Page 50 of The Queen's Line
Cosmo hummed and kissed my lips. "You can bring the north back to life, Bryony."
17
Bryony
“Nothing like that happened in the stables though, so we can't—" I started, glancing at the others around the low table filled with books.
"Actually, I meant to tell you," Owen said, interrupting me with a kiss on my cheek. "I didn't notice it at the time, but when I went in the morning, it looked as though someone had gone over the place with a fresh coat of paint. Everything was tidy and fresh, right down to the hay in the loft."
I gaped at Owen. What was he saying? I had worked some kind change over thestablestoo?
We were gathered together, my Chosen and I, in the Winter Palace library, a place that smelled of mildew and which I'd outright refused to enter until Owen had run through, laughing as he cleared away genuinely monstrous cobwebs. I was still feeling itchy, waiting for whatever beastly spider had fashioned those cobwebs to come out of its hiding spot.
"Here's a record of royal stays in the Winter Palace," Wendell murmured, sitting up in his armchair, raising the book he held. "It marks it by the final harvest, a festival, and then through the winter until the 'Ground Blessing.' But it appears to have stopped…over one hundred fifty years ago. I wonder why."
"I've never, in all my life, heard any mention of my grandmother or my mother having actual…contactwith the land we were supposed to be gifting with prosperity. I feel so stupid not to have thought of it," I muttered, flipping blindly through the pages in front of me before taking a deep breath and sinking back into the chair.
My body was stillthrummingwith the rush of sex with Cosmo, and when he reached over and soothed his hand down my arm, the Hunger panged softly inside of me, tugging me in his direction.
"Traditions get watered down all the time. The meaning may have gotten lost," Cosmo offered.
"Perhaps there was an especially lazy queen in your ancestry," Thao offered with a shrug. "Not all royalty chooses to do their duty. My great-great grandfather was a resounding disappointment to Mennary."
My lips twitched, and Thao smiled back at me, sitting next to Wendell but not bothering to look at the book in front of him. Owen was on my other side, his legs spread and his knee resting against my thigh. Cosmo and I had snuck back to the palace in our wet clothes, washing the sand and grass away quickly and redressing before going to find the others.
"Are you sure the oak was dead?" Wendell asked, eyes tracing the words on the page in front of him.
"Positive," Cosmo said, his fingers trailing back and forth on the inside of my wrist. "Hollow branches and not a leaf in sight until…"
Until I'd come on his fingers. I looked up and met Cosmo's eyes on mine, my lungs freezing for a moment in response to the warmth of his stare. The corner of his eyes crinkled with laughter, and I wondered if he was intentionally stirring me up to see what would happen.
You could be like Camellia and plant yourself on his lap right now, just hike your skirts up and he could slide right—
"Ah, wait a moment. The year the queen stopped attending the harvest festival, the council replaced her and attended themselves," Wendell said, looking up.
"What do we know about the council?" I asked, more to myself than the others.
"They're intended to lighten the load for the queen. They're universally nobles, and they manage local magistrates. They appoint ambassadors, set taxes, and coordinate kingdom spending," Wendell said, looking up from the page.
"All which seems to go to the capital," Cosmo added.
"Or their own pockets," I said, and then I laughed. "We sound like Aric."
"We could call him here," Cosmo offered, and I flashed him a glare.
"I think I'd rather he wasn't…aware of this new development," I murmured. "He thinks the queen's line and the Hunger are the cause of the inequity of wealth in the kingdom. And in some way, he might be right. I'd rather he wasn't suspicious of me while I'm trying to help."
"At this point, I wouldn't recommend attracting any unnecessary attention to your newly revealed magic at all," Wendell said. "Most people are assuming you have it, but I don't know of anyone who would expect the Hunger to manifest so…"
"Lushly," Cosmo said, tongue wrapping decadently around the word.
I rolled my eyes at him, and he laughed as my hand seemed to rise unconsciously to toy around my collar. I was growing too warm.
"There should be texts in here somewhere on the council's duties and the formation of their number, wouldn't you think?" I asked, wiggling away from Cosmo and Owen's stray touches.
My skin was itchy and tight, Hunger nipping at me and trying to drag my eyes back to the men at the table. I moved around my chair and bounced on my toes, trying to ignore my cravings to focus on the actual conversation.
"Are you tired?" Cosmo asked, and I shook my head. "Owen, why don't you go with her to find more useful material on the council."