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“Well,” she finally answered. Her head tilted to the side and those enchanting eyes slid away slyly.

“I paid him a little visit regarding Trisne. And I asked about that Forol Hent man from the masquerade.” A dark look passed over her face then, narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brows.

“Turns out, Jinon doesn’t know a Forol Hent at all.

And he was adamant he doesn’t know who could have killed Trisne, despite her life being threatened via letters for several moonphases.

Since she was a possible candidate the council offered as your wife, I may have led him to believe I was looking into her death at your request.”

Trying to keep the satisfaction off my face took all my concentration. Taking a sip of the drink gave me just enough time to compose myself. “You are a busy woman. Did you get what you were looking for, with your visit?"

"Not as much as I hoped. All my questions just lead to more questions, it seems."

"Why is her death so important to you?" The question rolled thoughtlessly from my mouth. As soon as I spoke the words I regretted it, watching Haron's scowl darken even more as she continued to stare into her goldtine. "Was Trisne… important to you?"

I remembered the woman Haron spoke to with familiarity at the tavern, the brown-haired beauty she teased so easily.

It was undeniable she was charming to both men and women, but the thought of her having a relationship with Trisne did something painful to my chest. It seemed so easy for her to connect with people.

As soon as she opened her mouth, people stopped to listen.

I knew it was stupid to be jealous of a dead woman, one that was brutally murdered at that, but the question rattled in my head so loud I could barely hear over the noise.

"Trisne was…" Her voice trailed off, and Haron heaved a weary sigh and leaned back to rest her head against the chair to stare at the ceiling.

My eyes locked on the graceful column of her throat as she swallowed before continuing.

"Trisne reminded me of someone I loved very deeply.

Someone who was also brutally murdered for petty reasons. "

I waited, silently begging for more scraps Haron deemed to toss out about herself. She probably didn't realize how starved I was for any little bit of information. The hunger to know every part of her gnawed at my ribs. “Will you tell me about her, eventually?”

Haron knew I wasn't talking about Trisne. “Perhaps. I would not keep the truth from you if I could help it. There are just some things about me I… cannot share. Things you wouldn't understand.”

That was the truth. And I could feel the tension that had been building in my shoulders release all at once, like I had released a breath held too long.

But something else reared its ugly head in the back of my mind.

A feeling of possession that bordered on blind rage, threatening to take control of all rational thought and find a way to lock her in my chambers.

Need to trap her, need to bind her. Pin her down. The beast rode me hard. He had a very different idea of what it was to bind Haron to us, one that was much less humane than a contract we agreed on.

"Speaking of secrets," I winced at the horrible transition to a topic that had haunted my conscience for days.

"I hope that, after our night together, you would be open with me regarding any…

consequences?" Inwardly I was already kicking myself from the sheer awkwardness and stilted speech.

Haron wasn't making it any easier. I knew damn well she knew what I meant, but nonetheless a little smirk pulled at her lips as her head tilted upright to look me over.

"Pray tell, what do you mean, Your Highness?"

She was going to make me spell it out for her. Damn this woman.

I took a steadying breath and plunged right in. "I just wanted to offer up my support in case our coupling ended… with a child."

She blinked. I blinked back. A knot of some rather painful and unpleasant anxiety caught in my throat and I struggled to swallow it down.

I didn't have much experience to go off of in instances like this, since my butler usually escorted women from my room come morning, and he dealt with all the finer details of providing contraception and contact information to the royal healer.

What I hadn't expected was a raucous laughter to explode from Haron's lips, one so strong it rocked her back and sent her howling at the ceiling.

She laughed so hard it sloshed the goldtine over the edge of her glass and sent small drips of it flying onto the chair's armrest. With her free hand she slapped her leg and stomped her heavy boot on the carpet.

And I still stood there, in the middle of this fucking study, watching this madwoman fall apart over something I agonized talking about.

Finally, after what felt like an age, Haron's mirth calmed to a more controllable level and she leaned forward, wiping tears from her eyes as she looked over at my stiff form.

"Oh, little princeling," she sighed, sounding oddly happy.

"If I could describe the horrified look on your face as you spoke of babies, it wouldn't…

" She broke into another round of chuckling.

"Oh, gods, I needed that! I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard! "

My jaw clenched so tightly I was sure a molar had cracked. "I'm glad you are entertained at my expense," I answered stiffly. While I was willing to give anything to wipe that sad look from her face as she spoke of Trisne, I hadn't anticipated offering up my own pride as tribute.

Haron chortled, yet again. She leaned an elbow on the other armrest and propped her chin in it, looking at me with some odd mixture of joy and sympathy.

"I'm sure that was very hard for you," she said.

"I'm very proud you were able to broach a subject like that yourself, instead of tossing me to the healer to deal with. "

I was building myself up to a scathing response, hoping to gain some sliver of dignity back, when she continued.

"No need to worry about an unintentional heir, little princeling.

Or any communicable diseases, although that didn't seem quite as terrifying to you as a child.

" Haron shook her head and chuffed yet another laugh from her nose, bringing her glass up to take another small sip.

"Not that it would be your business either way, but due to circumstances I brought on myself, I am unable to have children. "

"What circumstances?" I found myself asking.

And then I was kicking myself even harder for letting my curiosity take over.

But despite how much I wanted to take the question back, I held her gaze even as it narrowed on me.

For some reason the answer meant more to me than whatever propriety I had left.

"As I said, it's not your business."

I couldn’t keep the slight rumble of the beast’s growl from my voice this time. I knew before I even spoke the words tossing around in my head that I would regret saying them. “I thought we had enough of a relationship to not keep so many secrets?”

“A relationship?” Haron sipped her drink again, then set the glass aside and leaned back to prop up her chin again.

Either she didn’t realize how close she was to being tackled onto the floor in an act of submission, or she didn’t care.

I could feel the skin beneath the stiff tunic I wore begin heating uncomfortably.

Soon, heat would be pouring off me in waves as the beast clawed closer to taking control.

“There is a working relationship between us. We have hardly known each other for a handful of days! Who do you think you are, to feel entitled to own every part of me?”

The teasing lilt to her husky voice heated my blood to boiling.

I could feel my cock harden in a rush and make my already tight breeches even more unbearable.

It took a great effort to walk over to the chair adjacent hers, to slowly lower myself into it and cross my legs in an attempt to keep the obvious sign of lust from her observant eyes.

Between her mocking me just a few moments earlier and this indignant air she had now, all I wanted to do was toss her back in my bed and show who really held the upper hand in our relationship, working or otherwise.

A small, rational part of my brain knew how ludicrous and unbecoming of royalty that would be.

Unfortunately, that part was currently being gnawed on by the more beastly instincts in this moment.

“I hope,” I had to clear my throat to keep the growl building in my chest from coming out. “I would like to think our relationship extends beyond what we can give each other. And certainly one that doesn’t need to be inked on paper.”

“Quite bold of you, to be so entitled to think I owe you an explanation for anything beyond our contract,” she answered. “How is the coronation planning going? And your wedding?”

If her intent was to pour a bucket of ice water on me, she certainly did with that topic switch.

But that knowing smirk stayed firmly on her lips and those eyes that saw everything pinned me in place, like a rabbit caught in the deadly claws of a trebegnon, and I was staring up at her dripping fangs before the final bite.

How our roles reversed so quickly sent me reeling back, a high-pitched whine beyond what she could hear squeaking from my throat.

Behar, who had trotted off to the window where his bed laid beneath, lifted his head in concern.