Chateau d'Eternité by Tachna Ariel

Author:Tachna, Ariel [Tachna, Ariel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-03-27T23:00:00+00:00

DINNER was every bit as isolated and miserable as Russ had expected, left out behind closed doors with nothing to do but sit as close as he could and try to listen in. Unfortunately, he didn’t know any of the players besides Quentus, so he couldn’t keep track of who said what, nor could he begin to guess at the undercurrents in the room between the guests and Quentus and among the different guests. He could tell it was far more complex than what Quentus had said as he explained things to Russ that afternoon, but Russ could be patient. His house arrest would be over in two more days and then he could go with Quentus to meet the men in the other room, one or two at a time and with an eye to understanding everything he overheard tonight. He wasn’t a soldier. He couldn’t pick up a sword and wield it in Quentus’s defense, but he was an intelligent man. He could work behind the scenes to protect his lover, and from what little he could hear, their “enemy” moved behind the scenes anyway.

The possessiveness of his thoughts surprised him. As annoyed as he was with Quentus for confining him to the house, he hadn’t expected to feel much of anything else, but he couldn’t stand the idea of someone taking Quentus away from him. He heard Quentus call for the servants and slipped back to the bedroom. He didn’t want Antony telling Quentus he had been spying on them. He would tell Quentus himself as he asked about what he had heard and what needed to happen next, but he didn’t want to embarrass Quentus in front of his guests.

That was another surprising impulse. He seemed to be full of them tonight. He frowned a little as he considered all the conflicting impulses running through his mind at the moment. He still wanted to kick Quentus for thinking he could control Russ’s freedom of movement, but none of the servants had seemed at all surprised by Quentus’s orders, so Russ figured it was fairly commonplace even if it rankled. At the same time, though, he wanted to keep Quentus with him in ways that went beyond the prospect of more sex.

“Excuse me, sir.”

Russ looked up to see Antony at the entrance to the bedroom.

“Yes, Antony?”

“The legatus had us make a plate for you as well, if you would like to come eat in the garden.”

Russ couldn’t stop the smile that made his lips twitch. Even when he denied Russ the right to join their guests for dinner, he hadn’t forgotten Russ was there or left his well-being to chance. One more conundrum to figure out. “I will be there in a moment.”

The meal could have challenged any five-star restaurant Russ had ever eaten in, not that he had been in all that many. He tended to be more of a pizza and burgers kind of guy if given a choice, although he had certainly learned to appreciate a fine meal.

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