replied.

“And there is no one to pick it up and maintain peace?”

She hesitated. “He tends to eliminate those who could usurp him.”

“Oh . . . So . . . I don’t think I understand. What good does that do him?”

“None as far as anyone with any sort of reason can see,” Scarlet answered quickly. “But, as we said, fear has made him mad, and the best anyone can do is steer clear at this point.”

Lady Eastoffe continued. “Of course you should obey your king. Shine, be the best you can be. But also stay away from King Quinten if you can.”

I nodded. “What of Valentina?”

“I’m sorry to say that we don’t know her well,” Scarlet began, sharing a concerned glance with her mother. “Few people do. But she’s young, like us, so if you can keep her entertained, that might get you on her good side.”

I turned to Nora and Delia Grace. “Entertaining is generally my strong suit. But I’m not sure how to do that without knowing her interests.”

Nora sighed. “Perhaps we can take her to the town, show her some of the shops?”

“Good. Yes. And we will think of more,” I promised Lady Eastoffe.

“And I will continue to think,” Scarlet added. “If I remember anything, I’ll make sure to tell you. And since plenty of courtiers will come with the king, we can ask some of them when they arrive if they have any ideas.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank you. I’ve been told my whole life that Isoltens were more like stones than people. It seems I was misinformed.”

Lady Eastoffe smiled conspiratorially. “Maybe wait until you meet the king before you change your mind completely.”

I laughed easily, and she and Scarlet joined in. I was grateful that if I had questions over the visit, I had someone I could go to.

“I admire you,” Lady Eastoffe admitted. “So young and so brave.”

I made a face. “Brave?”

“It’s no small thing to become queen. Even Valentina I admire for it, regardless of how I might feel about her otherwise.”

I swallowed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.”

“Which is natural. But you are already doing the best thing any of us could: you’re encouraging your king to favor peace.” She shook her head. “No one could do more.”

I nodded, looking down at my hands. Her words were generous, but that didn’t stop me from worrying that I would be the weak link in the chain, causing chaos to break out at any moment.

“King Jameson seems quite taken by you,” Scarlet offered. “How did you manage to catch his eye?”

I saw Delia Grace place a hand on her hip, her smirk saying everything.

“It was mostly chance,” I replied. “The king had been flirting with a few girls at court, though it was clear to most everyone that they weren’t serious. His father had been in the grave about a year and a half at that point. His mother passed maybe three months after King Marcellus.”

“Yes,” Lady Eastoffe said. “My husband and I came to both funerals.”

I noted that curiously. They must have been a very high-ranking family to accompany King Quinten on so many international trips.

“Delia Grace and I, we were dancing together one night in the Great Room. We were holding one another by the wrists, spinning and spinning like tops, when we lost our grip and fell backward. Delia Grace fell into the arms of some other ladies, and I fell into Jameson’s.”

I had to laugh for a moment. It was a bit ridiculous that this was how I’d won Jameson’s heart.

Lady Eastoffe sighed, and Scarlet rested her head on her chin, taken in by the tale.

“I was so overcome with the hilarity of the moment, I was laughing, blissfully unaware of who was holding me. By the time I stood up to thank him, he was laughing, too. Everyone said it was the first time they’d heard him laugh since his parents died, and I’ve been living to make him smile ever since. I think everyone thought he’d move on eventually—”

“Not everyone,” Delia Grace reminded me.

“Almost everyone,” Nora chimed in with a wink.

I smirked at that before turning to Delia Grace. “Well, you’ve always had more confidence in me than I ever have. But it really was all chance. Had it been another quarter turn, we’d have both landed on our bottoms. Another half turn, and I’d have been on the floor, and Delia Grace would be hosting you today