Lucivar waited until he no longer felt Rothvar’s presence in the eyrie. Then he looked at his brother. “Well?”

“Who else knows about the money you put aside for Jillian?” Daemon asked softly.

“You, Marian, and your man of business, since you and he helped me set up the trusts for all the children. I should tell Nurian at some point. But Jillian can’t use any of it until she reaches her majority, and you set things up so she could take the interest but couldn’t touch the principal without your permission or mine.” Discussing money always gave him a headache, which was the reason he’d asked for Daemon’s help when he made provisions for his wife and children—including the child who had no actual connection to him except for heart. “There is no reason anyone would think Jillian had money beyond what Marian pays her for her help around the eyrie, so that can’t be a lure.”

“Young aristo males think all kinds of things. But I don’t think it’s occurred to Dillon yet that he’ll be old enough to be a grandfather, maybe even a great-grandfather, before Jillian is old enough to have her Virgin Night and take a lover afterward.” Daemon paused. “He could have genuine feelings for Jillian. Affection rather than lust.”

“But you don’t think so.”

“I haven’t met him. However, based on how you found out about him, no, I don’t think so. Which makes me wonder why he’s playing this game.”

 

* * *

 

* * *

“I told you,” Terrence said. “I told you not to tangle with Prince Yaslana.”

Dillon slouched in a chair in the parlor, feeling everything sliding out of control. Again. “She’s not related to him. Why is he making such a fuss about me courting the girl? And those damn dogs!”

“Scelties.” Terrence leaned forward, looking eager. “You hear stories about them. Are they really bossy and opinionated?”

Dillon gave his cousin a sour look. “Why don’t you come with me to that part of the village and see for yourself.”

“All right.” Terrence hesitated. “But I thought you didn’t want company.”

He didn’t. Since he wasn’t going to have a choice, Terrence’s presence might reassure everyone that his intentions were honorable. If nothing else, it would divide the damn dogs’ attention between them.

Of course, Terrence’s presence would interfere with a business arrangement, but he’d been reluctant about that from the start and wouldn’t have agreed to it if he hadn’t needed the “commission” he received. Having his cousin with him would give him an excuse to withdraw from the arrangement.

Terrence was a young man with an unblemished reputation, and, in truth, he still had an innocence when it came to the distaff gender that Dillon felt oddly compelled to protect. “I would be glad of your company.”

 

 

TWENTY-THREE

 

 

Flustered by the past couple of days and the sharp scrutiny of everything she did and everywhere she went—an unsettling experience that made her feel tethered when she’d been free to come and go as she pleased for so many years—Jillian needed a few quiet minutes to herself before she helped Marian prepare breakfast for the children. Juggling an armload of books, she used Craft to open the glass doors that led out to the yard and was so focused on reaching the small table and two chairs that were used for “quiet play” that she didn’t notice Prince Sadi until she almost dropped her load of books on his mug of coffee.

The mug lifted and slid to one side, so smoothly the coffee didn’t slosh.

“My apologies, Prince,” Jillian stammered. “I didn’t realize anyone was out here. I just wanted to . . .”

“Look at your books without being pestered?” Daemon said with a smile. “If one child can ask a thousand questions in a day, how many can three children ask?”

“A million. When questions overlap, they spawn new questions that are usually unrelated to anything that was initially asked.”

He laughed. Then he moved his own stack of books and retrieved his mug of coffee. “Why don’t you sit down? I take it you’ll have your hands full the rest of the morning.”

She took the other seat—and felt a bit daring. He, at least, seemed to recognize that she had a woman’s heart and feelings without hemming those feelings in with rules and yappy chaperons like Lady Surreal had done. Would he be amused if she confessed that one of the things that attracted her to Dillon was the fact that Dillon reminded her of him? Just a little. Just enough.

Now Prince Sadi was sitting out here without his jacket, which, despite the white silk shirt, made him appear to be casually dressed, and she felt like they were just two people who could chat as equals. Because of that, maybe she could talk to him about things that Nurian and Prince Yaslana didn’t want to hear.

“What are you reading?” Daemon asked.

“This and that.” Remembering how Dillon had made fun of some of her selections, she cringed when Prince Sadi turned the stack to read the titles.

“You like stories with gore and danger?”

That was one of the books Dillon had mocked. He’d even held his nose as if it smelled bad. “It’s just for fun.”

Daemon pulled out a book from his own stack. “Have you tried this author? Same kind of thing but the characters are less embellished. Not that there is anything wrong with a character having hidden skills that are suddenly required. Those can be good stories for times when, as you said, you want to read something just for fun. But I think this author’s characters feel more real, like someone I could meet in a dining house or in a shop.”

She called in a pencil and the small notebook she used for things she didn’t want to forget and wrote down the author and title of the book.

“This is an interesting choice.” Daemon tapped the spine of another book.

The words came out in a rush. “Dillon says it’s a brilliant account of the service fairs and the choices people made when they came to Kaeleer. The author’s ancestor emigrated through the service fair, and he wrote the book based on personal accounts of those days.” Daemon’s odd smile stopped the flow of words. “Have you read the book?”

“I have.”

“Did you think it was brilliant?” Please think it was brilliant.

“I thought it was pretentious. But I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it.”

Jillian blinked. “Why?”

“Because you were there.”

The words were said so gently, it took her a moment to absorb the meaning.