Page 45 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2

"That won't last forever."

"No, it won't," he agrees. "So we should make the most of it while we can."

"I think it would be better for us to openly accept Lord Fallmartin as our advisor," I say. "But to continue getting our information from other sources as well."

Linc nods. "Then that's what we'll do. Though I can't say I have much of a spy network."

"Neither do I. But Lady Emilia is good at listening to people," I say. "She'll be one of my ladies-in-waiting."

"Interesting. I hadn't considered that you might already have a spy."

"I wouldn't go that far. More someone who tells me useful things," I respond.

"You're going to be ruling the court in a hundred years," Linc jokes.

I stumble over my steps and he has to catch me.

"Bea?"

"Sorry, it's just that Lord Fallmartin said something similar to me," I admit.

Linc spins me under his arm and lets me come back into hold with ease. "About you running the court?"

"He said that it was a shame you weren't your father's heir because I had the makings of a queen, and that I had the potential to amass a lot of power within a few hundred years."

"Should we be worried about what he'll do to Marcus?"

"He said he wouldn't have him killed," I say. "But there was an implied yet."

Linc nods. "I suppose that's to be expected."

"Is that not a bad thing?"

"I guess I expected it. At least we know he's thinking about it, rather than having to guess."

"Marcus..."

"Knows how to take care of himself," Linc reminds me. "He has decades more experience of living at court than we do," Linc points out.

I lean back along with the steps of the dance, using the moment to think about what he's saying. I'm not sure it's very reassuring to me.

"I don't want anything to happen to Marcus because of me," I admit as we return to the dance.

"It won't," Linc promises. "My brother's position is a dangerous one for him to inhabit for a lot more reasons than Lord Fallmartin. I actually imagine that in the short term, it'll be safer for Marcus."

"You've lost me there."

The dance comes to an end and we step away from one another. I dip into a curtsy while Linc bows, then offers me his arm.

I slip mine through it and we had over to get some refreshments.

"Lord Fallmartin isn't going to want us anywhere near power until he's convinced he can use us for his own gain," Linc says. "So while we're still new to court and don't have any allies, I doubt he's going to do anything. Lord Fallmartin will want us to be in the strongest position possible before he even considers doing anything to Marcus."

"That's more or less what he said." I sigh. "I just wish we didn't have to worry about this."

"We're always going to have to," he points out.

"I know. I can't help but think about what Lord Fallmartin would do if we had a child." I look around me to make sure that none of the other ball goers are paying us any attention, but between the music and the chatter, I doubt any of them can hear us. "Surely he'd view you as expendable then?"