Grace of the Goddess (The Death Dealer Book 3) by Katie Roman

Author:Katie Roman [Roman, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2016-01-08T23:00:00+00:00

Nine

Grace and Henry sat in George’s study together after the knights’ ride, enjoying a quiet game of chess. Tristan refused to join in any merriment where Grace would be present.

“Your cousin has quite a bruise,” Henry remarked. He didn’t look up from the board as he spoke.

Grace watched him carefully. Did he suspect her? Should she come clean and confess to her friend?

“How did he come by something like that just days before his wedding?” Henry asked, looking up to meet her eyes after he found the perfect spot for his queen.

“We exchanged angry words, followed by angry blows, or at least on my part.” Grace broke eye contact to examine the board for her next move. Her face burned with shame.

“You? What could he have done to anger you so?”

Grace picked up a knight and twirled it around in her fingers. “He told me I nearly ruined the family and then he hit Donald for helping me. So I hit him back.”

“That is unbecoming behavior of a knight and a lady.” His voice was stern, though not angry.

Grace laughed and looked up to see Henry with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head and smiled. “I am hardly a lady,” she commented dryly.

“Perhaps not in the sense you were before, but you are still responsible for your actions. It is important to think before you act.”

She wanted an open talk with him, not a lecture. “I erred in my judgment,” she said, cutting him off. “And it shows that I am not the same girl you met at the tournament.”

It was Henry’s turn to laugh. “Of course you are not! You have not been forced to live the sheltered life of a high born lady. If you had come from Glenbard unchanged, I would have been more surprised to hear that you boxed your cousin. All I am asking is that you just remember to think before coming to blows. It is a lesson I am sure even the King of Thieves would teach you.” Henry reached across the board to take Grace’s hand. He squeezed it gently and his warmth flooded Grace.

With her free hand, she moved her queen toward his king. “Check.”

“Ha! Clever girl.”

They continued their game until Henry bested her. They talked of many things; Jack, the Thieves’ Guild, her life as a guard, the goings-on at court.

Grace cleared her throat as Henry finished telling her how the king’s favored knight, Benjamin of Salatia, won the joust in that summer’s tournament yet again.

“Has Her Grace said anything about my mother since arriving?” Grace asked. In all the court gossip Henry divulged, he said nothing of Deidre’s illness or of the arrest of Katherine’s husband.

Henry paused and tapped his lip with a chubby finger. “I do not recall. On the journey north, she talked of your mother excitedly. She was looking forward to seeing her old friend and rival. Has that shrew done something to your mother?” Henry’s eyes narrowed.

Upon their first meeting, Henry warned Grace about Katherine.

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