32. Adina

32

ADINA

W e had barely cleared James's suite when Lavanya whirled on me, her face inches from mine. She had to stoop to do it—she had five inches of height and probably fifty pounds on me, her curves generous and accentuating all her feminine assets.

Compared to my slight form, she was the epitome of womanhood.

"You filthy slut!" she hissed, her breath hot against my face.

And she had the mind of a guttersnipe. What a charmer.

"I know what you're doing," she continued in a low, venomous tone. "And it's not going to work. James is a petulant little brat, but he'll come back around once he realizes I'm by far the best choice for him. And you won't be the one to derail my chances with him, do you understand?" Her hand was raised, poised to slap me across the face. "Or I will end you."

Oof, that sounded like a threat.

I rubbed my genie ring just once, a pre-established command to charge up. As I pushed Lavanya away, an electric charge ran through the ring straight into the gaudy silver necklace she was wearing.

She bleated like a goat and jumped back, her hands flying to her cleavage. Her eyes were wide, and she stared at my hand like it was cursing her out.

"Don't threaten me," I said calmly and steadily, which was much more threatening than if I had shouted or hissed. "You won't like the results. Now." I smiled, all teeth and no warmth. "Let's get this audience underway, shall we?"

She couldn't look away from my hand. "You... the audience, yes. This way."

Lavanya turned and stumbled down the corridor. It took her a few steps to regain her earlier, hip-shaking, come-hither gait. I guess I'd hurt her confidence as well as her skin.

Genie D-39 assured me that the zap he could deliver was just enough to sting, not actually to damage. I hoped he was right. I didn't like Lavanya, but I didn't want to injure her if I didn't have to.

Hopefully, the message had been received, and she wouldn't bother me again.

She stopped outside a room with a dark wooden door and gestured sourly at me. I opened it, stepped inside, and found myself face to face with Seneschal Jeffry. Not the king or queen, but damn Jeffry.

I hadn't seen him since he'd tried to kill me, and now...

The door clicked shut behind me. Screw it, now I did want to injure Lavanya.

"Princess Aramar." He gave me an oily smirk. "Thank you for joining me."

"I was brought here under false pretenses," I said coldly. "And I have no intention of staying, either." I turned to leave.

"Ah, but I have the king's permission to conduct this interview, Princess! To leave now would be to disobey a direct order from the man you rely on for access to the palace and his precious son. You wouldn't want to jeopardize that, would you?"

I'll jeopardize you . But he was right. I couldn't afford to offend the king. I took a moment to be grateful that Genie-D39 was disguised as a sapphire because if anyone would recognize the ring, it would be its former owner.

"What do you want to know?"

"Oh, nothing too desperate," he said. "But won't you sit with me?" He gestured to a small, beautifully carved rosewood table set with tea and sweets. "It would be so much nicer to proceed as friends, wouldn't it?"

"We're not friends."

"That doesn't mean we couldn't be."

I would sooner die—another thing I couldn't say out loud. I sat despite my better judgment but didn't reach for any of the food. It was rude, but under the circumstances, I couldn't do anything else. Just the thought of eating in the presence of the man who'd done his best to ruin James's life and had left me to die in the Vault made my throat threaten to close up entirely.

"Thank you," he said obsequiously as he sat across from me. He poured a cup of fragrant mint tea and pushed it my way, then began to speak. "The king is both concerned and curious over the technology you've brought into the palace."

"In what way?"

"I believe he's specifically concerned about the fact that every time you speak to the prince, the palace's ability to detect noise abruptly ceases in your vicinity."

Gene for the win. "I did tell the queen that privacy was a condition of my efforts on her behalf," I said demurely. "She agreed with me."

Jeffry's eyes narrowed. "She agreed to do away with a chaperone, not to allow you to fill her son's ears with whatever poison you're pouring out."

"And yet she hasn't come to me with any complaints, so I assume the fact that you can still see everything that's happening between us is satisfactory to her."

"But not to the king," he said. "You will have to cease this interference at once."

"Mm." I wasn't about to stop keeping the palace's spies from listening in on my conversations with James, but I was sure I knew how to get around it. "Fine."

Jeffry blinked. "What?"

"I said, 'fine.' I agree to the king's terms and will stop preventing him from listening to what I have to say." I smiled blandly. "Is that all?"

"Far from it!" He set his cup down hard enough that half the tea sloshed out, then hissed as it burned his fingers.

"Need a napkin?"

"Don't trouble yourself," he snapped as he grabbed a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped himself clean. "And don't think that your blithe little excuses are satisfactory. The king wants to know exactly how you're interfering with palace technology."

"Ah." Sure he did. Actually, he might, but I wasn't going to be doing a show and tell anytime soon. Or ever. "I'm afraid that information isn't something I can share. It's a matter of sovereignty."

Jeffry sneered. "This is Londabad. There is only one sovereign here, and every piece of tech that enters this city belongs to him by right."

"Ah, but I've already been acknowledged as the princess of another independent city." This was a bit of legal trickery that Gene had helped me set up, and it was brilliant if I did say so myself. "A city that I left on good terms and from which I was gifted the tech I brought along with me to act as a personal safeguard. It is privileged information, and I can no more hand it over than I can change my loyalty from Edinbai to Londabad."

Jeffry went perfectly still for a moment. He reminded me of an old video I'd seen of a snake silently coiling itself before it struck. "Princess Aramar... hmm. I wonder what the sovereigns of Edinbai will say when we contact them and ask about their wandering daughter."

Oh. Ooh, was he going to call my bluff? That would be bad. I needed to head this off. "Probably very little. They have five others, after all. And good luck getting a signal through all the sandstorms we've been having lately." He scowled, knowing that was a good point. Still...

Damn it. I was going to have to be more obliging. "I would appreciate any assistance you could give me when it comes to placating the king," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. I wanted so badly to scratch this bastard's eyes out, but I couldn't. I didn't have what I needed yet—I didn't have James. "I have some trifles in my possession that might be considered useful to a man in your position if that were to happen."

Jeffry's greedy little eyes lit up.

Nailed it.

He missed his ring, missed what it could do for him, and he was looking for something else to give him a leg up. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll take a look at my inventory and let you know... once I'm assured that I won't be kept from the palace."

He inclined his head. "I'll let the king know that, in my opinion, your little abilities are nothing to fear and that you'll comply with his commands."

"Thank you." I got up and dropped a shallow curtsy. "I appreciate your... candor." I always liked to see threats coming; it helped me get ahead of them.

"And I appreciate your willingness to share." His pleasant expression faded into one I'd seen before—something fixed with animus, hard and hungry. "But if you don't follow through, I'll be very displeased. The king may be the sovereign of this city, but within the palace walls, I am the one charged with keeping order. There are places in here that no one knows about, places where not even you, with your fancy trinkets, would be able to dig themselves out of. I ask that you keep that in mind."

I doubted I'd be able to forget it.

As I left Jeffry's presence, my mind raced with the implications of our conversation. I had managed to dodge his immediate demands, but at what cost?

The promise of future favors hung over me like a sword.

More than ever, I felt the pressure of time bearing down on me. I needed to reveal myself to James soon before Jeffry or anyone else could unravel the carefully constructed web of lies I'd spun.

But how could I do that when James was still so guarded, so hurt?