The Queen's Line (Inheritance of Hunger #1) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,6

the refreshments." I tossed a hand toward the table, where iced tea and small frosted cakes waited.

The eyes watching made my skin hot and itchy. I shouldn't have taken so many men, that was foolish of me, especially when I knew I wanted nothing to do with any of them. Now I had seventeen men surrounding me, waiting for their turn to fuck.

The room was dimly lit by candlelight and a little warm due to the fire at the far end. Likely because it was expected that we'd all be naked soon enough. Men were quickly crowding closer, all the dignitaries and the more eager of the commoners.

Wendell Pope, the Mennary ambassador, reached my side next. He had the sense to bow low, one leg extended elegantly and spine straight.

"And would Your Highness appreciate any refreshment for herself?" he asked in a low and melodious tone. Behind him, Prince Thao bounced on the balls of his feet, eyes darting nervously between us.

It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, but if I accepted, then Wendell Pope would be one less suitor breathing down the back of my neck, and perhaps he would take the beautiful Prince Thao with him on his errand.

"Water please, and some fruit," I said, straightening my shoulders before they collapsed under the weight of the room. I added to the others, "Excuse me, gentlemen."

It gave them enough pause, the words a clear dismissal, for me to escape to the far end of the room where a few men were seated by the fire, watching the scene without fighting for my attention personally. Disinterested Aric was there, silver hair glinting golden in the firelight, his chair turned to face the flames, with his back to me. With him was Cosmo, the man who had watched other men while pleasuring himself, and my first choice of the day, the big and handsome rough-looking man.

There was a space on the settee between Cosmo and the other one—he must've been one of the last handful I'd called for before storming out of the dining hall—and I rushed there with all of the finishing elegance of a well-trained princess. The bigger of the two men sat up straight at my approach, his legs shifting out of that masculine spread. Cosmo remained leaning against the arm of the settee, facing the room, his eyes smiling as I hurried and helped myself to the small space.

"Prin—"

"I feel as though I know all the wrong things about you," I said, eyeing the three men quickly, careful not to glance at the rest of the room. "The choosing is a very strange ceremony. Please, tell me what is that you gentlemen do for a living."

By the fire, Aric had deep lines carving into his forehead and a dark storm in his eyes as they flicked to and away from me. Cosmo and the other man only grinned.

"I'm an artist, Your Highness. Sculpture mainly," Cosmo said.

"Any in our collection?" I asked, sitting up and brightening. I loved art. I could speak on art as long as he didn't try and turn the conversation into a seduction.

"No," Cosmo said, the corners of his dark eyes crinkling with humor. "I never apprenticed with one of the greats. But I've made sales to some of the better houses. Pope's father has one of my old works," he said, watching the other end of the room where Wendell and the others seemed to be bickering over my plate.

I glanced at Aric, but his eyes were still fixed on the fire so I turned to my first choice of the day. "And you? I called your name, but I missed knowing it was yours," I said, offering the man on my left a small, apologetic smile. He looked even more like a romantic hero from a story up close, the dimple on his chin growing deeper with his smile and a soft dark curl falling over his brow.

"Owen Dunne, Your Highness," he said, tone warm and soothing, head bowing respectfully. "I…I was a soldier in the army, and now I have a few jobs around Rumsbrooke in the north. I like working in the army stables best," he said.

I curled my legs up from the floor, tucking them under my skirt and nodded at big and gentle Owen Dunne. "Horses are lovely animals. And they have very good judgment, I think."

Owen's lips formed an exquisite smile, blue eyes clear and calming. "I absolutely agree. Aric, you said as much