Page 70

He frowned. “I have. She hasn’t been very…receptive.”

“You should try talking to her more. It’s going to take more than one or two conversations.”

His frown deepened. “I’ve been busy—”

“Definitely don’t tell her that.”

Irritation sparked in his eyes. “Like you haven’t sat through the same fucking meetings. If I have to watch Artur of Lar Guna stroke himself to the idea of invading Sithistra for even one more minute, I’ll put the fat fuck on a horse and catapult him over the Rift myself.”

“Gods, that’s an image.”

“You smelled like her,” Laurent said.

I jerked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.

“At the camp in Wesyfedd,” he added, his silver gaze steady. “I smelled Given on you.”

We stared at each other. After a second, I stood and put the washbasin on the floor. I wrung out the cloth and draped it over the side, and then I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled a corner of the sheet over my lap.

Laurent leaned against the headboard. Completely at ease in his nudity, he drew a knee up and slung a forearm over it, a ring with the night-blooming rose of Nor Doru on his little finger.

I looked away as I searched for the right words. “I love her,” I said finally. Then I frowned. “No, it’s more than that. I am…devoted to her. She would have died for me in Eldenvalla.” I rubbed a hand over my mouth and jaw, letting a self-deprecating laugh slip around my palm. “She’s stronger than I am, and it’s not even close. I gave up in Vai Seren. She never did, not even when Midian violated her mind and body. She walked willingly into the jaws of death and plucked me from the belly of the beast. I believe she would have carried me from that cursed, unholy place across her shoulders if she’d had to.” I looked at the male I loved with all my wounded but healing heart. “I love her, Laurent, and I will protect her with my life. Even from you.”

My words hung in the air. Laurent let them, his expression unreadable as we both waited for his response.

And then I surprised myself by gesturing to his ring. “The night-blooming rose of Nor Doru grows on a double vine. The damn things twist together so tightly, they’re almost impossible to separate. Did you know that?”

He smiled.

“Gardeners hate them because the roses won’t thrive unless you loosen up those tangles. It’s hard work, and the thorns make it painful, but if you want night-blooming roses in your garden, you have to make room between the vines. Otherwise, they won’t grow. But if you’re patient and willing to put in the work, they bloom forever.”

Laurent’s lips parted. He slid off the bed and came to me, moving between my thighs and stroking his good hand through my hair. “You like to pretend you’re nothing but a blunt sword, but you have never fooled me, General.”

I leaned forward and kissed his hipbone. “And perhaps you’re not quite the irreverent libertine you’d have everyone believe.”

He said nothing, but his eyes smiled as he continued stroking my hair.

“Go talk to your wife, Laurent. Give her a reason to fall in love with you.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

GIVEN

“I wish you wouldn’t stand out here.”

I turned as Laurent stepped onto my balcony. He moved to the railing beside me and gazed out over snow-covered Lar Katerin, which was just beginning to go to sleep for the night.

“I can see why you like it, though,” he said, his breath forming a small cloud. “The city is beautiful at this height.”

I looked at the streets and the neat rows of shops I’d admired my first day in Nor Doru. The air was chilly, and smoke curled from miniature chimneys. “The guards you posted at my door made no mention of staying off the balcony, Your Grace.”

He turned to me, his gloved hand on the railing. “You’re free to go wherever you wish, Given. The guards are for protection, not punishment.” He lifted his hand, which smoked in the frozen night air. “If Rolund can reach my bedchamber, we have to assume he can reach you. Even so, you’re not a prisoner.”

A sigh built in my throat. “I know.”

“Do you?” he pressed.

I looked at him—and swallowed some of the pride I’d been clinging to since I returned to Lar Katerin. “Yes. And I know the guards are necessary.” I let a smile touch my lips. “But not even Sithistran arrows can reach this high. I think I’m safe on the balcony.”