The Queen's Line (Inheritance of Hunger #1) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,44

look! Everything's been left," she said, freeing herself from between her Chosen and running across the room to examine the swords resting in the notches on the wall. My eyebrows lifted as she rose to her toes, drawing up a long sabre and pulling it from its thin sleeve.

"Kimmery loves its fencing," Wendell reminded me. "And our queen's line has a reputation for being the fiercest swordswomen." He bowed lightly in Bryony's direction and she rolled her eyes a little.

I could see it though, with the way she held the blade to rest against her knuckles as she examined its length. A sabre for sport was a needle by comparison to the inukat—the long, flat, Mennarian blade with a slight curve to its length—I'd trained to fight with for battle, but a needle could still cut an important artery in well trained hands. She bounced the blade lightly and then took the hilt, cutting through the air with a resulting whistle.

"It's still good," she said. "Do you duel, Wendell?"

"I could easily lose to you," Wendell said, laughing at Bryony's frown. "I'm terrible, not modest. Thao would be a better sparring partner for you."

It might've seemed like an innocent suggestion, if it weren't for Wendell's glance at me out of the corner of his eye.

"It's not my weapon, but I might serve with a little tutelage," I agreed, moving to join Bryony at the wall.

If I were sword-fighting for sport in Mennary, I would never choose an opponent as diminutive as the princess, let alone a woman. But watching her rotate her wrist and arm, learning the weight of the weapon she held comfortably in one hand, I had no doubt that it would be a mistake to underestimate Bryony with a blade of any kind.

"I'll gladly teach you sabre fencing if you will teach me the art of inukat," Bryony said, glancing up at me from beneath her lashes.

"If I do not faint at the sight of you holding a sword as tall as you are, I will happily teach you to wield it," I said, grinning.

Bryony's smile was my own reward, sly and delighted, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as if she were ready to lunge and gut me already. I would have to be on my guard with this woman.

"Mmm, I feel…I feel spoiled," Wendell said, still trying to catch his breath as I wiped our stomachs clean with a towel.

"By my lovemaking?" I asked, grinning.

"Ha! Well, yes, but more…isn't it better this way?" Wendell asked, and then blinked up at me, a sleepy satisfied smile painted over his lips. He was exquisite, my hazy sunlight of a man, all pale and golden with eyes to match a good day's sky. "Maybe you didn't worry about it the way I did," Wendell mumbled, eyelids growing heavy.

I tossed the towel in the direction of our laundry before collapsing against Wendell's side, pressing a long kiss to his warm shoulder, catching a drop of salt on his skin and searching for another.

"Worry how?" I mumbled into him.

"That we'd be discovered. That a servant would walk in at any moment and not keep what they see to themselves. Your mother and father would've sent me packing to Kimmery if they'd discovered our relationship."

I decided not to mention to Wendell that my father had been aware, and the promises I'd made so that Wendell's place as ambassador wouldn't be interrupted. One of those promises, to submit myself to the Kimmerian choosing ceremony, had brought us to this moment where it didn't matter now.

"I just feel spoiled to know that I can share this bed with you every night and to touch you openly," Wendell said.

"You don't…miss what you've sacrificed?" I asked, brow furrowing.

Wendell blinked slowly and sighed. "I do, but I think that's something that might be overcome."

He looked as though he were ready to fall asleep, and I suspected it was his way of hiding from my possible response. To reassure him, I reached for his cheek, turning his face to mine and pressing my lips firmly to his.

"I love you," I said in my own language, and then I repeated the simple words in his until Wendell's smile was wide.

"I love you too," he said.

I settled on my side, propping my head in one hand and letting the other play up and down over Wen's chest. "You don't worry that she'll dismiss us?"

His eyes opened wider, and he blinked up at me. "Not…not really. Provided we don't