Page 12 of The Queen's Line

"No, not to my knowledge. Men areattractive—"

"Of course they are," mother said, brightening.

"But admiration does not come with craving," I said. "I havetried."

"The sheets say otherwise," Grandmother bit out, and I flinched, but our queen only rolled her eyes. "It will have to be Camellia, Peony. I've been telling you this from the start."

"Oh, give it a little time," Mother said.

"Time? You heard the girl, she has no Hunger! Are you asking me to condemn Kimmery on behalf of this…this mutation in the queen's line?"

I gasped, the word striking me in the heart. Amutation. A confirmation of my worst feelings for myself. I spun to my grandmother and opened my mouth to spew back at her—everything I'd learned from the men the night before, the taxation and the labor and the cruelty of our kingdom upon its own people. But these were things I wasn't even sure of yet.

My mother's hand squeezed my shoulder, and the words died in my throat.

"Bryony's Hunger may grow," my mother said, and the sweetness of her voice had hardened to a queen's command. "Camellia is full of appetite, but she does not have Bryony's love of our people. Bryony will be given time. None of the queen's line ever keepsallof their first Chosen. Perhaps she simply needs to rearrange their numbers."

Thao and Wendell immediately came to mind, sparking a whole new idea in my thoughts, my indecision washing away under a plan. "There are a few I like," I said quickly, turning to my mother's warm smile to avoid the chill on the other end of the room. "And I…I was thinking that it might be nice to get to know them better away from the…busyness in the capital."

"Away? Awaywhere?" Grandmother squawked.

"Oh, how lovely! Like a common little honeymoon," my mother cooed.

"We could go north," I said. I would find the truth and the answers for myself.

5

Bryony

Ihadn'tforgottenabout the men I'd left in my bedroom, but I wasn't expecting them to still be there when I returned.

"Oh." I paused in the doorway and looked over the small collection of them.

Aric's shadow was hovering on the balcony, although he'd left his heavy dark coat behind on my chaise. Cosmo was there too, lounging on the floor in the sun like a cat, with my writing desk on his lap and what looked like art sketches scribbled over my best stationary. Wendell and Thao were sitting up in the bed, apparently having taken a turn sleeping there after the sheets were changed. And sweet Owen was sitting carefully on the bench at the end of my bed, a tray full of last night's confectionary collections and this morning's ample breakfast balanced on his lap.

"How did it go? Are you all right?" he asked immediately, rattling the trays when he shifted as if to rise.

"I…I hardly know," I said, my hand coming up to rest over my forehead. And then I caught sight of myself in a mirror to my right and realized I looked like one of those fainting damsels while Aric was glaring at me, and I dropped my hand immediately and began to pace the room.

What would I be permitted to take with me? Trunks of clothes, of course, but could I keep my books in the north? I'd give up all my gowns in exchange for my books.

My Chosen—if I could even call them that, when I had declared them so by necessity rather than desire—remained quiet as I moved to a dresser, fiddling with my jewelry there. I startled as a knock thundered on the far door.

"We heard voices. Is she back yet?" a man called through.

"The other men have been knocking all morning," Cosmo whispered to me. "We'll answer no?"

I started to nod, my hands wringing in front of me, before I pressed them down at my sides and marched to the door.

"Your Highness, we're more than happy to stall for you," Wendell murmured, rising from the bed.

"I have been stalling for five years," I muttered, straightening my shoulders and grabbing for the door. I swung it open, and the man on the other side—one of the commoners—straightened and puffed up his bare chest.

I blinked at the dozen men in the other room, all stripped down to their underwear to catch my attention. In my pause, the one in front of me reached for my waist, and I dodged neatly out of the way at the last possible second.

"Princess, we have been longing—"

"You are dismissed," I snapped, pressing my lips hard together as shock made a few of them stumble backwards. "All of you. I apologize for the inconvenience of your time—"