And it was a stupid thing to think about when Ari had real problems in front of her.
Thad didn’t owe Teague for another nine years and eleven months. That was plenty of time for Ari to learn how to use an iron weapon or, better yet, find a secret weakness hidden in the Book of the Fae. Something that wouldn’t depend on her (questionable) coordination. Something that would intimidate Teague into letting her brother out of his contract without killing him.
It would help if they knew where Teague lived so that when they were ready to renegotiate the bargain, they could find him, rather than waiting for him to show up unannounced. Maybe the location of his home was something she could uncover.
She licked a crumb from her finger, drank some orange juice, and made a plan for the day. She’d go to the arena to practice with her new iron weapons and thank the weapons master again for his courage yesterday. Also, she was going to take his advice (she’d been too upset by her confrontation with Teague’s men to get the weapons master’s name) and tell her pair of guards to look for other employment.
She raised a fork full of lamb sausage and froze at the sound of voices rapidly approaching the dining room.
Stars, the nobility, who’d come from the outskirts of Súndraille for the coronation and were still in residence, were coming to eat their breakfasts and here she was sitting in her stained, almost-too-small kitchen dress looking absolutely nothing like a proper princess.
Ari’s pulse kicked up, and she hastily put her fork back onto plate while she scrambled to catalog her options.
She could remain where she was, but the thought of trying to finish her breakfast under anyone’s prying eyes was nearly enough to ruin her appetite.
She could race out of the dining room using the servants’ entrance, but it was at least two hundred paces in the opposite direction, and there was a decent chance she wouldn’t make it before they came into the room. Then she’d be stuck explaining why she’d been fleeing, and, stars knew, she had no desire to do that.
Plus, running away meant abandoning her breakfast, and Ari had a full day ahead of her. She needed her strength.
That left her with only one remaining choice. As someone pulled open the wide double doors that led into the room, Ari grabbed her plate and dove under the table.
The tablecloth settled in her wake. Ari scooted toward the middle of the table and prayed no one would sit close enough to her to accidentally kick her. Having to justify why she was hiding beneath the table would be mortifying.
Also she was pretty sure “diving under tables with plates full of food” was another item on Thad’s ever-growing list of things proper princesses didn’t do.
She held still, balancing her plate in her lap, and listened as at least two people filled their plates from the serving bar. They spoke quietly, and Ari recognized the voices of Thad and Ajax, Thad’s head of security. Strange that Thad would invite Ajax to dine with him, but they’d been inseparable lately. Maybe keeping a man with Ajax’s skills close was Thad’s way of dealing with the threat of Teague returning to the palace.
Unless Ajax had an iron weapon and some bloodflower poison, his skills weren’t going to be much help.
They were nearly to the chairs when Ari realized she’d left her cup of juice on the table.
It was an obvious sign that someone had been there, but hopefully it wasn’t like seeing a nearly full glass of juice would make Thad suspicious that his less-than-proper sister had decided to finish the rest of her breakfast beneath the table. Besides, it could’ve been any one of the three dozen nobility still in residence.
Not that any of them ever showed their faces before midmorning on a non-Assembly meeting day, but still.
“It looks like Ari has already eaten,” Thad said as he and Ajax took seats five paces down from Ari’s (seriously uncomfortable) seat on the floor. “None of the others would get up this early on purpose. She left most of her juice untouched. I hope she’s feeling well. It’s not like her to leave her food behind.”
“That much is obvious.” Ajax sounded amused.
Ari glared at Ajax’s shins and defiantly stuffed two bites of sausage into her mouth instead of one. So what if she was curvier than was fashionable? She was also smart, confident, pretty, funny, loyal, and a lot of other excellent things that she couldn’t remember while she was busy wishing she could throw her fork at his unprotected legs.
“You will speak of my sister respectfully, or you will be out of a job.” Thad’s voice was sharp, and a rush of warmth flooded Ari’s chest. “The princess is worth more than the rest of the nobility put together.”
“My apologies, Your Highness. I never meant to question the princess’s worth or her appearance,” Ajax said. “I like a girl who can fill out a dress.”
“One more word about my sister, and you won’t be able to find work anywhere in Kosim Thalas. I don’t care if I need your specialized skills. I will not tolerate disrespect toward Ari. Understood?”
Ari mentally cheered for Thad and popped a grape into her mouth, only to nearly choke as she heard Ajax’s next words.
“Understood. And since we’re meeting this morning to discuss my skills, I wanted you to know that I’ve considered your request, and I will take on the entrapment and destruction of the Wish Granter, but for twice the price you named. He’s a very powerful fae.”
“Done.”
Ari sat frozen, her fork halfway up to her mouth. Entrapment and destruction?
Thad was sending the head of his security to assassinate Teague. What if Ajax failed? Was avoiding the price Thad had agreed to pay really worth going to war with Teague?
It was definitely time for a heart-to-heart with her brother.
“When will you do it?” Thad asked.
“Within the month. It takes time to prepare and come up with a plan.”
“You told me you’d killed fae before.” Thad’s foot tapped the floor impatiently.
“I have. In Balavata. Helped some bounty hunters from Llorenyae stalk and kill a pair of rogue fae who angered the Winter King. But we’re talking about the Wish Granter. I’m going to need an iron cage, poison-tipped iron arrows, and time to figure out his routine so I know when to strike. Might also be helpful to have a few trained monsters from Llorenyae to help.”
Ari started shaking her head even as Thad said, “Do it.”
Do it? Bring fae monsters into Súndraille in the hope that this guard knew how to control them? What if they got loose and turned against innocent people? What if they refused to attack Teague? Súndraille wasn’t equipped for the kind of beasts that roamed Llorenyae. This could be a disaster. Ari’s stomach sank, and she slowly lowered her fork to her plate.
Thad must be truly desperate to even consider such an option.
“I’ll need a barn made out of stone and stalls made from iron cages,” Ajax said.