Page 60 of The Crown's Shadow
After studying Kallie for a moment longer, Tessa stepped to the side. Kallie tipped her head in feigned gratitude. As she stepped beside Tessa, Kallie stopped. “Oh, and I do hope you are feeling better as well. Must have been a nasty bug that you had at dinner.”
With Tessa’s countenance twisting, Kallie gave the woman her back, her steps steady and straight. Yet Kallie’s stomach twisted with anxiety as she returned to her quarters.
* * *
“Phaia?”Kallie asked as she slipped her arms into the nightgown. Myra had dismissed herself earlier, stating that she needed to check on a few wedding details, which left Phaia to assist Kallie before she headed for bed.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Have you seen the king as of late?”
Phaia pursed her lip to the side, her brows drawing together. She shook her head.
Kallie tapped her foot.
Her gift stirred in her stomach. She needed answers. Letting her gift rise to the surface, Kallie turned to look at Phaia head-on. “Does the king have a habit of allowing visitors at night?”
“Visitors, Your Highness? I’ve known of several people visiting the king late at night.”
Kallie chewed on her cheek as she took a step closer. Her gift hummed, begging for a release. “Like?”
Phaia blinked. “Sir Laurince and Prince Sebastian visit him frequently.”
“Any women?”
Phaia tilted her head. “His mother, too, yes.”
Kallie huffed, her nails biting into her palms. “And what about lovers?”
“Lovers?” Phaia asked. She shifted on her feet, clearly uncomfortable where this conversation had turned.
“Yes,” Kallie said. “Lovers. Whom does the king invite into his bed?”
Phaia blanched. “No one, Your Highness. The king is a good—”
Kallie’s gift poured out. “Tell me the truth, Phaia.”
“The king does not share his bed with anyone,” Phaia said, the emotion gone from her words as the command forced them out.
“Then who was he with on the night I arrived?”
“No one, Your Highness.”
“Do you think I am a fool, Phaia?” Kallie snapped.
“No, Your Highness.”
Kallie stood only a few inches before the handmaiden. With Kallie’s gift still swirling in Phaia’s eyes, Phaia did not balk at Kallie’s approach. “Then why did Lystrata claim that he was indisposed the night I arrived? Why did he not greet me?
“Rian did not greet you that night, Your Highness, because the Queen Mother had prevented the staff from informing him of your presence.”
Kallie narrowed her gaze. “You speak the truth?”
Phaia nodded. “It was not his fault he had not been alerted. The king is a kind man. If he had known about your arrival, he would have been there to greet you without a doubt.”
Kallie took a step back. Her hand unclenching.
She had labeled Rian as the type of man who would prefer to have mistresses in his bed rather than his wife, that he was the kind of man to sneak around and use his title to gain the attention of the opposite sex.