Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,90
kill me once, but the prince . . . Well, I didn’t want to even think about the much deeper wounds he could inflict on my mind and especially on my heart.
“I would be delighted to escort Lady Armina.” Leonidas offered me his arm. “If I may?”
“Of course, Your Highness.” I threaded my arm through his, trying not to notice how his muscles bunched and flexed under my light touch.
Delmira winked at me, and I rolled my eyes, telling her that I knew exactly what she was doing. “Don’t forget that you and Lady Reiko promised to have breakfast with me tomorrow.”
“I’m sure Lady Reiko is looking forward to it just as much as I am.”
Reiko was chatting with a noble a few feet away, but her gaze flicked in my direction, as if she’d heard me say her name. I tipped my head to the dragon morph, who ignored me in return. And that was the last I saw of her before Leonidas led me out of the throne room.
Several people had drifted outside the chamber and were clustered in small groups, drinking, laughing, and gossiping. Leonidas nodded to a few folks, but he led me past them without stopping. Soon, we were in a hallway by ourselves. The second we were alone, I untangled my arm from his and stepped back.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like being escorted by me?” he asked in a dry, sardonic tone.
I shot him an angry glare. “I don’t like sitting within arm’s reach of your mother. Not to mention your brother. It’s difficult to spy on someone after he’s seen your face.”
Leonidas shrugged. “Milo thinks you’re a jeweler with a negligible amount of metalstone magic. He’ll have forgotten your name by the time he downs his next drink.”
He was probably right, given how Milo had sneered at me, but I couldn’t help but think of how Maeven had stared at me during dinner. Unless I was gravely mistaken, the queen hadn’t believed my lies, and she knew that I didn’t belong here. The sooner I found the tearstone, the sooner I could leave, and the safer I would be from all the Morricones, including Leonidas.
Especially Leonidas.
A thought occurred to me. “How long will Milo stay in the throne room?”
Leonidas shrugged again. “Probably until the bitter end. Milo fancies himself a great politician. He doesn’t realize that the nobles tolerate him simply because they know he’s going to be their king someday.”
This farce will be over soon enough. Corvina’s earlier thought drifted through my mind. Perhaps Corvina and her fiancé wanted that someday to get here sooner rather than later. Milo seemed to have no love for either Leonidas or Delmira, and I doubted the crown prince would let his mother stand in his way either.
A shiver swept through my body. I had no desire to be trapped in Myrkvior should such a coup take place. Oh, yes. The sooner I found the tearstone, the more likely my head stayed attached to my shoulders.
“Where is Milo’s workshop?” I asked.
Understanding filled Leonidas’s face. “You want to search his workshop right now, while he’s still at the dinner.”
“Well, I certainly can’t search it while he’s in there. Don’t you want to see what your brother is hiding?”
His eyes glittered with a cold, calculating light. “Absolutely.”
* * *
Leonidas took my arm again, and we ambled through the palace as though we were out for a simple after-dinner stroll. We passed dozens of couples doing the same thing, as well as a few in shadowy alcoves who were engaged in far more . . . vigorous activities. The grunts, moans, and gasps of pleasure made me even more aware of my arm tangled up with Leonidas’s, his muscles flexing under my fingertips and our bodies swaying together as we walked along.
Leonidas cleared his throat, as though he were as uncomfortable as I was. “Come, Lady Armina,” he said, opening a door. “Let me show you the rookery.”
A few people nearby eyed us, and one man openly snickered as though showing me the rookery was code for fucking me senseless. I ignored the laughing noble, and Leonidas steered me outside and shut the door behind us.
We stepped into a courtyard covered with thick strands of liladorn, and Leonidas led me toward a fountain bubbling in the center. Once we had rounded it, he glanced back over his shoulder. The light and noise from the palace had faded away, leaving the two of us standing in the silent, silvery moonlight.