Royal Recruit - Susan Grant Page 0,53
grovel for her, to admit his inferiority. In the end it had been her begging him.
Magic fingers…
It was more than that, Keira. He asked, he didn’t demand. He let you give, he didn’t take.
She waved away the attendant and stood, anxious to meet her husband in the dining chamber. But as she slipped through the door, fluffing her skirts around her, she practically collided with Tibor Frix. He grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling, staring in obvious amazement at her good mood. “Hello, Tibor,” she said.
“Your Majesty.” The big guard cleared his throat. “Are you all right?”
“I am wonderful.”
“And the prince? How is he, ah, faring?”
Frix of all people knew what she’d set out to do to Jared. Now he couldn’t help but know how spectacularly it had failed. The mating had taken place regardless of the barriers she’d set up to delay it. After many failed tries, the Sakkaran queen finally had a full consort. A royal mate. It would change many things in the queendom—her, the most.
“The prince could not be doing better. You are kind to ask after him. In fact, he awaits me now in the dining chamber.”
She slipped past the guard. He followed. “No, Tibor,” she said, turning. “You may take your post outside the chamber doors.”
“As you wish, my queen.” But he seemed reluctant to leave her side. It must have been exceedingly difficult for him this evening, staying out of sight, and now she’d asked the same of him for the dinner. He’d been her shadow all her life. Leaving her in the care of a husband would not be easy.
She swept into the dining chamber, striding across the room to meet her husband. Jared was dressed in his traditional Terran clothes, a coat that reached to the waist, trousers and a dangling strip of silken fabric he’d tied around his neck.
“You look amazing in that gown, Keira.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, his eyes hot. A curious custom, that. But she liked it. Then, taking her hand, he escorted her to her seat, pulling it out for her even though it was a smart-chair and would know her custom settings. She adored his provincial manners.
“You may bring the meal,” she called to the attendants. “My husband is hungry.”
“I am,” he whispered in her ear as he took his seat next to her. “Very hungry.”
She shivered. She knew what he was hungry for—and so was she.
He took his seat at her side as eunuchs brought out dish after dish. She’d long taken the feasts for granted, but experiencing it through his appreciative eyes helped her see the richness of the presentation. Maybe long, lonely meals would be a thing of the past now that she had the prince at her side.
In a choreographed move she’d seen countless times, the attendants lifted the lids off the platters and pots all at once, releasing geysers of steam. The serving eunuchs remained behind as others whisked the lids away to the kitchens. The servers waited serenely for Keira and Jared to indicate their choices of food.
“They can go,” Jared said in her ear. “We don’t need them.”
“Why, they must remain to serve us.”
“We can serve ourselves.”
“But—but that’s…”
“Barbaric?”
She frowned at the twinkle of challenge in his eyes. How would she prove to the Terran that his civilization was comprised of barbarians and not hers? However, dismissing the staff would afford her some privacy, and she wouldn’t mind that. She waved a hand at the eunuchs. “You are dismissed.”
They appeared confused as they began clearing the table.
“Please leave the food,” Jared instructed them. “But you’re free to go, as the queen requested. Go on, take the night off.”
The gaggle of eunuchs bowed as they backed out of the dining room and closed the doors behind them. Keira caught a glimpse of Tibor, standing just outside the doors, peeking in with curiosity and disbelief. Let him wonder! For the first time, it seemed, she’d achieved some measure of independence. Who would have dreamed she’d have done it by marrying, a move she’d been certain would have stolen what little freedom she had.
She waved a hand at the globes of smoked meat in spiced sauce. “I will start with the lakebeast and gravy.”
To her shock, he took her hand and wrapped it around a serving spoon. “Have you ever served yourself a meal?”
“Of course I haven’t.”
“Never once in all your life?”
“No! Have you? Does the prince of Earth wait on himself? Does