of knowing Wendell was in good favor with the Kimmerian crown, but he hadn't tossed me out on my ass.
"I think we'd better choose a red for the roast," Miriam said, and I hurried to follow her down the stairs.
3
Bryony
“More wine, Your Highness?"
"Oh, no thank you," I said, shaking my head at the servant who had jumped forward to answer Miriam's offer. "The dinner was absolutely wonderful."
Miriam settled happily, and Wendell's hand found mine under the table, squeezing gently. Miriam had managed to stutter out a 'Bryony' earlier in the evening, but she quickly shifted back to my title. My Chosen and I were squeezed around the table with the Popes and two other older noble couples with nearby estates, including Sir Weston and his wife, Hermania.
There were more servants and deference to the evening than I'd dealt with since the castle had hosted an event in the capital, and I hadn't realized how used to our simpler life in the north I was until suddenly thrust back into the pomp of gentry.
"You would've enjoyed the show, Douglas," Sir Weston said, leaning back in his seat as he retold the story of my barging into the council meeting, his elbows brushing against Aric's, who looked positively constipated after the length of the evening. "Her Highness was every bit the queen as we haven't—Well, you reminded me a little of the dowager queen, Your Highness."
A year ago, I might've been appalled at the comparison, but now I only smiled and dipped my head. I would need my grandmother's ferocious command to make it to the throne.
"I'm afraid it will take more than a good speech at an interrupted council meeting to make the kind of change Kimmery needs to see," I said.
Sir Weston nodded, picking up his own wine glass. "You go to speak with your mother, I take it?"
My grandmother's current illness wasn't widely known yet. My mother had wanted to wait for my return to make the announcement, and there'd been a letter waiting here at the Popes' when I'd returned from the woods, reassuring me that my grandmother was holding on, remaining on bed rest.
"I'd like for her to be aware of everything I've learned with my time away from the capital," I said. "My mother loves this kingdom deeply."
Sir Weston's eyes slid away, his head still nodding but with less enthusiasm.
"You must look forward to seeing your sister, Camellia. My sister Nancy and I can barely stand to be parted," Lady Evelyn Ashley said, and her husband huffed gruffly. "Lord Ashley is so tolerant of my getting to see her a great deal. We should always be visiting one another if we could."
"Not sure sisterly love always extends so sweetly amongst the royal families," Lord Ashley chuckled. He'd taken every offering of wine Miriam Pope posed until they'd no longer been issued. "Wasn't it Queen Rose who had Princess Gardenia shipped off to some ruinous palace at the western border until she might be married away?"
"She died before the marriage," Sir Weston said gravely, swirling his wine in his glass.
I looked between the men. "You both know a great deal of my lineage."
"It was common before your great grandmother's time for the noble families to keep a record of the queen's line. Births, marriages, deaths," Douglas Pope said with a shrug.
"Banishments," I added and watched the men shift uncomfortably. As if I might be unaware of the ugly competition between two princesses for a crown.
"Ladies, I hope you might join me in the sitting room. I have been longing for a decent game of cards, and it is never as much fun with Douglas for I always know how he will play his hand," Miriam said, the men all rising from their seat to see the women out.
"I hope you won't mind my absence from your game," I said, rising too. "I was hoping to have a word with the gentlemen.
"I can take your place," Cosmo said quickly, meeting my gaze and nodding at my grateful smile. He would charm the women and also keep them from gossiping together through my discussion with the men.
"Are you sure it's safe?" I whispered to Wendell as the bodies shuffled around the table.
"Lord Ashley and my father have no political ambitions, and they take Sir Weston's advice in most matters. And we know he is on your side," Wendell said, arching an eyebrow.
"I suppose that means no pipe and whiskey," Lord Ashley grumbled, not quietly enough after all his drinking.
"By