Richelle Mead - THORN QUEEN

“Man,” I said. “You guys move fast.”

Her looked turned wry. “Well, yes, but there’s also the fact that you invited him to visit sometime. He’s taking you up on the offer. In fact, I suspect seeing you is more important than the trade negotiations.”

“Good thing. Because I’m not so good in the way of negotiations.” I never wore a watch and had left my cell phone back in Tucson. I had no idea what time it was, only that I was spending more and more time in the Otherworld. Seeing Leith was only going to delay me further. “I’ll see him. But it’s going to be fast.”

Shaya looked relieved. I think she’d worried I would bolt, which was a very good fear to have. As we walked to the chamber Leith was waiting in, she gave me a curious look. “Perhaps you’d…like to change and clean up first?”

I looked at my clothes. They were pretty badly wrinkled, and I didn’t doubt that I had grass in my hair from last night.

“No,” I said. “The less appealing he finds me, the better.”

Unfortunately, that proved impossible. When we entered the room, Leith leapt up, face aglow with delight. “Your majesty! It’s so wonderful to see you again.” He swept me a half-bow and kissed my hand. “You look amazing.” He was apparently into the grunge look. “I hope you don’t mind me arriving like this. When my mother heard the news of your find, she wanted to make sure we could get in on it as soon as possible.”

“Sure,” I said, taking my hand back. “No problem.”

The room was a comfortable parlor that still bore the signs of Aeson’s tastes in decorating. Tapestries, lots of velvet, and dark colors. Everyone waited for me to sit on one of the plush sofas and then followed suit. I made a point of kind of sprawling on mine. It wouldn’t have been out of the range of gentry etiquette for Leith to come snuggle up beside me. As it was, he was still beaming at me and seemed a bit put out when Shaya jumped right in.

“So, your highness. We’d like to discuss trading our copper for your wheat.”

As they began to talk, I had a sudden flashback to that god-awful board game my mother used to make me play, Pit. I let my mind wander as the two of them hashed out the finer details of matters I didn’t entirely understand. My thoughts drifted to some upcoming jobs I had, the mystery of the demons and the missing girls, and of course, Kiyo. Always Kiyo.

Leith and Shaya wrapped up their negotiations fairly quickly. From the happy look on her face, I took it our team had come out ahead. With a polite bow in my direction, Shaya rose, holding some papers to her chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have these written up and formalized so that the prince can sign them before he leaves.”

I took this as my cue to entertain him, but nothing readily came to mind. I couldn’t really talk to him about reality TV or American politics. Finally, lamely, I said, “Thanks for your help. I mean, with the trade and everything.”

He grinned. “We’re getting as much out of it as you. Maybe more.”

“Shaya didn’t seem to think so,” I said, speaking without thinking.

This made him laugh. “She’s a good negotiator. You’re lucky to have her.” He leaned forward. “Especially since I’m guessing this really isn’t your…well, let’s just say it’s not one of your normal pastimes.”

The frankness caught me by surprise. I’d expected him to remain starstruck and silly, like most of the guys around here who wanted to hit on me. Leith’s current expression wasn’t lecherous or adoring now, just knowing and sympathetic.

“No, it’s really not. This is a kind of a big life change.”

“And yet, you knew you’d be taking this on when you defeated Aeson.”

I hesitated. Both Shaya and Rurik had hinted to me on a number of occasions that I really shouldn’t elaborate on the totally unexpected-and unwanted-nature of my queen-ship. Even if I hadn’t fought Aeson with the specific intent of supplanting him, the point remained now that I was stuck with this. Coming across as weak and whiny to those outside my inner circle could create more problems.

“Well, yeah,” I said brightly. “We just didn’t anticipate this many problems when the land changed.”

“But this is how your world is?”

“The part I live in. But we’ve had a long time to get used to it and figure out ways to survive and get water in. I gave Shaya books on how to construct some of that stuff, so hopefully she’ll find someone to do it.”

His brow furrowed. “Is there any way I could take a look? I might able to help.”

For a moment, I wondered if this was his new ploy to schmooze me-until I recalled what Shaya had said about him having a brilliant mind for technology, inasmuch as the gentry could. If he could parse diagrams and whatnot, it might be worth getting closer to him.

“Sure,” I said. “We could certainly use it.”

He smiled again, and as it lit up his face, even I could acknowledge he was pretty good-looking. Not like Kiyo, of course. Or even…well, like Dorian. But pretty cute.

“I’ll set to it as soon as I can. If there’s anything else I can do to make this easier for you, I’ll do it.” There was an enraptured look on his face. Yeah, he definitely had a crush, but he didn’t irritate me in the way so many other more obnoxious suitors did. An odd thought occurred to me.

“Leith…here’s something you might be able to help with. Have you ever heard of girls disappearing from the Rowan Land? In the areas that border my land?”

The look on his face showed that this was the last question he’d expected from me. “I…beg your pardon?”

“Girls have been disappearing from my land, right near your borders.” What were those names? “Skye and Ley. But the people I talked to say nothing’s happening to your girls. Do you know anything about this?”

He shook his head, utterly confused. “No…I’m afraid I don’t know very much about the lives of those people.”

Leith’s words weren’t contemptuous by any means, but there was an implication that villagers and peasants just weren’t people he associated with. It reminded me of Rurik’s comments about how Aeson would have never troubled himself to investigate bandits or missing girls unless they directly affected him. Leith wasn’t as much of an asshole as Aeson, but he and his mother were likely just as out of touch as any other noble.

I think a fair amount of disappointment must have shown on my face because he suddenly grew eager to make me feel better. “But I swear, I’ll look into this when I return. I’ll ask Mother, and we’ll send messengers out to report back. I’ll find out everything I can for you.”

I smiled at his enthusiasm. “Thanks, Leith. It’s really great of you to help.”

“Helping a pretty queen is no trouble at all. By the way, have you ever thought about getting a crown?”

We talked a little longer, and I found he actually was a really nice guy, given to moments of humor and intelligence. It wasn’t enough for me to jump into bed with him, but I appreciated finding someone else to connect with in the Otherworld. Shaya returned at last with the paperwork-hand-printed on scrolls, of course-and while Leith signed, we got a hold of the engineering books for him. His eyes widened with delight, and I swear, he probably could have sat down and started reading then and there on the floor. Instead, he took the hint that I had other things to do, and after many more compliments and hand kisses, he took his leave.

“You’ve given him another open invitation,” Shaya pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. But he’s harmless. I like him.”

“None of them are harmless, your majesty.” I couldn’t entirely tell if she was joking or not.