To the Court of Love by M.C.A. Hogarth
Author:M.C.A. Hogarth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.C.A. Hogarth
BETROTHED
âSo what burrâs under your saddle now?â
âGood one,â Petaq said over his steak, smothering the words with approving silvers.
âThank you, I try,â Armin replied dryly.
âHeâs really getting into this spook business,â Petaq continued, and didnât drop out of Eldren on the last words⦠which created a piece of nonsense that Haladir was still parsing as his brother went on. âFerreting out clues. Putting together puzzles. Assembling the big pictureâ¦.â
âFor Speaker-Singerâs sake, it wasnât that hard. Weâre barely into our one day break from our âtraining regimenâ and heâs already so distracted heâs practically walking into walls.â
Petaq grinned. âItâs love.â
âWhat?â Haladir said, drawn back to the conversation. âGod and Lady, I falter one moment in my attention and the two of you are matchmaking, is that it?â
âProjection,â Armin said to the Glaseah sitting beside him.
âOh, absolutely.â
None of the repressive looks that had worked on his daughter as a young girl had ever shown any effect on his blood-brothers, so he didnât bother with the attempt. Reaching past them for the carafe, he refreshed his glass, wishing the wine had not been so well watered. Briefly. A pang gripped him, but he brushed the memory away. âYou are speaking, I presume, of the flattering pursuit of the prince-consortâs mother.â
âYessss?â Petaq said.
âHas this situation been upgraded to âpursuitâ?â Armin applied himself to cutting his meat, almost daintily. It amused Haladir that someone so obviously related to a predator could have such delicate table manners. âLast I checked, we were still at the âcautiously circling one anotherâ stage.â
âThere is nothing cautious about her circling,â Haladir said. âShe has made it quite clear she means to wed me, bed me, and get an armada of children off me.â
âGreat!â Petaq said. âWhenâs the ceremony?â
A long pause, during which Haladir struggled with the corners of his mouth.
âCome on, you know you want to laugh.â
âIâ¦â He gave in and smiled. âFine. It does strike one as humorous.â
âStrike âone,ââ Armin said. âBut not you, is that it? So whatâs the problem?â
He had chosen two perspicacious aliens for his companions, so he had only himself to blame when they lived up to expectations. âOther than the scandal potential inherent in the princessâs father wedding her husbandâs mother?â
Petaq snorted. âI seem to recall you saying something about preferring to be outrageous, rather than pitiable.â
âOutrageous as the man who dared grasp his own destiny, yes,â Haladir said. âOutrageous as the man who dove into an incestuously close relationship with a fresh woman not even a year after being granted a divorce?â
The Seersa frowned. âBut youâre not related⦠are you?â
Petaq paused and rubbed his forehead.
Armin eyed the Glaseah. âWhat?â
âThe genepoolâs microscopic, Armin.â
The Seersa looked at Haladir and lifted both brows. âHow bad is it?â
âWe share grandparents, Iâm afraid.â
âWhat heâs not telling you,â Petaq continued over the Seersaâs sputters, âis that sharing grandparents isnât weird here. They tried to curb the problems with marriage taboos, but they didnât make nearly enough headway. The medical staffâs slammed, hunting genetic errors now that my daughterâs got her clinic running.
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