The Queen's Line (Inheritance of Hunger #1) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,38

you?" I asked, looking up at Aric's stoned expression.

He gaped at me, slowly gathering control of his face, righting it back to his usual cool and irritated calm. "Will the royal guard be joining us here?" he asked.

"No, I told them to wait outside. I thought it might attract less attention."

Aric's eyes scanned me head to toe, and my skin seemed to respond by growing extra sensitive to my own clothing. "I'm not certain of that, but I'm glad for your instinct. Your Highness, I…I am a tavern owner, and a mage. I'm also the King of Thieves."

I blinked at him, laughter my first impulse, but it died immediately when I thought of Scrapper and even Cosmo's advice about caution in the bar. "Oh. Oh, I see. Next time I visit, I won't bring the guard with me," I said.

"Next time," Aric responded flatly.

"What does it mean to be the King of Thieves? Who do you steal from?" I asked frowning. "How is being a thief any better than—than—" Than being a princess who doesn't look after her people?

"I'm not stealing from starving people! None of my court is. We're trying to give back," Aric hissed.

"Then who, Aric?"

"Do you want me to confess to you? Not a chance, princess. With the royal guard standing outside?" Aric scoffed and shook his head, eyes turning toward the tunnel. He looked like he wanted to drag me back out again. "We steal from those who can afford it, who are making it worse for everyone else. Does that satisfy you?"

"Do you steal from men like Sir Hubert?" I asked, relaxing again. Maybe it was absurd, he'd admitted to being a criminal, but I believed Aric. He'd steal from me, but he wouldn't steal from the people in the street we passed. I wanted to trust him, I needed to because I didn't have very many other people I could trust.

Aric's brow twitched. "Hubert?"

"The steward of the north. Do you know him? I had to fire him. He tried to take the suite next to mine in the palace so he could watch the princess with her Chosen in bed," I said, and Aric stiffened and his head whipped back to face me. "Also, I think he must've been generally hated anyway because the cook made me cakes when he left. And I've made Rebecca Sanders the Northern Magistrate, officially." Aric's hands were still holding me by my shoulders, and his fingers tightened slightly as I went on. "We're going to waive taxes for the time being, and I'll think of a way to help with the harvest too. And do you know anyone who might make a good royal hunter? Or how I could fairly feed the people with what might be hunted in the woods? I still haven't sorted that out yet."

Aric's eyes widened, and I could've sworn he was just about to smile. "Princess," he purred, and I would've melted at that sound if not for his hands holding me up. He guided me down into a deep armchair before finally releasing me, stepping back and dragging another chair closer. He leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees, and I sat primly at the edge of my own.

"You've been very busy," he said, and I realized that he was at the edge of laughter.

"A great deal needs to get done," I said, smoothing my skirt over my knees and letting the texture of the fabric distract me from the force of Aric's stare.

He had a strange kind of effect on me. One moment, I found him magnetic and I wanted to curl up against him. The next, I wanted to shy away. And then a second later, I wanted to stomp on his foot and remind him that I was his princess and he was…

A King of Thieves.

"How do you become a King of Thieves?" I asked.

Aric's eyes narrowed and his smile finally broke free, sly and simple. "I think if I tell you, you might try and take it from me. We'd better just focus on what you've wrought already. Sir Hubert will take this to the council."

"I have the higher authority," I said.

Aric nodded, and a lock of silver hair fell over his forehead. I wondered if it was soft or thick and coarse. "You do, but the crown doesn't usually step between the council and their authority over the people. You're ruffling feathers. Sanders is a good magistrate, better even than her husband, and I have