Page 249 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
I sat back, taking in the state of chaos that half of my desk had fallen into.
With a sigh, I rested Yuriy’s latest update on our storehouses down on the desk, looking up at my wife and the crumbs surrounding the unorganized stack of parchment in front of her.
“We need to get you a desk in here, Lemmikki,” I said as she casually added yet another bit of correspondence with her soldiers to what had formerly been the food rations log.
“Really, it’sourstudy now,” I continued, hoping that she would take my meaning.
I wanted to share this space with her, and this role with her. But not this furniture.
She leaned around her leaning stack of paper to look at my much more organized, and blessedly crumb-free, side of the desk.
She shrugged with all the nonchalance of a person who left her gowns strewn over half of our bedroom and her hair-water on the lavatory floor.
“But I have so much more fun sharing yours,” she said in a deceptively innocent voice, slowly batting her long lashes. “It can beourdesk now.”
“Yes, well, getting you your own would be so much more practical,” I said, just barely resisting the urge to stop what I was doing to rearrange her work in a way that was rational. Or at the very least, tidy.
Mischief sparkled in her eyes as she parted her lips to reply but was cut off by an all-too-familiar knock at the door.
Three quick raps. Urgent news.
“There’s someone here to see you both,” Taras said as soon as Rowan opened the door.
“Who is it?” she asked, and the look on his face had me immediately getting to my feet.
He pitched his voice lower, wariness filling his gaze as he said, “It’s Sir Theodore.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED NINE
Iracked my brain for what could have made Korhonan risk coming here so soon after my soldiers had fought a battle against his.
While we waited for Taras to sneak him through the castle into our study, Rowan and I discussed the possibility of whether or not he’d heard what we were doing with the Unclanned.
“Unless Iiro has spies within the Unclanned, that wouldn’t be possible…” I began, before my thoughts turned to the only person I despised more than the would-be king.
Ava.
Hadn’t she used them as her own personal band of mercenaries? Her very own network of spies?
The look on my wife’s face told me her thoughts had taken a similar turn.
“No,” I answered aloud. “No, Iiro is too prideful and clings to the old ways. He would never lower himself in that manner.” I could never picture a situation that would lead the pretend-king tolowerhimself to seek out help from theBesklanovvy.
She sighed, nodding in relief just as the door to the study swung open.
Taras stood back to make room for a massive figure shrouded beneath a hooded cloak. My cousin eyed me carefully, a silent question brimming in his gaze.
Do you want me to stay?
I gave him a small shake of my head, and he pulled the door shut, remaining in the hall. He knew I would fill him in on whatever news Korhonan had to share later.
Rowan brought us each a glass of vodka, and I couldn’t help but be amused by his refusal to accept it.
“At the risk of giving offense, My Lady,” he said, keeping his hands firmly at his sides, “I’m not sure I’ll be drinking anything you pour any time soon.”
She arched a single eyebrow, her lips pursing in amusement. “Technically, I didn’t pour anything last time.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that, once again wildly entertained at the imagery of my tiny wife drugging the colossal duke.