Page 21 of The Queen's Line

He grinned, and I held my breath as he pressed down, but it was only to drop a kiss against my forehead, my nose, my chin, and then once more, briefly, on my lips.

"Feel free to be curious any time, Your—Bryony," he said. And then he cleared his throat and leaned back, glancing towards his lap. "I think I'd better…umm…"

He moved to rise from the bed at the same time that knuckles rapped on the door. Owen shuffled to sit in front of me, blocking me from view, but it was only Cosmo coming in. Dark eyes looked over Owen and I briefly, Cosmo's roguish smile flickering.

"'Morning, you two. I think there's something you'd better come see in Thao and Wendell's room," Cosmo said.

I followed Owen out of the bed but shooed him to the washroom. "Go on and meet us there," I said, trying not to blush with the knowledge of what he might need to do before joining us. I scooped my robe up from the end of the bed and my cheeks went pinker as Owen ducked, smacking a firm kiss against my cheek before jogging away, his hand held in front of his crotch as if to preserve his modesty.

"I wouldn't have interrupted if I'd known," Cosmo murmured when I reached him.

I shook my head. "You didn't really. It was just…" I didn't know how to explain it. Just a day ago, I'd told these men that their position as my Chosen was for show. And it might still be, I wasn't entirely certain what was happening, only that this morning's kiss with Owen hadn't been full of stress or worry like the night of my choosing. This time, there was only interest and playfulness between us.

"Owen wanted to be Chosen, you know," Cosmo said, catching my hand and squeezing it as he led me into the suite's sitting room.

"Did you?" I asked, frowning. It hadn't occurred to me before now to wonder how the men felt about attending the choosing. I'd been too stressed with my own part to play. Aric had made it abundantly clear he was opposed to my claiming him, and Thao and Wendell were… Well, they'd found their place comfortably, although it had nothing to do with desiringme. Cosmo I was less sure about.

He hummed and pulled the hand he held into the crook of his arm, drawing me closer with a soft twitch of his lips. "Not until you sat down on the couch with us in your panic and rushed to ask us about ourselves. And then I was very happy to be picked in the ceremony," Cosmo said, and before I could answer him, he stopped by the buffet table near the door and pulled a napkin off a plate, revealing a collection of my favorites—melon, salty thinly sliced ham, and a chocolate tart. "I saved these for you. There's plenty of food left for Owen too, but you and Wendell have similar tastes, and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out."

I squeezed his arm before taking the plate, eating a piece of melon and ham together in one bite and humming at the syrupy sweetness of the fruit contrasting against the salt of the meat. "Thank you. What am I going to see?"

Cosmo sobered, and his hand moved to my back to guide me out to the hall. "Right. Well, breakfast was the good news. Thao and Wendell found the bad, I'm afraid."

Ominous as that sounded, it wasn't enough to stop me from savoring the bites of food. The chocolate tart was especially good, the pastry even butterier than the ones at home.

Our cook is good, even if the castle is drafty and the stairs are broken and the roads are weedy, I thought, and then immediately felt guilty because I was enjoying melon and ham and chocolate for breakfast and the people of Rumsbrooke were…well, certainly not experiencing the same.

"I was thinking we ought to do something about the woods," I said as Cosmo led me to the other suite of rooms. "It might be rash to open them to general hunting, but we could appoint someone from the city as…as royal hunter? Someone who would hunt responsibly."

"Are you…especially carnivorous?" Cosmo asked, frowning. "Even with the staff we have here—"

"Not for us! For the people. If food is scarce then…it may be a silly idea."

Cosmo's steps slowed, and his smile grew. He leaned into me and then wavered back again. "No, not silly at all. You want the food to go to the people?" I nodded, and his hand passed up and down my back again, spreading warmth. "It can be made practical and fair, I think."

"I'll call the magistrate…or maybe I'd better make the visit myself?" I mused.

Cosmo opened the door into the second suite, one that mirrored my own, and I paused to take it in. The colors were darker, more cherry wood and less marble and gold, but all in all, it was equally well kept. I narrowed my eyes at the curtains, which seemed whole and uneaten. It might've been a little better.

"Princess Bryony, there you are," Thao called from the right side door.

I could see a glimpse of the vast bed over his shoulder. It was tucked beneath a small balcony like nook—a chair set up, and a little table, and Wendell standing there with his hands against the railing, overlooking the room.

"Oh, I wish I had one of those! How sweet."

Wendell grimaced and looked behind him. "Less sweet than it appears, Your Highness. Come and see for yourself."

I followed Cosmo to the narrow and steep set of stairs that led up to the small landing. There was enough room there for three people at most, and Wendell moved to the corner to leave me room before pointing to a device in the wall I hadn't initially seen. It was the end of a spy scope, sticking out of the wall, the chair close and convenient. I bent to the eyepiece and closed my other eye to peer through. Adjusting the lens, I frowned as a mess of rumpled sheets appeared and then gasped as Owen dropped onto the bed, naked and shimmying into a pair of trousers, his cheeks flushed.

I yanked back, blinking away the memory of his bouncing length as he tucked it away, muscular knots of his stomach flexing as he moved. I glanced at Wendell, and for a moment, I was only embarrassed by what I'd seen. Finally, it clicked.

"Oh! That slimy little—" I cut myself off, and Thao finished the thought for me in his own tongue. "He wanted to spy on me!"

"Your bed specifically, unless there are more things like that around the castle," Wendell said with a nod.

I shuddered and clenched my fists at the thought of Sir Hubert watching me inanyfashion. Nothing had really taken place in the bed until this morning, but I was still relieved that I'd insisted on taking this bedroom for my Chosen.

"Invading royal privacy is one of the highest offenses in my court," Thao said, shoulders squared as he stared up at me.