Page 98 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

Even the king himself looked vaguely uncomfortable at the reminder, but this time it was Rowan who interceded.

“Do you have more cousins, then, who are even more uptight than Taras?” A smile played at her lips, and I forced myself to look away before her father could hate me even more.

“I do have more cousins,” I answered, studying the board. “Two, both women.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how you avoided the second part of that question.”

I said nothing, and she chuckled under her breath. Charlotte picked up her inquiry once more, but this time she was careful to steer away from my family, fortunately staying far from the topics of my father or Ava.

While I explained the difference in Socairan dialects, Rowan moved to make an attack on her father’s borders. He had carefully scaled back to create an opening that he would close just as quickly, shutting her within his borders.

I broke off mid-sentence, turning to my future wife. Avani and Charlotte had both spoken up more than once, so I knew it wasn’t against the rules. It might have been more strategic to let him expend his forces attacking hers so I could move in from the outset, but I couldn’t let her decimate herself so early in play.

“He’s baiting you into that,” I murmured, leaning down closer to her.

King Logan shot me a look that was devoid of any ire for a change. If anything, he might have looked reluctantly impressed.

Rowan studied his reaction, then the board, chewing thoughtfully at her lip.

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But I don’t have another move.”

It was like her to assume she had to move in order to win. Waiting was not her strong suit, and I could already tell she was more of a reactive player than a defensive one.

I gestured toward her poorly guarded territories. “Then fortify your borders.”

She pursed her lips, denial written on her features.

“Sometimes winning requires patience, Lemmikki.” I echoed my father’s most frequent reminder from a time when he had been far more lucid and no less ruthless.

It was strange to impart to her the strategy he had taught me, knowing how he had used it against her people. But it had been true then, and it was true now.

“And an actual plan,” I tacked on, since I suspected that was not obvious to her.

She wouldn’t even make a plan for where she was going to live in a month’s time, let alone for fictitious world domination.

She studied the board for another several moments, blowing a few wayward curls out of her face. Reluctantly, she moved her pieces to the edges of her kingdom.

The king sent his miniscule soldiers after mine next, so I ostensibly retreated. When my turn came, I took out half of Charlotte’s tiny green men in a blatant offense, taking the opportunity to move a few pieces closer to the king’s borders. My strategy was a long game, conquering in small batches so that the placement of my forces appeared incidental rather than intentional.

All the while, I felt the unfamiliar sensation of the king’s scrutinizing gaze. It was more than a little uncomfortable after I had grown used to his insistence on ignoring my existence.

Several turns passed before the plan came to a head. I moved three pieces into place, the ones that would solidify my other forces to surround the king’s.

He raised his eyebrows, approval shining in his gaze before he could suppress it. A smirk tugged at my lips, but the expression came a hair too soon. Once Rowan had moved her pieces, taking out several of Avani’s, King Logan launched a targeted attack directly through the center of my men. It was a gamble, but a calculated one that paid off as he escaped my immediate assault.

I was beginning to understand more and more why Rowan had looked so terrified on my balcony when she asked if I would lead my men to the front.

The dukes referred to the Bastard King as someone who was backed by sheer strength in numbers and a single lucky blow, but the man was every bit as calculating as a Socairan.

And every bit as ruthless.

How many people would have died if we had been forced to pit our armies against one another?

I nodded at him, eliciting the first hint of a smile I had ever received from him.

Avani’s next turn saw Charlotte out of play. The queen looked more relieved than disappointed. It wasn’t hard to surmise that she had suggested the lengthy game more for her husband’s benefit than for her own. Perhaps for mine as well.

“Well, I’m starvin—” she cut off abruptly with the gentle sound of a slippered foot connecting with flesh.