by boat. It’s not a world away. And now that I’m an expert on shipping matters, I believe the Pitorian fleet will be constantly traveling back and forth across the sea.”
“But your heart lies with Pitoria now?”
“It lies with Tzsayn and you, and Brigant and Pitoria. Not just one person or one place. They are all important to me, and I love them all in different ways.”
“And your role as queen.”
Catherine nodded. “I love that too. I have you to thank for that. You showed me how to use my mind and my spirit, how to fight with what’s in here.” She tapped the side of her head. “That book you gave me written by Queen Valeria was an inspiration too.”
“Perhaps you’ll write your own book one day.”
Catherine laughed. “Perhaps.”
* * *
• • •
That night in their bedchamber, Tzsayn asked, “How are you feeling about being back here?”
“Good. Though I feel I should be doing more.”
He kissed her neck. “No. You need rest. And we agreed that once that door was shut, we would not talk of work.”
“True.” Catherine backed away and looked him up and down. “Shall we then talk about your jacket or your shirt?”
Tzsayn quirked an eyebrow. “Why would we discuss either?”
“Well, it occurred to me that they might be the cause of the jeers and boos we heard on our way here.”
“Really? How easy it is to offend the Brigantine man. With a shirt!”
“Hmm, perhaps it wasn’t so much the shirt as the blue body paint underneath. And, by underneath, I mean exposed by the slashes in the fabric.”
Tzsayn lifted his shirt over his head and threw it on the bed.
“This body paint, you mean?”
AMBROSE
BRIGANE, BRIGANT
AMBROSE STOOD opposite Catherine. Tanya had finally left her hair alone and retreated to a distance. The coronation ceremony was about to begin, but Tzsayn hadn’t yet appeared, so Ambrose still had a few moments.
Catherine smoothed her skirt—a habit he’d long recognized she had when she was nervous.
“May I offer advice?” he said.
“Of course. I always look to my nobles for their wise counsel.”
Ambrose grinned, leaned close, and whispered, “Don’t do anything wild today. But sometimes, perhaps once a year, get on your horse and ride along the beach and leap into the water.”
She smiled at him. “I wish I could do that now.”
Ambrose shook his head. “I don’t think you do, really. You’d much rather be here, waiting to be crowned.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here with me,” she said, and she took his hand. “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
“I am your personal guard, Your Majesty.”
Catherine shook her head. “No, you’re so much more than that, Ambrose. You’re one of my threads—a vital one. One that held me when I could have fallen, not just in Pitoria, but before that, here in Brigant, when you gave me hope that people—men—could be good and kind. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to still have your friendship and your support. I know it’s hard for you.”
“It’s not hard to see you happy,” Ambrose replied, though he was lying just a little. It was more painful than he could say to see her with Tzsayn. “You’re where you belong.”
“In an ugly, damp castle?”
Ambrose smiled and shook his head. “In the place you deserve. Queen. Ruler. And, I think, a fair and just ruler of Brigant and Pitoria.”
“And you are also in the position where you belong, Marquess of Norwend, Duke of Northern Brigant.”
Ambrose bowed. He’d discovered after the battle that his father had been executed by Aloysius, and the Norwend lands stolen from him. But they had now been returned to him by Catherine and Tzsayn, along with further lands in the north of Brigant.
“I need to get back up there soon. There’s much to do. There’s barely enough crops to last the winter,” he said.
“I can’t quite see you as a farmer.”
“I would never have thought it either, but it feels good to have a home again.” He looked down, then back into her eyes. “It has so many happy memories as well as the painful ones. But it is a special place.”
“And will I get an invitation to visit at some stage?”
“You’ll be most welcome anytime.”
For a moment, Ambrose wondered what Tzsayn would think of that, but then realized he’d probably be unbearably supportive of it. He raised Catherine’s hand and kissed it. “It’s been an honor.”
* * *
• • •
The following day, it was Ambrose’s turn to be nervous. Catherine and Tzsayn were giving rewards to those