hands were tight around my waist, the raccoon taking off toward the lake behind us with a nervous flurry of chatter, and Cosmo was tense at our side. I kept my eyes on Roderick's as they bored coldly against me.
"Yes, Your Highness," he said, every syllable as sharp as if it were cutting his tongue and leaving his mouth bloody. "I assume you mean your reprieve of the taxes. They will have to resume, you understand."
"I do. After the harvest. And while I remain here I will oversee where the money goes."
Lord Roderick's smile was poisonous. "If you insist and the crown permits."
Ah. Yes, that little snag.
"Naturally," I said instead, stroking gently over the back of Owen's hand until he eased.
"But will the queen support you?" Wendell asked, leaning forward to keep his voice low as my Chosen and I dined alone in my suite.
The council had, thankfully, left not long after the tense discussion by the water, leaving Daniel Farraque in our company. Wendell, Owen, and Cosmo took it upon themselves to run Daniel through the palace and grounds to introduce him to his duties, while Thao and I accompanied Lady Prudence in finding a room. I had full confidence in the older woman, who seemed thrilled to manage the young maid and eager to meet the cook. Prudence was friendly and agreeable, but also obviously happy to exert control where it was needed, and I gave Rebecca Sanders the most sincere thanks before sending her back to Rumsbrooke in a spare carriage.
"My mother probably would support me, if she's the one who hears of this, but she leaves most of the ruling to my grandmother and…" I paused, drawing up a bite of pheasant doused in a herbal sauce to my lips. "I'm afraid my grandmother will take this as a sign that I still don't possess the Hunger and instead am only meddling in politics."
"Is that so bad?" Cosmo asked, wearing a half smile.
"It's not what I was raised to do," I said with a heavy sigh. "I should've seemed more interested in Farraque so the council felt more secure. How annoying to finally have the Hunger and still not appear so."
"You looked the part, trust me. No man could take their eyes off you as you stood at the top of the stairs," Wendell said, and I blushed under his stare, glancing warily at Thao.
Thao only grinned at us both. He seemed…comparatively docile now. I'd watched him leave the great hall with his spine iron straight and eyes blazing, but by the time he and Wendell returned to the rest of us before the council left, all the fire had burned out of him. If he'd been angry with me or with Wendell, it was gone now, and he was…
"The hair was my touch," Thao said proudly. "She looks just a little debauched with it down, doesn't she?"
"She looked a little debauched because she had been," Owen said, his ankle nudging against mine.
Thao only laughed and shook his head. "Yes, I heard you. I was waiting to come in."
I puffed a breath and choked on my bite, heat flooding my cheeks. I wasn't surprised exactly. Thao and Wendell often appeared in the morning shortly after I'd just finished sating the Hunger with my Chosen. It was just a little galling to have it mentioned plainly.
"What are you going to do with the spy now that you've let him in?" Cosmo asked.
"Farraque's a spy?" Owen murmured to me, brow furrowing with concern.
"The council would be mad not to try and place one in Bryony's court," Thao said, shrugging. "She's making changes, and ones that will seriously affect or nullify their power in the kingdom."
Owen hummed and nodded, and I found Wendell's eyes in time to exchange a small smile. Thao was being polite to Owen, and patient. There was a kind of peace amongst us now, and it left me warm and buzzing in spite of the day.
"He has duties to attend to now. I'm sure the council wants my Hunger to make me useless against him but…” I shrugged and grinned. "They'll be disappointed."
"Especially if Farraque's going to continue to be such a wooden board of a human being," Cosmo said.
"Don't underestimate what he might see, what he can learn from others," Wendell said, watching me. "You may need to…”
"Dangle fruit out of his reach," Thao finished for him with a nod. "Not let him in, but not shut him out entirely either. Your Hunger is