Conundrum by Laura Taylor

Author:Laura Taylor [Taylor, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Amazon: B089FRX46N
Goodreads: 78108098
Published: 2020-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Did you have a good time?” Val asked Toby, as they stood in the palace foyer, waiting for Maro to come back and announce that a car was ready to take Toby home. He was back in his typical jeans and t-shirt ensemble, having finally changed out of the temple robes once the evening’s fireworks display had ended. But getting out of the palace was proving to be a challenge, with several hundred people all trying to leave at once, and both the front steps and the main carpark were jammed, with the Royal Guard making small progress in streamlining the flow of people trying to head home.

“That was totally amazing,” Toby said, then stifled a tired yawn. It was getting on for midnight, and it was no surprise he was tired. “The dresses, and the music, and the fireworks, and…”

“And the dancing?” Kentario asked him, with a sly wink. Normally hating all the drama of these festivals, he’d acted on impulse when he’d asked Toby to dance. Ryu had been complaining about the boring nobles he was going to have to dance with all afternoon, and then Val had mentioned that he’d much prefer to dance with Toby… and before either of them could act on the idea, Kentario had leapt up, beating both of them to it. And from the look on his face, the invitation had come as quite a surprise to Toby, as well.

“And the dancing was awesome,” Toby said happily, flicking through a news report on Val’s phone. He’d innocently asked if there were any photos of him on the news websites, but before finding one of himself, he’d been distracted by a photo of the candles at the dawn ceremony, then a shot of the Priestesses lined up inside the temple, and in the end it had been easier to just hand over the phone and let Toby browse through the entire article. “Ooh, here’s one of the Temple. Wide angle, right from the back. That’s just amazing…”

“Any word from Maro?” Ryu asked, arriving back at their side after saying goodnight to a Duke and Duchess.

“Not yet. Give it another five minutes to clear,” Valentin advised him.

“The Guard will have to be playing at traffic control,” Kentario added, “and they always hate that, after an event like this.”

“It’s okay,” Toby assured them, his eyes still glued to the phone. “I can wait a bit longer. I can just find a quiet corner somewhere and… Holy shit! What the fuck is this?”

They all looked around, finding Toby staring at them with a look of shattered betrayal on his face. He was holding out the phone and, baffled by the accusation in his voice, Val took it back and glanced at the screen… and then cursed blackly. It was an article, like so many before, speculating on King Ryu’s inability to produce an heir with his current husbands. But this time, the writer had decided that an invitation to attend the Goddess Festival, and a dance with Prince Amagarda, meant that Toby was now in the royal sights.

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