So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)

“Her Royal Highness, Princess Brigitta,” a footman announced at the door.

Her brother strode toward her, and she sank into a deep curtsy.

“Not bad,” he murmured as he took her hand. “I’ll introduce you to the men who will be competing for you.”

As he led her down the room, the courtiers parted to allow them a wide path through. They bowed and curtsied as Gunther and Brigitta passed by.

“Shouldn’t I meet these people?” she whispered.

“Don’t bother.” He gave them a disdainful look. “They’ll just betray you someday, and then you would feel a little miffed about having to execute them when you thought they were friends. So you see, when I keep you isolated, it’s for your own good.”

“Thank you, brother dearest—Your Majesty.”

He chuckled, then stopped in front of three men, who doffed their hats as they bowed. “Here they are.”

Brigitta curtsied.

Gunther motioned to the one on the right. “You’ve met Captain Mador before. He’ll be competing as number One.”

The captain gave her his usual sneer. “A pleasure to see you again.”

Brigitta forced a smile. “Thank you.”

“This is General Tarvis.” Gunther gestured toward the man in the middle. “He’s the commander of the royal army and will be competing as number Two.”

“But I’ll finish as number One,” the general added with a smile.

Mador snorted. “Over my dead body.”

“Exactly.” General Tarvis gave him a wry look.

“And number Three,” Gunther continued. “Lord Admiral Aevar, commander of the royal navy.”

“Delighted to meet you, Your Highness.” The admiral bowed his head. “I regret that my men were unable to stop that bastard Rupert from kidnapping you. I assure you, the men were duly punished.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Brigitta replied. “And thank the Light that horrid pirate was captured when he attempted to take the ransom money in Eberon.”

“Ah, that reminds me,” Gunther said. “You’ll be happy to hear the latest news. Rupert is dead.”

Her heart lurched, but she quickly recovered and pasted on a big smile. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Did they execute him?”

Gunther shook his head. “According to the report, he was killed while attempting an escape. But since he comes from Tourin, I think I should have my ambassador demand that the body be returned to me. I won’t believe the bastard is dead until I see it.”

“A wise decision, Your Majesty,” Mador said.

Gunther nodded. “I’ll tell Argus to send an envoy. You three should get better acquainted with my sister.”

As Gunther walked away, Brigitta scanned the crowd again. No Rupert in sight.

“Are you looking forward to the competition, Your Highness?” the lord admiral asked.

“Oh, yes,” she replied. “Are the other contestants attending the feast tonight?”

Captain Mador waved a dismissive hand. “They’ll be here soon. There’s no point in you getting to know them.”

“True,” the general agreed. “They’re just going to die.”

“I think we should lay bets on which one goes first,” Mador said.

General Tarvis scoffed. “Too easy. It’ll be whoever has the least experience at riding a horse.” He glanced at Brigitta. “Tomorrow’s contest will be a horse race.”

Mador sneered at the lord admiral. “You might be the one to lose. I doubt you’ve ridden any horses all those years you were at sea.”

A spurt of alarm shot through Brigitta. Rupert had been at sea almost half of his life. Would he be able to survive the first round of the competition?

Admiral Aevar shrugged. “Not a problem. I grew up on horseback. I could jump hedgerows better than anyone on my father’s estate.”

General Tarvis rolled his eyes. “Hedgerows? One time, when I was on horseback, I jumped across the Loure River.”

Brigitta blinked. She could see the Loure River from her balcony. “Isn’t the river too wide for that?”

The general waved off her objection. “I jumped halfway across onto a moving barge, then jumped to the other side. Nothing to it.”

Mador snorted. “I once jumped off a cliff onto the back of dragon, slit its throat, then dove into a lake and swam ashore.”

The admiral shook his head. “That’s nothing. One time I harpooned a whale, and it dragged me off the ship and across the ocean, but I climbed up the rope onto the whale’s back and stabbed it to death with my sword.”

Brigitta frowned. “You killed a whale?”

The general glared at him, then turned to Mador. “One time I jumped onto the back of a dragon and slit its throat, too, but then another dragon attacked, breathing fire. So I leaped onto the back of the second dragon while I was ablaze and strangled it to death with my bare hands.”

“That seems rather unlikely,” Brigitta began, but Mador interrupted her.

“Oh, everybody’s done that. One time I killed three dragons in midair, while I was on fire, then hurtled to the ground and broke both legs, but I still made it back to camp.”

A movement by the entrance drew her attention, and she spotted Lord Argus arriving with four men. Rupert. He was keeping his face cold and expressionless, but she could feel his rage as if it stirred the air around her. He must have seen the painting of the battle.

Gunther strode toward Lord Argus and dragged him aside for a private talk, ignoring the four men who bowed as he passed them by. No doubt he was telling Argus that he wanted Leo to send back Rupert’s dead body, not knowing that the real Rupert was only a few feet away.

Rupert shot them a wry look. He must have heard the conversation. Then he turned toward the crowd and his gaze immediately fastened on her.

Her heart pounded. You don’t know him, she reminded herself. She turned back to the top three contenders, but they were so intent on out-bragging each other, they seemed completely unaware of her presence. She backed away slowly, then headed across the room. Courtiers parted as she wove through the crowd till she was standing in front of the last four contenders.

They bowed. A blond who looked Tourinian introduced himself as Five, and the others as Four, Six, and Seven.

She smiled at them, trying not to look at Rupert any longer than the others. He was keeping his gaze cool, though for a second, when their eyes met, she felt a surge of heat.

“I wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow’s contest. It will be a horse race. Hopefully, you are all accustomed to riding.” She shot Rupert a questioning look.

He inclined his head. “I’m sure we’ll do well. Thank you for your concern.”

As the other men assured her they would do their best, her heart wrenched in her chest. Rupert had to win the competition. She didn’t want any of these men to be harmed.

“The stars should be very bright tonight,” Rupert said. “I wager they’ll look beautiful over the Loure River.”

Was he telling her to go onto her balcony tonight?

“Brigitta!” Gunther stormed toward her and grabbed her by the arm. “What are you doing with the losers?” he growled as he led her away.