Page 83 of The King’s Commander

Chapter Thirty

Vanni

“There’s been a . . . complication,” I admit to Thomas as we sit at a table in the inn.

Aedre ran off before I could stop her—her reaction a clear sign that I did not express myself well. Although I still very much plan to press my suit, it’s clear she needs time to process everything. To cool down. So I watched her walk away—an experience I didn’t care for—and then headed into the great hall of the inn for an ale. Thomas found me there and joined me.

From the look on his face, he’s not surprised by my words.

“Aye, I suspected so,” he replies. “You left us at the docks.”

With good reason, but I don’t offer an explanation. “Was it truly someone from the Royal Court of Edingham?”

The serving girl brings Thomas an ale, and he thanks her. I drink from my mug, missing wine more than I would have expected. The bitter ale of the north is a poor substitute, though passable, I suppose.

“If you’d stayed long enough, you might have seen your old friend Stokerton.”

“You saw him with your own eyes?” I ask in disbelief. I’d heard the rumor but had not believed it true.

Thomas raises his mug to me. “I saw the queen’s second with my own eyes.”

In that case, I don’t doubt him. The man is difficult to miss. There’s always a trail of women following him, hoping for a glimpse or even a wink.

I’ve met Erik Stokerton on numerous occasions and have come away with two incontrovertible truths:

He is as deadly as he is good-looking.

He is madly in love with his queen.

All know it, and he does not aim to hide the fact. It was rumored she once carried his babe, but naught came of that particular rumor. Though there are others . . .

“What is he doing here in Murwood?”

For a brief moment, fear blinds my thinking. Could he know about Aldwine somehow? Is he here to persuade him to their cause?

Impossible. If Edingham knew of Aldwine, they’d have exploited him long ago.

“We need to speak to him,” I say.

Thomas smiles. “Done. He will be joining us tomorrow midday, in this very spot.”

We are enemies, aye. But neither side wishes for a full-out war. The queen’s Curia would not dare to attack us without provocation. And I plan to give them none.

“How many travel with him?”

He lifts his eyebrows. “If you’d stayed longer, perhaps you would already know.”

I know without asking that he saw me leave with Aedre.

“Thomas—”

“Explain to another. I more than anyone understand what it is to love a woman. You’ll draw no judgment from me.”

He thinks I’m in love with Aedre.

Am I not?

Although I didn’t intend to take things so far, part of me is glad for it. I didn’t want to be parted from her, and now I won’t have to be. Because whatever she thinks, we will marry. I will not leave Murwood End without her.