“I’ll take that as an apology, sir. Your dinner is on the desk there. Good night.”
I was in bed when Roden and Tobias came into the room. Tobias entered more quietly than usual and lay down on his bed indifferently. Roden crossed over to me and said, “Conner was furious that you didn’t return to the dining room tonight. I heard him ask Mott to come get you right now.”
I groaned. “How can he expect us to see ourselves as royalty when he treats us as slaves?”
Errol entered the room and began rummaging through my drawers. “I’m sorry, Sage, but it’s true. Conner has asked to see you. Mott is waiting outside to take you to see him.”
I winced as I rolled out of bed. Errol held up clothes for me, but I shook my head. “If he asks for me at night, he’ll find me in nightclothes.”
“It’s inappropriate,” Errol said.
“And it’s indecent of him to summon me when he knows I’m asleep!”
I opened the door to leave, but Mott blocked the doorway and shook his head at me. “I won’t bring you to the master like that. Allow Errol to dress you, or I’ll do it.”
I shut the door in his face and held out my arms to Errol, who hurried forward, clothes in hand. Minutes later, Mott was walking me, fully dressed, down to Conner’s office.
“Am I in trouble?” I asked.
“That depends on your answers to his questions.”
Conner was in the middle of writing something when we entered his office. Mott directed me to stand in front of his desk, but I sat. A minute or two passed before Conner even acknowledged I was there. Finally, he set the quill down and looked up at me.
“What did you think of her?”
“The princess?” I shrugged. “She’s beautiful. I’d heard the betrothed princess was more horse than woman.”
“Bite your words,” Conner hissed. “You’re speaking of the future queen of Carthya. That is, if the prince is found. And yes, she has most unexpectedly become a beautiful young woman. Why did she choose you to escort her out?”
“Because I told her about the spot of dirt on her face before. I think she appreciated the honesty.”
“You’re lucky she did. She might as easily have had you whipped for being disrespectful.”
“I’ve already been whipped.”
“And stabbed, I hear.”
“Mott has my story on that incident, sir.”
“A story which is probably a lie.”
“At Farthenwood, lies and truth blur together.”
“Only lies in pursuit of the truth, Sage.”
My body ached with tiredness. All I wanted was to finish this pointless conversation and go back to sleep. But there was one question I needed answered. “Why did you allow me to go with her? When you bring me to court, she’ll recognize me.”
“If I bring you to court. Don’t mistake my tolerance for you as any sort of favoritism. Quite the contrary.”
“My question stands, sir. Why did you allow me to go with her?”
“The possibility of her recognizing you did concern me for a moment. Then I decided you can easily explain that I kept you in hiding here until you could be presented at court. The fact that you two already met could be seen as an advantage. Now I have some questions for you.”
“I have a few more questions first.”
Conner arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“What if Prince Jaron is alive? Then he returns to the castle to find me sitting on his throne? I don’t think he’ll appreciate that.”