“You are right, of course, Rasad,” said the king calmly. “But I would like to hear the account from Luciana herself.” His steady gaze was still fixed on Lucy’s face. “My dear, it would be helpful if you could describe what occurred.”
Lucy’s eyes flicked between Lord Yosef, who was watching her with a sulky expression, and Lady Yasmin, who was glaring at her brother. But before Lucy could say another word, the door once again opened, and a Thoranian royal guard strode down the length of the throne room, bowing low to his king.
“Your Majesty,” he said, when the king indicated he could speak. “His Highness Prince Eamon of Kyona has requested to be included in this audience.”
Lucy barely restrained a groan. The last thing they needed was Eamon getting worked up over what had happened.
“Yes, all right,” said King Abner, sounding like his patience was at last starting to wear thin.
The guard bowed again and withdrew. Lucy looked at Rasad, trying to tell how he felt about the intrusion, but as always he was difficult to read. Personally, she was torn between irritation and dread at the idea of Eamon insisting on being present. Like Jocelyn had said, he was going to be at least as angry about the incident as Cody was, and probably far less rational.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she heard more than one set of firm footsteps approaching down the polished stone floor. She let out a long breath at the sight of not only Eamon, but Cody, Matheus, and Lord Rodanthe hurrying toward the group gathered around the dais.
“Prince Eamon,” King Abner said graciously, inclining his head toward the others as well.
“Thank you for allowing us to intrude, Your Majesty,” said Eamon. “We were all alarmed to hear what had happened.” His eyes flicked to Lucy, and she could see that he genuinely was alarmed.
She gave him a long-suffering look intended to reassure him that she was fine as much as to chastise him for pushing himself in. And it seemed to work, because he relaxed slightly. But from her face, his eyes passed on to Lord Yosef—still flanked by guards—and his expression hardened instantly.
“If you have heard what happened,” King Abner said with a touch of asperity, “you have achieved more than I have.” He turned back to Lucy. “Go on with your tale. Is it true you were attacked?”
“Well, Your Majesty,” started Lucy, then hesitated. She was more reluctant than ever to make an accusation against Lord Yosef now that the audience had grown. She glanced at Cody and Matheus.
Her brother looked even more anxious than Eamon had, his wide eyes passing back and forth between her and the young Thoranian nobleman. But he wasn’t as used to court as she was, and she could see that he wasn’t going to speak up in front of King Abner. He would save his questions and reproaches for later.
Cody didn’t look as though it was the exalted company that was keeping him quiet. It was more likely that he knew no words were needed to convey his exact thoughts. She sent him a quick grimace. As she had predicted, he was clearly angry with her. And his annoyance at her sneaking off without him didn’t appear to be tempered by any anxiety for her well-being, like Eamon’s had been. No doubt Cody had ascertained at a glance that she was unharmed, and therefore felt free to just be irritated.
All of this was clear to her within a few moments as she tried to decide how to describe the incident to the king. Probably best to keep it simple, she decided, swallowing nervously as she turned back toward the throne.
“In a manner of speaking, Your Majesty, yes,” she said, answering the question at last. “I had wandered away from the rest of the group, who were in the jewelry market. Someone—Lord Yosef, I know now—came up behind me and seized me.”
Eamon shifted slightly, but Lucy ignored him, keeping her eyes on King Abner. He was looking from her to Lord Yosef, his eyebrows raised.
“That is certainly unusual behavior,” he said. “I was under the impression there was more of a fight. Did Lord Yosef produce a weapon?”
“Well…yes,” said Lucy, following Lord Yosef’s gaze to see Lady Yasmin, looking ready to murder her brother herself. “But only after I had done so. You see,” she hurried on, feeling the need to justify herself, “he said he was going to force me to come with him, and I didn’t know what he intended to do, so—”
“You’re in the habit of carrying a weapon on you, then?” King Abner pressed.
Lucy forced herself to meet his gaze steadily. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
King Abner nodded, his expression thoughtful. “A sensible practice.”
Lucy exchanged a glance with Jocelyn. The princess was clearly as surprised as her friend at the king’s reaction, or lack of it. She looked toward the only other woman in the room. Lady Yasmin was watching Lucy closely, looking as thoughtful as the king.
“And you clearly succeeded in defending yourself,” King Abner continued, “without inflicting any serious injury on Lord Yosef.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The king nodded. “You did well.”
Unsure how to respond, Lucy shifted her gaze to Rasad at the king’s side. He gave her a small smile, as if to remind her of what he had told her about Thorania. She had to admit she was impressed.
“So,” the king said, his tone businesslike. “You wish to bring a complaint against Lord Yosef.”
Lucy could feel the tension in the room increase, both Lord Yosef and Lady Yasmin holding themselves suddenly more stiffly. Rasad leaned forward ever so slightly, giving her an encouraging nod. The silence stretched out for a painful moment before Lucy spoke.
“No, Your Majesty.”
In her peripheral vision she could see Lady Yasmin’s start of surprise. But her eyes were on Rasad, and she saw the expression that flitted across his face before he managed to smooth out his features again. It wasn’t surprise. It was irritation.
“Luciana,” he said, his voice clearly intended to be soothing. Lucy just found it condescending. “You are perfectly within your rights to pursue your complaint. You will not be criticized for wanting Lord Yosef to answer for his outrageous conduct toward you.”
“I’m not concerned about being criticized,” said Lucy crisply. She looked around to see that everyone in the room was watching her questioningly. “Lord Yosef was wrong to attack me as he did,” she said evenly. “But he didn’t harm me in the end, did he?” Her gaze flicked toward the young nobleman, a hint of defiance in the set of her mouth. “And I think the incident may have arisen from a…misunderstanding, anyway.”
“Is that so?” asked King Abner, looking shrewdly between Lucy and Lord Yosef. He addressed the nobleman. “What was your reason for accosting this young woman?”
“Yes, I think we’d all like to know that,” interjected Lady Yasmin tartly, narrowing her eyes at her brother.
“It was…” Lord Yosef looked even more nervous under his sister’s glare than under the king’s questioning. “Like she said, it was just a misunderstanding.”
“I believe,” said Rasad dryly, “the fact that Luciana was traveling through the city under my escort was reason enough for Lord Yosef. It is not the first time he has tried to do me a mischief, after all.”
“Unless you intend to back that allegation with evidence, Rasad,” started Lady Yasmin scathingly, but Rasad cut her off.
“Of course not,” he said, the slightest of sneers behind his courteous tone. “We’ve agreed to forgive and forget past…disagreements, have we not?”
Lady Yasmin’s eyes were so narrow now that Lucy wondered how she could see out of them. But the noblewoman held her peace.
“Please forgive my interruption, Your Majesty,” interjected Eamon unexpectedly, bowing his head to the Thoranian sovereign. “But I would like more of an explanation as to why this man,” he gestured toward Lord Yosef, “apparently thought it was a good idea to abduct Lucy from a public market.”
“Yes, so would I,” said Cody, frowning at Lord Yosef with more confusion than anger. “Even if he and Rasad are enemies for reaso
ns I don’t understand—or care about—it makes no sense at all. Surely Prince Kincaid and Princess Jocelyn were also exploring the city with Rasad as their guide. Why didn’t he grab them?”
Lord Yosef made a noise in his throat that might have been a scoff. Lucy glared at him, and he met her eye defiantly. “What?” he muttered. “He was buying you jewelry.”
Lucy felt her face go red and forced herself not to meet anyone’s eye. She could see in her peripheral vision that Eamon’s head had whipped around so quickly that he’d probably injured something.
“That’s enough, Yosef,” said Lady Yasmin sharply, and her brother fell silent at once.
“Reason enough, as I said,” Rasad retorted. There was amusement in his voice, and Lucy couldn’t help looking over at him. He gave her the conspiratorial smile that he seemed to reserve just for her, as if inviting her to laugh with him at Lord Yosef’s absurdity. But Lucy was anything but amused.
Rasad returned his gaze to the king. “Your Majesty, I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that Lord Yosef didn’t answer the question. He has given no explanation for his conduct, and the suggestion that it was simply a misunderstanding is—”
The king again raised his hand, and Rasad fell silent as abruptly as Lady Yasmin had done earlier.
“I understand your concern, Rasad,” King Abner said calmly. “But since there was no actual harm done, I think it is up to the young lady whether she wishes to pursue the matter. If she holds to her intention to drop the complaint…” He looked questioningly at Lucy, who nodded.
“I do, Your Majesty.”
King Abner acknowledged her words with a nod of his own. “That is your own affair, and I will not interfere. It seems there is nothing more to be said on the matter, except that I trust Lord Yosef will take more care in future.”
The king’s glance in the nobleman’s direction held enough ice to make that unfortunate young man quake slightly as he executed a bow, but it was nothing to the fury on Rasad’s face at the lenience shown to the offender. He seemed to accept that the audience was over, however, and he made no further protest.
The group moved quickly toward the door, ushered by members of the royal guard. Lucy wondered again what King Abner had been pulled away from in order to attend so promptly to this relatively unimportant matter. If the sovereign resented Rasad’s interruption to his schedule, he gave no sign of it.
The moment the door closed behind them, Lady Yasmin turned to Lucy. “Thank you for your understanding,” she said curtly, her eyes flicking to Rasad, and their expression hardening for the briefest moment. Then she grabbed her brother’s arm in an iron grip, inclining her head to the group at large before hauling him down the corridor.
Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. Whatever she’d said in the formal audience, she was determined to get more of an explanation than Lord Yosef had given so far. But she didn’t want to press for it in front of Rasad any more than she had in front of the king. She would have to figure out how to track down the brother and sister in the near future, without an audience.
“Please believe me that the manners of Lady Yasmin and Lord Yosef are not standard in King Abner’s court,” said Rasad, frowning after the pair.
“There’s some enmity between you, it seems,” said Eamon, his voice as dry as it usually was when speaking to or about the advisor.
Rasad waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing of substance, Your Highness. Their father’s estate is located near my home, in the north of the kingdom. The two properties were part of the same estate once, many generations ago. Their ancestor sold land to mine during hard times, and some of his descendants seem to still resent the loss to their estate. The current lord and his wife—Lady Yasmin and Lord Yosef’s parents—do not seem especially troubled by the matter. They are on their estate at present, as is generally the case. Their offspring, however,” he gave a small sigh, “seem to prefer to spend most of their time here in Thirl.”
Causing mischief was the clear if unspoken conclusion to his explanation.
“And you think this generations-old dispute would be enough to make Lord Yosef target Lucy simply because she was wandering around the city in your company?” Eamon pressed skeptically.
“It is a foolish reason for such a strong dislike, I agree,” Rasad said, shrugging. “But Lord Yosef is a foolish young man.” He met Lucy’s eyes, one eyebrow slightly raised.
She had the sense he was trying to silently remind her of the reason he had previously given her for Lord Yosef’s dislike, and she frowned. She still wasn’t convinced that the nobleman had acted from any prejudice against those with common blood. And the land dispute didn’t really explain it either. What did that have to do with her? Or with the rumors that Lord Yosef had apparently heard about King Giles’s coronation?
“In any event,” Rasad continued, his eyes still on Lucy, “I deeply regret that you had such an unpleasant experience on your first day in my city, Luciana.” He gave a sudden smile. “But I think you’ve made an excellent impression on King Abner, for what it’s worth. He was right when he said that you did very well to defend yourself so successfully.” His eyes flicked to the rest of the group, so quickly it was barely perceptible. “Your talents will earn you nothing but respect here.”
“Thank you,” said Lucy shortly. She made no effort to prolong the conversation as Rasad took his leave of the group, and in a few moments the travelers were mercifully alone.
Chapter Twenty
For a moment they stood in silence, no one eager to initiate conversation while standing in a thoroughfare. In unspoken agreement, they began to walk, making their way back to their own wing of the palace.
They all congregated outside Jocelyn and Kincaid’s door, and the Valorian couple ushered the group inside without ceremony. The guards, after a quick search of the suite, returned to their positions in the corridor. Lord Rodanthe hovered outside for a moment, apparently wishing to discuss the matter with the guards, but the rest of them filed inside.
As soon as the door to Kincaid and Jocelyn’s receiving room closed, the whole group turned to Lucy, matching expressions of expectation on every face.
“Well,” she said after a prolonged silence. “That was eventful. I think I’ll go to my room and…rest.”
“Is that what you think?” Cody’s voice was flat. “Because I think you’re going to stay right here and explain what in the kingdom is going on.”
“Agreed,” cut in Matheus, frowning at his sister.
“Well I can’t do that,” said Lucy tartly, glaring at both of them. “Because I haven’t got the faintest idea. All I know is that I was walking through the market, minding my own business, and some Thoranian idiot came up behind me and tried to drag me down an alley.”
“I can still hardly believe it,” Jocelyn cut in, shaking her head. “I’d only left you alone for a couple of minutes.”
“You shouldn’t have left her alone at all,” said Eamon, frowning at his sister, but Lucy held up a hand, forestalling any further argument.
“Don’t even start, Eamon.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Joss isn’t responsible for me. And I can look after myself, as it turns out.”
“Yes,” agreed Eamon, his expression softening slightly as he looked at her. “I know you can. You’re a better fighter than half the noblemen our age in Kynton. I’ve trained with you enough times to know you wouldn’t need help to take care of one lone fool like that Lord Yosef.”
He looked toward the closed door, as if the nobleman and his sister were hiding in the corridor, and his frown returned. “But you shouldn’t have had to defend yourself while strolling through a market. And what if there had been more than one attacker?” He shook his head. “I just don’t like not knowing what we’re dealing with. The whole thing makes as little sense as my own guard turning on King Giles.”
Lucy was silent, distracted from the question at hand by Eamon’s unexpectedly casual reference to her fighting skills. I
t was true that they had trained together a great deal, but that had been when she was younger, before…well, before she had started trying to show a different side to the court, and to the prince. She had thought she was successful in keeping that part of herself hidden once people started to see her as a young woman instead of a girl. But apparently Eamon had not only remembered, but hadn’t even realized she was trying to make people forget. She wasn’t sure what threw her more—the fact that he still thought of her as a fighter, or the fact that it didn’t seem to bother him.
Lord Rodanthe slipped inside the room as she thought it over, his brow furrowed as he moved to stand beside Eamon. Lucy wondered what account the Valorian guards had given him.
“Do you really think there’s a connection between the two attacks?” Cody asked, frowning thoughtfully at the Kyonan prince. “Do you think the same people might be behind it? What would be the link? Lucy’s Balenan blood?”
Eamon shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. We just don’t have enough information.” He turned to Lucy, pulling her out of her abstraction. “What do you think, Lucy? You’re the only one of us who was there for both incidents.”
Lucy hesitated before answering. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to her to put the different attacks together if it wasn’t for Lord Yosef’s comment about the Balenan king. But his words had raised questions, ones she was determined to see answered.
“I don’t know if they’re connected,” she said at last. “But I don’t think Lord Yosef, or whoever he’s working with, was behind the attack in Balenol.” Her tone turned dry. “And I don’t think he was after me because Rasad’s ancestor swindled land from his ancestor.”
“Nor do I,” interjected Lord Rodanthe grimly.
“No, that sounded like an excuse to me,” agreed Kincaid, throwing himself onto a settle. His casual posture reminded Lucy that they were intruding on his rooms.
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