“How’s Toby?” Rory asked.
“Truly lovely. She guessed the problem was you and asked if you’d ridden a motorcycle up the palace stairs and broken your leg.”
“I am wounded!” Rory said, his hand to his heart. “Tell her that I was injured while being a hero.”
“Ha!” Daire said. “You were cushioned by Lorcan. If she hadn’t acted so quickly and so well, both of you would probably have broken your necks.”
Rory stopped laughing. “How is she?”
Daire sat down in front of the screen. “Injured worse than she allows anyone to see.”
“Tell her thank you and that I’m sorry Dad is so fat.”
Daire smiled. “I’ll be sure to.”
“I know Gray is worried about all of this.” Rory lowered his voice. “Tell him I’ll do the best I can, but some ambassador from Russia is coming tomorrow. By Naos, I don’t know what I’m doing!”
Daire leaned closer to the microphone. “The man likes vodka and very tall wo
men,” he said quietly, then looked up to see Graydon listening. He raised his voice. “My advice is that you listen to your brother and obey him.”
“That’s what I plan to do,” Rory answered just as loudly and Daire moved away.
“Go to bed!” Graydon said to his brother. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.” He clicked off the screen, then leaned back in his chair and looked at Daire. “What did you talk to Toby about for so long?”
“Why we’re here, sleeping arrangements, that sort of thing. I was surprised that you two have separate bedrooms.”
“She is a maiden and I plan to leave her that way.”
“Then why the hell are we here?!” Daire asked, truly confused.
“I …” Graydon began but couldn’t think of a plausible answer. “I’ve been helping her come up with a theme for a wedding.”
Only Daire’s eyes showed his amusement. “Have you chosen your colors yet?”
“How about black and blue to match what I’m going to do to you when I get you on the field?”
“I look forward to it. Shall we eat? Or have these Americans turned you into a veggen and now you live on tofu and kale?”
“It’s vegan and Nantucketers eat quite well. I’ll go get Toby,” Graydon said, but his—Rory’s—cell phone rang and the ID said it was from the palace. “I have to take this.”
“Then it will be my pleasure to get Miss Toby,” Daire said and he left the room before Graydon could protest.
When Graydon got off the phone, he went to the kitchen and saw Daire and Toby seated side by side at the small table that he had cleaned off, in the room he had cleared out.
The table was covered with food from Lanconia that Daire and Lorcan had brought with them: roasted meat, sausages, pâtés, loaves of multigrain bread, cheeses, olives, pickled grapes, raisins, nuts, and even some Lanconian beer. Since they’d traveled with diplomatic immunity, they’d been able to get everything through customs.
“Try this one,” Daire said, and when Toby had her hands full, he put the tidbit into her mouth.
“Delicious,” she said. “What herb is that? I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
“It grows high up in our beautiful mountains. Maybe someday I can take you there.”
“I’d love that!”
What Graydon felt at the sight of them was the same as on the first night when he’d struck out at Rory for talking about Toby. But now, with Daire, he wanted to go for his throat.
Graydon took a step forward but Lorcan came up behind him. She firmly put her hands on his shoulders and began to massage the back of his neck with her thumbs. Part of her training had been how to deal with the tension before a match and the injuries afterward.