Page 61 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2

"Excellent. Then, we should move on to more pressing concerns. Your ladies-in-waiting."

"I thought we had already decided on a list?"

"I have an addition to suggest," he says.

"Oh?"

"Lady Wentworth." He picks up a sheet of paper and holds it out to me.

I take it while considering where I've heard the name before, only for it to click into place. "The assassin?"

Surprise shoots over his face, but it soon changes to amusement. "I wasn't aware you knew that."

"Marcus told me," I respond. "Prince Marcus," I correct myself.

"There's really no need for formal titles when we're alone, Beatrice."

"It's good practice for when I'm not amongst family."

He nods in approval. "So, you are aware of Lady Wentworth's past?"

"Of sorts. Marcus said that she was an assassin for House Dagworth, and that everyone assumed that she was meant to kill Lord Wentworth when the two of them got married. It meant something that she wore a blue and silver dress to the Yuletide Ball." I wish I knew more to tell him, even though he already seems to be impressed by the little I know.

"Lady Wentworth has let it be known that she will no longer be known as Lady Sariah Dagworth, and will only be known as Lady Sariah Wentworth."

I frown and recall the way Linc explained that to me before. "So she's given up her birth House?"

"That is the belief around the court. It isn't common, but it is possible."

"Shouldn't you be telling me that it's not?" Maybe he isn't actually worried about me defecting to House Soveguine, but I would want to try and avoid putting ideas into my head if I were in his position.

He lets out a dry chuckle. "Perhaps I don't have cause to believe you will relinquish your name."

"I don't have any intentions of doing so." Mostly because there is no need. House Rothorne has been good to me, and it would cause a stir for me to reject it by taking Linc's name.

"I am glad to hear it. As far as Lady Wentworth is concerned, she is no longer an assassin."

"And you think her talents would make her a good lady-in-waiting?" I ask, looking down at the sheet of paper with Lord Fallmartin's handwriting upon it. There isn't much on the page, but it at least gives me some information about her. "I suppose she will have knowledge of the court that far surpasses what most people have."

"What makes you say that?" Lord Fallmartin asks. From his expression, I think he's asking because he wants to hear what I have to say rather than not knowing himself. He does that a lot.

"If she's an assassin, and presumably a good one from what Prince Marcus said, then she will know who everyone is and the connections they have with one another. Or at least, that's what I would want to know if I were an assassin."

Lord Fallmartin nods. "Indeed. And I imagine Lady Wentworth will prove useful on that front, but the skills I was referring to are those of her use as a bodyguard."

"Oh." I let it sink in for a moment. "You don't trust House Soveguine's bodyguards?"

"I am sure they are excellent," he says. "But they serve the interests of House Soveguine. Lady Wentworth will be serving the interests of House Rothorne. She will specifically be tasked with keeping you safe, as well as the safety of your husband and any child you might have."

I swallow hard. "You want me to have a child?"

"It would be ideal if you did," he responds.

And what would happen to Linc then? I don't ask the question out loud. I don't want to know the answer, but I don't need to think very hard to know that a child who could be the heir to the throne would make Linc expendable to Lord Fallmartin. Yet another reason not to have one.

"So, do you accept Lady Wentworth as your lady-in-waiting?" Lord Fallmartin asks.

"If I say no, will you hire a secret bodyguard I don't know about?"