All the easy smiles we’d been trading vanished from my face. With the Guardians plotting for war, the idea of Alixe meeting Henri in battle made my blood run cold.
“I’ll consider it,” I said stiffly.
He frowned at my abrupt change in demeanor. “I know you don’t yet know her, but I can vouch for her trustworthiness. Once given, Alixe’s loyalty is unwavering.”
“I already have a military advisor—my father. And I don’t need anyone to vouch for his trustworthiness.”
“The same father who didn’t tell you that you were Descended?”
I froze in place. “Careful, Luther. You may not be loyal to every member of your family, but I am to mine.”
He worked his jaw. The tension between us thickened, borne now of something darker than lust.
I started to pull away. “I should go. I’m meeting with your father.”
“May I escort you?”
He held his arm out, that veneer of indifference once again in place, shielding the true him from my sight. “So you can get through the palace uninterrupted,” he explained.
“Or so you can spy on me.”
He stiffened. “If you prefer privacy—”
“Relax. I make jokes sometimes, too.” I slipped my arm through his and set my hand on the corded muscles of his forearm, his shoulders easing at my touch. “Let’s just hope we don’t run into any more of my angry lovers on the way there.”
As it turned out, it was not my lovers I needed to be concerned with.
Luther proved to be an effective escort. His menacing glare scared off any would-be interruptions, allowing us to pass freely. He even whispered helpful notes about the new faces we passed, distinguishing the Corbois relatives from the important outsiders whose titles or court influence had earned them a place as palace guests. I was begrudgingly coming around to accept that Luther was not only my advisor—in practice, if not yet in title—but a very good one.
Though I had no intention of admitting that to him, of course.
We’d nearly made it to the meeting room undisturbed when a sultry female voice called Luther’s name.
The tendons of his arm clenched beneath my fingers. I shot him a questioning glance, but his cold stare was locked on the two women sauntering our way.
I recognized one as Alixe, but the other I knew was no Corbois, at least not one I’d met before. Hers was a face I was unlikely to forget, as she was one of the most stunning women I’d ever laid eyes on.
“Luther, darling,” she purred in a silky tone. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Like Alixe, she was slender but toned, her fair skin smooth over her lightly muscled arms. Both women wore skintight black fighting leathers fitted with armored plates. Their tops were cut low enough to reveal ample cleavage, a distraction that I suspected could be just as deadly as the many weapons strapped to their bodies.
Everything about her radiated confidence, from the sway of her hips to the smile that played on her pert, rosy lips. She looked like the kind of woman that was as deadly in a bedroom as a battlefield.
Though my wardrobe with now stocked with pants and tunics, I had continued to opt for dresses. The foreignness of the gowns had become oddly inspiring, as if being Queen was a costume, a part I could play.
But next to these two warrior women, the fluffy layers of my pale lilac frock had me feeling more like a frivolous doll.
Alixe’s dark navy hair, or at least the half of it that wasn’t shaved to the scalp, was trimmed into a short bob that ended in a point at her chin. The other woman had golden waves that cascaded unbound all the way down her back. Her eyes were captivating, the piercing cerulean of a cloudless summer sky.
Eyes that were scorching a hole at where my hand rested on Luther’s arm. I pulled it back and shifted my weight away from him, but he immediately took a step toward me to close the space.
Luther nodded in greeting. “Alixe. Iléana.”
“You’re a hard man to find,” the woman—Iléana—replied. “I had hoped you and I could catch up.” She flashed him a loaded smile. “In private.”
This was a first. Other than her initial glare, Iléana hadn’t even acknowledged my presence, though the Crown that blazed above my head made it undeniable that she knew who I was. Or at least what I was.
Alixe took notice as well, her elbow jabbing into her friend’s side as she gave me a low bow. “Your Majesty, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
Iléana’s eyes flitted to me. Her chin dipped almost imperceptibly before she returned her focus to Luther and took a slow step toward him. “You’re looking as handsome as ever, Lu.”
Lu? Note to self—tease Luther mercilessly for that later.
He retreated a step and turned toward me. “Your Majesty, may I introduce Iléana, of House Hanoverre. Iléana, this is Her Royal Majesty Diem Corbois.” He shot her a reproachful look. “Our new Queen.”
“Unchallenged Queen,” she corrected, finally turning fully to me and looking me over. “Diem, was it? I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Iléana,” Alixe hissed in warning.
My temper prickled.
“You may refer to me as Your Majesty,” I said coolly. “I must admit, I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you.”
“You know what they say,” she said with a shrug. “Bad news travels so much faster than good.”
Alixe looked mortified. I refused to give Iléana the satisfaction of looking to Luther for his reaction.
“Iléana is a top commander in the Royal Guard,” Luther explained, then added under his breath, “though perhaps not for much longer.”
“You’re one of the palace guards?” I asked.
She scoffed. “The Royal Guard has far more important tasks to manage than palace duty.”
“Such as?”
She turned to Luther with an incredulous look. “She doesn’t even respect the Royal Guard enough to learn what they do?”
My confidence emptied like a punctured balloon. Rude as she may be, she had a point—that was something a Queen should know.
It was something anyone should know. My lifelong isolation from the Descended had left me ignorant about the realm outside my tiny mortal bubble. A realm I was now supposed to lead.
“Lu, sweetie,” Iléana cooed. She moved closer and ran her hand along his arm. “Can I please have a word?”
He took another step back. “Her Majesty and I have a meeting to attend.”
“It’s fine,” I mumbled with a dismissive wave.
Iléana didn’t wait for his protest. She smirked, then took his hand and pulled him down the corridor.
“My apologies for her behavior.” Alixe sighed when they were out of earshot. “If it’s any consolation, it makes her a very effective commander. The guards are all terrified of her.”
I gave a tight smile, too embarrassed to come up with a witty remark. I glanced over to see Iléana and Luther huddled close in an alcove. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but her fluttering eyelashes and coy smile gave me a pretty good guess.
“You all seem… close,” I said carefully.