“Well . . . not entirely.”
Deciding it was time to get to work, Bram began to get up. But Ghleanna caught his arm, her laughter annoying him even more.
“I’m teasing,” she said, pulling him back. “I swear.”
“Isn’t it bad enough I assumed you’d always ignored me? Now I find out I was just invisible to you.”
“That’s not true.” She put the tray of half-eaten food on the floor before taking his hands in hers. “I noticed you, Bram.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. But you were a bit younger than me.”
“Only by half a century or so.”
“And I thought you liked my sister.”
“Maelona?”
“Yes. Maelona. Pretty, shy, insecure, scar-free Maelona. That Maelona.”
And she sounded wonderfully jealous.
“And you can stop smirking,” Ghleanna told him.
“I’m not.”
“Liar.” But he was an adorably cute liar. “Look, I just never thought—”
“I was good enough?”
Aghast, Ghleanna said, “That’s not true!”
“It is.” Bram stretched out on his side. “All the Cadwaladrs are the same.”
“All the same what?”
“Snobs. You’re all snobs.”
Ghleanna’s mouth fell open.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“We are snobs?”
“Snobs. Big snobs. If one can’t handle a sword or an axe—not worthy.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. And what does your brother call me? The thinker? As if it’s a disease. An ailment I need to be cured of.”
“You can’t listen to Bercelak. He’s a mean bastard and he treats everyone as if they have ailments in need of cure.”
“Snobs.”
“We are not. We’re not of royal blood.”
“Snobs.”
“We’re just poor warriors.”
“Who are snobs. It’s all right, though.” He reached over and patted her hand. “You don’t know any better.”“You condescending—”
“Now, now. No need to get nasty.” He smiled. “I like you despite your snobbery.”
“Do you?”
“You don’t know?” He caught her hand, held it. “Really?”
“I know I’m not an easy She-dragon to . . . not fear.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Ghleanna. I’ve never been afraid of you. To be quite honest . . . I think you’re amazing. I always have. Since the first time you ignored me.”
“I didn’t ignore you then.” She stretched out on her side, the two of them facing each other. “And I can assure you that I’m not ignoring you now.”
Ghleanna bit her lip and asked, “So when do you have to work on your precious truce?”
Bram reached for her, his hand slipping behind the back of her neck. “Not for days.”
“Don’t you mean hours?”
He tugged her close, their lips almost touching. “No, Ghleanna, I mean days. Minimum. I’ve been waiting a very long time to—”
“My Lord Bram?” a voice from outside the door said.
Bram fell back on the bed. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.”
And that’s when that Lord Kleitos idiot opened the door without invitation. He grinned when he saw the pair naked and nearly entwined on the bed.
“So very sorry to interrupt, my Lord, but the Empress asks for your immediate attendance.”
“Right.”
Kleitos stood there, the silence in the room stretching, until he pushed, “Now, my Lord.”
And that’s when Ghleanna charged off the bed and tackled the Fin into the far wall. She clasped her hand around his throat and squeezed. She felt water begin to pour from his skin and she warned, “I’ll snap your neck before you’ll have a chance to shift.”
Kleitos settled back and Ghleanna explained, “Lord Bram will be along when he’s dressed and ready. You will no longer just walk into this room without invitation. And, if you can manage it, stop slithering around. I find it nauseating.”
Ghleanna pulled Kleitos away from the wall and pushed him out the door and onto the walkway. “Now tell your Empress that Lord Bram will be there shortly.”
She released him and Kleitos rubbed his neck, glaring at the two guards outside her door.
“And you do nothing?” he demanded.
Demetrius shrugged. “Our orders are quite specific, Chancellor—”
“Never mind!”
Kleitos stormed off and Ghleanna cracked her neck. “Slithering bastard,” she muttered, before heading back into her room.
As she passed the two guards, Anatolios winked at her.
Ghleanna closed the bedroom door, but the bed was empty. It wasn’t a large room, so she had no idea where Bram could have gone.
Ghleanna walked around the bed, stopped, and placed her hands on her hips.
“Bram the Merciful! Stop laughing and get off the floor. The Empress awaits!”
Chapter 12
Ghleanna had just finished pulling her shirt over her head when the bedroom door opened and the ruling monarch of the Fins walked through—without even a knock!
Even Rhiannon didn’t do that.
“Oh. I thought Bram would be here.”