Page 24 of Tarnished Crown

“Please,” I scoffed. “I play to win.”

“Is she winning?” Evander raised his eyebrows at Yuriy, who nodded sheepishly.

“But I think she’s cheating,” he added.

Only a little.I made a face of mock offense, and Evander shook his head.

“Well, I wouldn’t put that past her, either.” He looked from me to Yuriy, then down the stairs and back again. “You may as well keep playing, then, if only to salvage your pride.”

Yuriy looked hesitant, but eventually settled back on the ground while Evander disappeared into his room.

It felt like a victory, all things considered.

CHAPTER20

The weeks continued to tick by in a slow, tedious routine of waking and eating and counting the damask designs on the wall. Of which, there were one thousand, seven hundred and ninety-two.

I mostly obeyed Evander’s orders and kept myself in my rooms, or just outside them in the hall. For someone who insisted they wanted me around for entertainment, Evander continued to make himself scarce.

Not that I was complaining.

I had convinced most of his guards to play games with me, and gradually, several of them seemed to relax. Dmitriy even taught me a couple of new games. Of course, on the rare occasion that Taras was assigned to me, he refused to budge.

“Highness, please return to your rooms.” His ramrod-straight posture didn’t falter, his gaze barely wavering from my doorway.

Returning to my rooms was the absolute last thing I wanted to do right now. There was far too little distraction to be had there.

“Or, you could please remove the stick from your--”

“Lemmikki,” a voice chided from around the corner just before Evander emerged on silent footfalls. “Do try to refrain from harassing my men.”

“But he makes it so easy,” I protested.

A muscle in Taras’ jaw ticked, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

Evander heaved an exasperated sigh, reaching into the pocket of his cloak. “So, I suppose you aren’t interested in these letters, then?”

I crossed the distance in three short strides, holding out my hand impatiently. “From who?”

“One from Lord Theodore and one from...your eunuch guard.”

It took everything I had not to laugh out loud. Biting the inside of my cheek forcibly, I responded in a mild tone. “It was thoughtful of him to check on me.”

“Indeed.” He handed over two envelopes...two open envelopes.

“Did you read my letters?”

“That depends.” He put a finger to his lips. “Are you a prisoner receiving letters from an enemy clan?”

I glared at him.

“You can pass any return letters along to Taras. I’m sure he would be thrilled to read through them before sending them along.”

“Delighted,” Taras intoned.

Casting each of them a look in turn, I spun around to go back to my rooms. Flouncing onto the bed in the spot with the most sunlight streaming in, I opened Davin’s letter first.

To Her Royal Highness Princess Rowan Blair Juliette Pendragon of Lochlann,