Page 73 of His Realm

I kissed him then, and after a moment he knocked me gently back into one of the ancient walls of the city and devoured my mouth.

“Oh, they’re so pretty together,” someone said.

Breaking the kiss, we both looked over to see several women walking by, all smiling, enamored by our display.

“So hot,” the last one said as she sauntered by.

I smiled and waved and heard her answering laugh before I met the carnal gaze of the man I loved. “Thank you for clarifying why the rules don’t apply to me. I love being your consort more than anything, and it’s good to know that the law doesn’t apply to mates.”

“No, it does not. Love eclipses all else.”

And I believed that without reservation.

By the time we returned to the palace, it was nearly dusk, and once we were inside, one of the king’s courtiers approached us and gave Varic the message that we were both summoned to the king’s quarters.

“You don’t have to go,” Varic made clear, hands on my biceps as he looked into my face. “I promise you.”

I nodded. “I will decline, then, and furthermore, I think you should consider replacing me as cadeyrn with Zev.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I know your first instinct might be to say no, but Zev is more than a champion and absolutely qualified, way more than anyone else, to be cadeyrn.”

“Explain.”

“First, no one who ever gave me any pushback will even think about giving him any,” I began. “Second, he⁠—”

“Who gave you any⁠—”

“Varic,” I said, taking his hand and walking him into an alcove so we wouldn’t be overheard. “Zev knows everything about everyone who lives within these walls and a lot about everyone who visits, because as head of the king’s guard, most everyone who visits the king has spoken around him for centuries, thinking of Zev as no more than wallpaper.”

“That is ungracious,” he said, scowling at me.

“Yeah, but come on, it’s true. You know it is. Everyone here, even you, is so used to having servants and guards around all the time that you forget they’re even there. No one ever bothers to be circumspect about what they say around someone they think is beneath them.”

“I feel sort of horrible right now.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “This is how you were raised, with people looking at you all the time. You’re used to it, and that’s my point. All the nobles are.”

“Would we say that all⁠—”

“Yes. All of them. Be honest.”

He grunted his agreement.

“So I’m telling you, someone like Zev, he’s been privy to a million secrets, he’s been alive for centuries, and he knows what drives everyone within the palace. He’s not like Gideon, who had a million spies. Zev himself has all the goods on everyone, probably more than Gideon ever imagined, firsthand. He’s heard the secrets from their own mouths.”

“You’re not wrong about any of this.”

“See? Zev knows everything.”

He grimaced as if in pain.

“We should have T-shirts made.”

That brought a sliver of a smile.

“I really think, after we return from Ophir, that you need to make that change.”