Resisting the temptation to drop lower still, and allow them a better target, just so he could demonstrate to them how impotent their efforts were, he caught an updraft and headed back to his own kingdom, Goldone.
It would be a month, at the very least, before they could move their clumsy army within reach of his own--for he had no intention of charging out to meet them like some green youth eager to fling himself upon a sword. He had time in plenty to plan his battle strategy and choose the place where they would meet and in the meanwhile, time to familiarize himself with his prize.
Perhaps he would woo her--just to please her. She seemed clever. No doubt it would not take her long to accept, but he wasn’t certain he would be satisfied with mere acceptance. When he had first come upon her, she had looked at him with frank interest despite her uneasiness. Even with the lust boiling in his own veins, he was certain he hadn’t imagined that.
The sun had dropped behind the mountains when he reached his palace once more. Lighting on the balcony of his own suite, he shifted, examining the stout door that now blocked the entrance critically. Satisfied that was sufficient to cage his little bird, he tried the latch.
He had to put his shoulder against the stout panel to push it open. Displeased by that, he was frowning when he finally stepped inside and turned to examine the hinges. “It scrapes the floor,” he muttered to no one in particular.
Silence greeted that remark and he turned after a moment to study the carpenters, who’d frozen in place at his comment. The master carpenter hurried forward. “I will see to that myself, Sire. I will take it down at once and trim just a bit from the bottom and it will swing more easily.”
Talin, finding he was in a far better mood than when he’d left the palace, merely nodded. “See to it that you do. The objective is to protect my beautiful princess--not suffocate your king. I am accustomed to air--and light.” Dismissing the door, he strode about the suite, surveying the shutters that had been placed over the windows. “It will be as dark in here as the dungeon,” he muttered irritably.
The master carpenter, who’d followed him, looked at the shutters in dismay. “Solly said you had ordered that shutters be placed over the windows. Did I misunderstand?”
“Shutters, yes--but there is no light. I have no view!”
“Bars, perhaps?” the carpenter suggested hesitantly. “They would allow a view and still protect the princess.”
Talin frowned. “I like the idea of feeling caged even less.” He thought it over. “And I do not care to make the princess feel a prisoner if it comes to that.”
The carpenter gaped at him. “Uh--she is not a prisoner?”
Talin glared at him. “Certainly not! I have decided to keep her.”
The carpenter’s expression went perfectly blank. After a stunned moment, he remembered himself and studied his feet before the king could take exception to his obvious confusion over the distinction. “If I may suggest, Sire,” he offered hesitantly, “with a little more time I am sure I could come up with a design for the shutters that will serve the purpose and still allow in light and view. I could do the same with the door, if you wish--cut some clever design into the panels?”
Talin considered it thoughtfully for several moments and finally nodded. “I will allow the princess to think of a design that pleases her. Women like to beautify their nests, do they not? It makes them feel--needed.”
The carpenter frowned, feeling that the king had asked his opinion and wondering if he dared express it honestly. Finally, he merely shrugged. “I think it likely, Sire. She will certainly be more comfortable if she makes the place more like what she is familiar with.”
Talin frowned, but thoughtfully. “An excellent suggestion!” he said finally, smiling broadly.
The carpenter blinked. “It was?” he asked, wondering what he’d suggested.
“I will send men to gather her cherished belongings and bring them here. Then she may arrange things just as she likes and she will be very pleased with my thoughtfulness.”
The carpenter wasn’t convinced. In his experience, once a man had thoroughly infuriated a woman by depriving her of her wishes--which he assumed King Talin had, for, from what he’d heard, the princess had been less than delighted to come--nothing short of bloodshed--his--would appease them, but he wisely kept that opinion to himself. Perhaps, he thought hopefully, she would be mollified at least a little that the king had put himself out to please her and it would stave off the battle of wills that was sure to erupt from the king’s arrogance for a time.
There was going to be hell to pay, though, when King Talin discovered he would have to jump through hoops before she was completely satisfied that he’d been punished enough. He only hoped that he could complete his task and make himself scarce before all hell broke loose.
“We must wait upon that a little, though,” King Talin continued after a few moments. “The man children are preparing for war. It will be difficult to retrieve her belongings before they have abandoned the castle.”
The carpenter’s brows rose. “The man children are warring?” he asked with interest.
“Aye.”
“If I may be so bold as to ask, Sire, with whom?”
“Us,” Talin said dismissively. “Finish up and move along. This will do for now. I must go to the dungeon and see if the princess has cooled her heels long enough to feel more reasonable.”
Stunned as he was by the announcement that they were at war with the kingdom of Anduloosa, the last remark was enough to galvanize the master carpenter. “Cooled her heels?” he muttered when he was certain the king was out of earshot. It was all well and good that King Talin’s temper seemed to have improved, but it wasn’t likely to last once he reached the dungeon and discovered just how mistaken he was in his belief. “More likely she is thinking of ways to murder him in his bed.”
Turning to his crew, he gauged their progress and decided they were close enough. “Make haste and finish. We do not want to be here when the king returns. I assure you, his mood will be foul, most foul!”
Shadow Runners Page 19