Page 44 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

He looked sideways at me, like I had taken the whip to her myself. I kept my features blank, but MacKinnon seemed nearly as perturbed as I was, shaking his head like an exasperated parent trying to reason with an unruly child.

Rowan only pursed her lips, refusing to comment one way or another on her safety, or her wishes at all.

Was she worried about Ava? About my father?

Or only angry about the entire proposal that hadn’t come on the timetable she wanted it? If she had wanted it at all.

Prince Oliver sat forward. “If Lord Evander is offering the benefits of the alliance with the added protection of the princess staying here, it isn’t a terrible thing to consider.”

Though he was far warmer than the Duke of Lynx, there was an insightful, even quality to his approach that reminded me of Arés.

MacBay muttered something about a better option being not marrying our enemies at all, while the king grunted out an agreement. Queen Charlotte chewed thoughtfully on her lip, surveying Rowan’s features, and MacKinnon once again brought up unity.

There were merits to both sides, though the implication that I couldn’t keepmy wifesafe in my own clan rankled. I had only proposed that solution because she clearly hadn’t wanted to go to Socair, and becausesheheld that concern.

I would make damned sure no one touched what belonged to me, not even my father.

But that hardly seemed likely to sway them, and it didn’t matter, anyway. The decision rested with the unusually silent princess sitting across the table from me.

The prince’s wife tilted her head. “What about heirs?”

The room fell silent. It always did when Princess Jocelyn spoke, but the quiet this time was decidedly more uncomfortable. The king cleared his throat in disagreement, and Jocelyn blinked at him.

“It’s a legitimate question with this proposed plan,” she said pointedly.

I found myself unwilling to look at Rowan. It was a legitimate question, and not one I would have chosen to address in a room that felt increasingly crowded by the minute. It was one thing when she balked at my proposal, but I didn’t want to see whatever was in her features at the idea of us having…heirs.

Neither would I push her into something as important as children, something I wasn’t even sure I wanted. I was ill-equipped to be a father, all things considered.

Fortunately, that wasn’t news to me, and I had already decided on a contingency plan.

“Lord Taras is next in line for my position, and any heirs he produces with Lady Mila will be sufficient to continue thesuccession,” I explained, dispelling the memory of the tiny red-headed menace in the portrait that came back to me, unbidden.

Queen Charlotte coughed, like something distasteful was lodged in her throat. “So, in the scenario you’ve proposed...Rowan would never have children?”

She sounded more like I had cursed Rowan with leprosy than offered to follow her wishes on parenthood, so I made myself clearer.

“If...the princess wants heirs, that can be arranged,” I explained, still not quite looking at the princess in question.

As it turned out, I didn’t need to be looking at her to hear the furious huff of air that escaped her.

“Arranged?” she echoed in a deceptively calm voice. “Tell me, will you be sending someone to provide a stud service, or will you come all this way yourself?”

Now it was my turn to choke on air.

I had known a storm was coming when she started speaking in a rare, rational voice, but I had misjudged the extent of her decorum amongst her own people.

And like hell would I let anyone else touch her.

I squeezed my eyes shut, counting in my head to maintain some semblance of patience while even her father sighed in exasperation.

“Dammit, Rowan,” he breathed.

There were similar reactions around the room, with the queen biting her lip on what I could have sworn was a laugh. And Oliver, of course—or Davin Senior, as I thought of him.

Jocelyn braved the ensuing awkwardness alone. “In fairness, Rowan’s question is legitimate, also.”

Then all eyes in the room turned to me, like they expected an actual answer to her asininity. Perfect. There was nothing quite so diverting as discussing your marriage bed in front of yourfuture father-in-law, who also happened to be the king of the people who hated you.