Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey [112]
It was an unexpectedly deep-throated laugh, rich and resonant. My heart rolled over in my chest, whispering the word “always.” Her black eyes came to life, sparkling at me. “And why did you do that, Messire Maignard?”
“Because I was anxious,” I murmured. “Because you are very, very beautiful, your highness. And by the presence of yon glowering guard, I suspect you have a jealous husband.”
“Actually, Astegal is quite reasonable,” the princess said with amusement. “The guards are merely for the sake of appearances. As I recall, at one point during our courtship, he told me I was welcome to keep a harem of beautiful young men if I chose.”
I eyed her, trying to tell if she was teasing me. “And do you?”
“Are you volunteering?” she asked.
“Would you have me?” I countered.
A wicked smile flickered over her face. “Not smelling like that.”
I flushed a second time. “I’m sorry, my lady!”
“No, I apologize.” She laughed. “You’re ill at ease and I’m baiting you unfairly. In truth, Messire Maignard, my husband is a rare man himself, and I’ve felt no temptation to test the boundaries of his tolerance.”
I felt a profound pang of sorrow. “Not even a little, Sidonie?”
Why I’d called her by name, I couldn’t say. It was wildly inappropriate . . . and yet, something shifted between us. She gazed at me, frowning like someone trying to remember a forgotten tune. I held her gaze, my heart hammering in my chest, suffused with a strange tenderness. Fear, hope, desire? The air between us felt charged, as though lightning were about to strike.
And then she closed her eyes and shuddered, and it passed.
“Oh, gods!” I said in anguish. “Forgive me. That was appallingly overfamiliar. I’m sorry, your highness, I don’t know what came over me. Will you please forgive me?”
“I think I’d better.” A wry edge crept into her tone. “I deserved no less for baiting you. Are you always this graceless and blunt in practicing the art of flirtation, Messire Maignard?”
“No,” I said. “Are you always this acerbic?”
“No.” It was only one syllable, but it was accompanied by that same wicked little smile: a quick, maddening flicker.
“Ah.” I fanned myself and glanced at her Amazigh guard. He stared impassively back at me. “You mentioned a lesson. May I ask what your highness is studying?”
“Punic,” she said. “One can get by with Hellene, of course, but I find it unwise not to at least attempt to learn the mother tongue of a land. In fact, that was one of the reasons my mother replaced the Comte de Penfars as the ambassador to Menekhet. She discovered he’d not bothered to learn Menekhetan after the Comtesse de Montrève and her consort were there to . . .” The princess blinked, her voice trailing off. A perplexed frown creased her brow.
Oh, hells.
“On their quest to free the Master of the Straits, was it not?” I inquired. “Even in Cythera, we heard of it.”
“Yes, of course.” Her brow cleared, though a touch of uncertainty lingered. “I imagine you would have, given his eminence’s ties to Ptolemy Dikaios.”
I sighed inwardly. “Indeed.”
Gods above, I felt like a rabbit in a field of snares. How exactly was one to avoid speaking of Terre d’Ange to a woman raised from birth to inherit its throne? And all the topics that touched on Prince Imriel’s life . . . all the very things I needed to reach her, the very things Bodeshmun had forbidden me to discuss.
Which left flirting as the only safe ground, except that I was stumbling over my own feet there, awkward and graceless.
“Are you well?” the princess asked. “You look pained.”
“I think it’s the pomade,” I said. “Your highness, his eminence has asked me to conduct other business in Carthage, and I will be here for some time yet. If I were to promise to scour myself quite thoroughly, is there any chance that I might beg another audience of you? Mayhap to play a game of chess?”
She laughed. “Do you promise to be as unwittingly amusing?”
I winced. “By the Goddess, I hope not.”
“I rather enjoyed it.” Her eyes sparkled. “It’s a pleasant change of pace from the usual bland courtesies.”
I rose and bowed to her. “Very