Page 77 of Tarnished Crown

“Well then, I guess we’re both stuck in this.”

Weirdly, the thought made me feel a little less alone.

CHAPTER50

Despite my protests, Evander did, in fact, begin teaching me Socairan, and he wasn’t remotely subtle about it

He took every chance he could to replace a word in the common tongue for a Socairan one.

“Lemmikki, could you perhaps have yourkilpidrawn any other time than right when I’m going over estate taxes?” He huffed an irritable sigh, not bothering to look up from the stack of papers on his desk.

He had a point, as the several maids bringing buckets in tandem were certainly distracting, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Perhaps tomorrow, but I keep such a tight schedule these days. I’m afraid I have to get my bath in before my nap,” I glanced at the clock. “Which is in a strict half hour.”

Then, later that evening, “Lemmikki,kertoaKirill to bring me the trade log from the South.”

“Why don’t youkertoahim yourself?” I called from the bed.

“Because I’m busy and you haven’t left that bed all day.”

I wanted to use my back as an excuse, but truthfully, it felt worse when I went too long without moving. So, with a sigh, I obliged him.

The worst offender, though, was the following morning.

Evander’s breakfast plate sat on his desk, but mine was nowhere to be found. Though Evander still ate simply, there was usually a biscuit or two and a slice of meat along with our porridge.

“Where is my breakfast?” I asked suspiciously.

He gave me a bland smile. “I have instructed Taisiya not to give you anything that you didn’t ask for by name.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Now you’re holding out biscuits on me? I think this is worse than you taking me prisoner to begin with.”

He let out a dark chuckle as I marched to the door to find Taisiya, reluctantly deciding my stubbornness did not outweigh my desire forpechen’ye.

The worst part was that his unwanted teaching methods were obnoxiously effective. By the end of the week, I understood several Socairan words and phrases.

That evening, Kirill and Taras came, per usual. But instead of just reporting to Evander, they had something for me, too.

Kirill presented three letters, two for Evander and one for me. At first, I was excited, thinking it must be from Davin or Mila. Though Davin’s letters carefully avoided mentioning Theo these days.

But Davin would have died before using the Elk seal, and the navy-blue antlers were unmistakable.

Theo.

A nervous flutter went through my gut. It had been easy to forget the rest of the world shut away in Evander’s room, but seeing this letter filled me with remorse. How would Theo feel if he knew I was sharing another man’s bed, however platonic it was?

Then again, what choice did I have?

Did it even matter, after the way we left things? What more was there really to say?

My mouth went dry, and suddenly I needed to know what was in this letter. Right now.

I shooed the men from the room to read in privacy. Evander shot me a sideways glance, but let up at Kirill’s not-so-subtle headshake.

Dread pooled in my stomach, and I ripped the letter from the envelope before they had even shut the door.

My eyes flew across the words.