Tia and Stahn nearly collided with the squad leader as they raced around a corner. “What happened?” Stahn said, his voice rushed.
Mom looked back at Kambry. “Come with us. Your sister has things well in hand.” She took his arm and nodded at Tia. “We’ll explain as we head back to our rooms.”
Stahn looked ready to argue for staying behind, but Mom tugged on his arm, and Tia pushed him along.
Her mother’s last words echoed in Kambry’s head. She needed to discuss safety with Russal. There had to be something they could do.
“I’ll come by and say goodnight once we have things settled down.” She thought of the Laurents and Russal. She needed to find them and assure herself they were unharmed. “Please head out now.” She nodded at Guard Justinia, who set her squad around Kambry’s family. She tipped her head at them, and Dad tightened his grip on Mom’s hand. They left looking less calm than Mom sounded, both looking back at Kambry as if they wanted their last view of her to be one showing she was still safe from attack. She watched them turn a corner before facing Cole, Lessa, and the third guard she’d didn’t know personally and didn’t even recognize. He must be one of the hidden guards. She shook her head at the thought there was an entire regiment of them she probably didn’t know existed. Well, she did now, just not by face or figure.
“So, assuming the three that followed Russal were part of his contingent of guards, I still have fifteen wedged in various places close by.” She eyed the hedges again and looked overhead at the clear night sky. Could there be small pockets of hedged-in space where guards could stand sentry out of sight? That would make sense. “Let’s find our king.”
Cole’s face took on a constipated grimace when she stepped toward the exit from the tiny courtyard. She rolled her eyes. “If you’ll lead, Cole. Let me know when I can assist with forming a quicker route through the hedgerows. Mr. Konnelby, I’ll make any repairs you need in the morning.”
“Oh, adjust to your heart’s content. I love my work.” He hefted his shovel.
She followed Cole, his sword at the ready. Konnelby followed her, Lessa and the third guard aft. She glanced over her shoulder. “How is it you have a shovel? Were you working this evening on the maze?”
“I was guiding guests in the garden and found this overlooked along a pathway. I planned to put it away later. Then I heard do Runiya’s outcry and raced to her aid. A shovel makes a fine weapon in experienced hands.” His saucy grin made her smile. He’d never seemed to her to be an aggressive sort, his focus directed entirely on the royal gardens, but here he was swinging a shovel to protect her mom.
She needed to find Russal. Kavin, show me the king. The image overlaid her view ahead, and she slowed her steps. Russal was leading Lord Laurents to a stone bench, Lady Laurents’ face pale as she stumbled behind them. Take me to them.
She took three steps, certain she was being directed by pressure at her back, but she stopped in her tracks. Kavin, I need to see everyone in the maze.
Immediately disoriented, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She was floating above the maze, looking down. There were fewer people along the paths. Most it appeared had exited the maze and now wandered in scattered, loitering groups on the walks and seating areas around the labyrinth. Guards scouted the maze, others distributed among the guests, sending them on their way back into the castle. None of the visitors were hooded, but she supposed the man who attacked her parents could have disposed of the cloak.
Kambry searched the nooks and crannies of the maze, watching for Covey or anyone else suspicious. She located her own group and not far, just two lanes over, Russal and the Laurents. Burty and Drew were nearby, directing squads.
“Cole, take the next right, then left and left again,” she said. “That should get us to Russal quickest.”
In moments, they were entering the crowded space, and Kambry was dodging guards to get to Russal’s side. Those that saw her enter moved aside quickly, while others turned and stepped away as she drew close.
“Russal, is everyone okay?”
Lord Laurents sat on a bench, Lady Laurents beside him, whispering to him. One thin hand patted him rhythmically, Lady Laurents’ back straight. Lord Laurents lay his fingers on her cheekbone in a caress. Russal backed away and turned to Kambry.
His eyebrows lowered over his eyes. “Didn’t I ask you to stay in the central courtyard?”
“I believe you ordered me to stay,” she said and crossed her arms. “See how well that worked.”
“Have you been chasing me down the entire time and keeping your guards busy keeping up?”
“I had to find my parents, who were also attacked. But Konnelby swung his trusty shovel and took care of their assailant with my father’s help before we arrived. The man got away before Cole could catch him.” Oh. Kambry closed her eyes. She should have used her ability to alter the plants to stop their assailant. She really needed to make using her powers over Kavin an instinctive response.
Russal’s hand grasped hers. “Kambry, are you okay?”
“Why didn’t I think to surround him in hedgerows and slow him down for Cole? We lost our chance to find out who else is helping Covey.”
His hands rubbed her arms, and he drew her close. “I’m just as much to blame. I know better, and still I didn’t call on Kavin. Of course, this is the first day in months I’ve had a ring to augment my control. What do you say tomorrow you and I have a practice session of our own?”
Kambry tipped her head as she looked up at him.
Russal laughed. “I’m talking about heading deep into the garden and practicing magic control.” He looked around them surreptitiously and leaned close, whispering, “Tonight, we practice something else.”
She swatted him in the arm, and trod past him. She wasn’t ready to think about tonight. “Lord and Lady Laurents, are you both okay?”
Lady Laurents straightened up and pulled away from Lord Laurents. “Quite fine.” She grasped her cane midway down its length, and for a moment appeared to be about to set it down on its end and stand. She stopped, peered at it, and set it behind her to lean on the bench out of sight.
Kambry shifted her attention to Lord Laurents. “And how are you, Lord Chamberlain?” Had the top of the cane been missing its handle? She sat down on the other side of the lord and carefully looked about the area. There it was. A thin blade with a silver handle lay just along the base of the hedge to their right.
So Lady Laurents had a sword hidden in her cane. Was it the lord or the lady who struck at their assailant? She wouldn’t put it past Lady Laurents to know how to handle a sword.
Lord Laurents gave her a weak smile. “I’m a bit winded. Russal didn’t inform me I’d have to protect his garden and arrange parties within it.”
“An oversight, sir. He hasn’t had a lord chamberlain that long.”
“Perhaps a younger man would have been a better choice.” He raised his chin as if to negate his statement.
Russal shook his head. “One sword between us, and you were the one swinging it.” He leaned down and picked up the blade and handed it to Lord Laurents. “I’m surprised you thought to come armed.”
“Well, I had my lady with me. I must be prepared to protect the love of my life, you know.”
Surely, Russal knew that was not a proper sword. The grip was bent horizontal, as was proper for a cane, and bore no protective cross guard for the hand unless one thought that little decorative curlicue that rose above the flat section for the palm could double as one.
She kept her face placid as she watched the two pretend the sword belonged to the lord.
Russal offered his arm to Lady Laurents. “Let’s get you both to your chambers for the night. I’ve swords aplenty to protect you both.” He waved a casual hand at his guards as if any of them could lend him a weapon in an instant should he need it. Leaning down to take up her cane, he said, “I believe your cane has suffered some damage. Here, let’s give that to the lord chamberlain to take care
of.”
Kambry gave Lessa a flat look. Lessa’s return gaze revealed no curiosity. Kambry rose and stood beside Laurents. “I think we should watch those two,” she said, giving him a wink.
“It has been a constant issue for me, fighting off these young rogues,” he said, a tired grin on his face. “She’s an attractive woman, my Joulette.”
“I have the same problem with Russal. Just too enticing for his own good.”
He patted her hand. “You and I will have to join forces and watch over our special ones, eh?”
She nodded and eyed Russal chatting amiably to Lady Laurents, who looked less than her usual commanding self. She doubted she even heard what Russal was saying. “I didn’t see you carrying a sword when we came into the garden.”
“I’m a tricky fellow, Your Majesty. One moment I’m unarmed, and the next...” Lord Laurents drew the sword out from under his arm, nearly losing the cane, and thrashed the slender blade in the air ahead of them. He tucked it under his arm again. “My Joulette is no cowering carnation either. She smacked our attacker twice in the ear.”
“Goodness.” Kambry lay a dramatic hand on her cheek. “Shovels, canes and magically hidden swords. I need to come better prepared to the gardens.”
They passed through the gate into the castle courtyard and turned to the main doors. Guards stood on both sides at attention. A page ran forward and opened the doors for Lady Laurents and Russal. Kambry and Lord Laurents followed.
“Oh, just don’t go anywhere without Russal, and you’ll be fine. Between the two of you, you’ll be able to take on any trouble that comes your way.”
In the wide foyer, Russal organized a pair of guards to take the Laurents on to their chambers.
Lord Laurents bent over Kambry’s hand, giving her a graceful bow, and wished her goodnight. He folded his hands behind his back, clicked his heels and nodded at Russal before taking his lady’s arm. Lady Laurents remained silent, and Kambry wondered if she had spoken at all to Russal as they had walked.
“Come, Kambry.” Russal drew her under his arm. “I’d like you safely tucked away in our quarters as well.”
She frowned but allowed him to direct her toward the right-hand hall that ran along the audience chamber. She couldn't believe she had passed this way just hours before on her way to being officially crowned queen.
“Russal, don’t you think it odd that they attacked my parents and the Laurents tonight?”
“Nearly as odd that neither one was harmed,” he said, a thoughtful tone to his voice. “We seemed to arrive in the nick of time.”
Kambry chewed on her lip. He was right. She had thought that whoever had arranged the attacks had intended them to frighten Russal and Kambry by having people important to them endangered, but when one looked at it from the angle of actual danger, it was curious. One man with a shovel and another with a slender blade hidden in a cane had fended off two attackers. So what was the purpose of the attacks if not to cause injury?
The guards fanned out around them as they continued along the corridor. Both kept silent as they considered what Covey’s intentions had been.
“They accomplished separating us,” Kambry blurted out. “You were quick to run to the Laurents to protect them. I stopped my pursuit of you when I heard my parents cry out. Was it just to put us in separate parts of the garden, or was there an additional gain? I was pressing aside bushes with a thought.”
“They forced us both to manipulate the garden with our control of Kavin magic,” Russal said, his voice low.
Could that have been the goal? They stopped outside the door to their chambers, the guards taking up stations along the splendid foyer before the polished door.
She looked at Russal to find him just as thoughtful, his brows knitted together over his determined gaze. His fingers absentmindedly brushed over the top of her hand.
Keeping her own voice in a whisper she thought wouldn’t carry to the ears of the guards, she said, “What we did shoving the foliage aside in the garden was no more outrageous to them than me rising from the ground beneath the forest.”
Russal’s eyes focused on hers, worry lining them. “Except we did it in the garden, not within the surrounding Kavin Wood trees.”
“Where we show our control makes a difference then. Was that their goal: to flush out the level of our control without Kavin Wood surrounding us?” Kambry asked.
Russal nodded at the sentry waiting by the door. “Perhaps. Or maybe to see if another ring can read our actions.”
The wearer of the queen’s ring being close by sent a chill up Kambry’s spine.
The guard opened the door, revealing two other guards. They stood on either side of the doorway in the well-lit front room.
Kambry assumed patience. They would have to wait to resume their conversation until they had more privacy.
“There’s still much you haven’t seen of our chambers,” Russal said as if they were having an ordinary conversation. “I’ll take you on a tour in the morning when we return from lunch with the Condoris.” Several lamps were lit in the spacious public area of their residence. As Russal took one in hand, he tipped his head at the guards, signaling them to leave.
“Wait,” she said, pulling her hand back. “I promised to drop by my parents’ chambers to assure them we were all safe.”
Russal pointed at a guard. “Give the do Kon and so Runiya a message from the queen. We are safe in our chambers and will see them tomorrow.”
Kambry stiffened. Did he just decide what she would tell her parents and whether she would visit them before retiring?
The guards glided out the door on nimble feet. No wonder they could keep close to her without her knowing. The guard Russal had directed headed left in the parting view of the door as it clicked shut.
“Russal.”
“Come, let’s have some time alone.”
His gentle gaze and words softened her annoyance. They would discuss things in the morning.
Russal guided her around the corner to the private parlor. She had only gotten a glance of the room earlier. Too much had occupied her attention. It was more casual than the other space. One felt she could lounge on the furniture without worrying about not looking queenly. She recalled the lounge couch in the main room had seemed a quaint spot to recline, but this room gave that feeling throughout rather than in just one tiny space.
She wondered if it was a deliberate casualness. A guest might arrive to find the king resting on the lounge and think he was inviting him into a private area. But this room really was about comfort and intimate living.
The narrow staircase to their rooms above was immediately to the left, and Russal guided her toward it. “Kambry, love.”
The deep vibration in his voice sent warmth up her spine. This was their home. There had been plenty of references to her being queen, and the formal ceremony that afternoon had made that official, but here she was alone with the king of Kavin in chambers she could now think of as her own. This wasn’t his comfortable space; it was theirs. The stairs he drew her to lead to their bedroom.
“Russal, shouldn’t we discuss the events in the garden further?”
He turned her about, facing him. With his one hand on her hip, the other held the glass enclosed lamp out behind her. He teased her into backing up. The steps of the stairway pressed against the heels of her shoes.
“Am I to climb the stairs backwards?” She slid her hands around his neck.
“Yes.” He squatted slightly, grasping her gown just below her knees. He rose, and the skirt of her dress came up as well, leaving her legs exposed well above her calves. “I won’t let you trip. Now, up we go.”
He stepped forward, and she backed up on to the first step. He nuzzled her neck.
“I enjoy when you look me in the eye,” he whispered against her skin. “Take another step.”
His warm lips on her neck put a hitch in her breath. “You can’t possibly see my eyes.”
“Hmm.”
&nbs
p; She reached up with her left foot, feeling for the riser, using her hands around his neck for support. “Russal, I’m going to trip. This is no way to carry on an important conversation.”
“I won’t let you fall.” He drew back to look at her. “Trust me?”
“Completely.”
“Up another step.”
“But our discussion.”
“Can wait. Everyone is safe in their chambers.” Russal pressed his lips to hers, his hand encouraging her to back up another step.
She froze with one foot on the step behind her and the other on tiptoe on the riser below. Her skin tingled, the sound of her dress and their combined breath filling what control she had of her senses.
Russal pulled his mouth from hers. “Wait a moment,” he said breathlessly. “I have to put this lamp down before I set us both on fire.”
Via the lamp or his kisses? She wasn’t sure which would raise the first flame. Now what were they talking about? It was important.
His right hand now free, he pressed her to the left, embracing her with both arms. Her dress grew tight around her thighs. He must have kept his grip on the fabric.
“We need to stay to this side of the stairwell until we pass the lamp. Take another step, my love.”
“How many remain?”
“Just enough, I think.”
“Enough for what?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he kissed her until she wasn’t sure she could summon the desire to force a foot to rise to the next step behind her.
When he pulled away, she said, “I think we have too many steps.”
His chuckle tickled her check. He bent his knees and hugged her hips. Rising, he carried her up the stairs, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, a laugh bubbling out of her mouth.
His foot hit a step hard, and he dipped her backward as they both tumbled slowly to the stairs behind.
“Russal!”
“I’ve got you.”
He shifted Kambry to the right, and she gripped him tighter as he lowered her to the stairs. Rather than pressing her below him, they both lay sideways. He couldn’t be comfortable. She wasn’t with the steps digging into her thigh, hip and shoulder. He rolled her on top of him.
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