Bastian licked his lips, darted his gaze to Rhy, and then studied the floor. He knocked twice, eased away from the door, and stood straight as the verbal middle finger Patience had just used to flip him off.
Only the ass didn’t know it.
Rhy grinned as he passed Bastian to enter Savella’s office, patting Patience on the butt ahead of him.
“Your Majesty.” Hippy bent at the waist in respect, then straightened.
Rhycious bowed as well, noting Patience curtsied. His heart forged an extra beat. Her expression captured the essence of angelic beauty with her open-faced awe in meeting their monarch. Something intense flared through his entrancement and he fought an overwhelming need to be close to her.
“Thank you, Hippy.” Queen Savella smiled and removed her reading glasses. She placed them on the ornate desk covered with short piles of papers, before pushing back her chair.
Rhycious straightened and swept a hand to his right. “Your Majesty, may I present Patience, my liaison to the Wood Nymph community.”
Savella’s dark red cardigan flared out as she stood and rounded the desk’s sharp corner with her hand extended. “Welcome. Thank you for your offer to help us.”
Patience held Savella’s hand in both of hers. “You’re welcome, Your Majesty. How are you feeling?”
“I’m better, thanks to Rhycious.” Savella shot him a warm smile that he returned. She withdrew her hand, gave Rhy’s palm a squeeze, and motioned for them to have a seat before taking her chair again.
Hippy took up her station inside the office, next to the closed door. Arms crossed and legs planted as if she stood on the slick decks of a whitewater boat. Never intrusive, visitors often forgot the queen’s bodyguard was even there.
To Rhy’s critical eye, Savella’s skin tone looked healthy, but hints of rouge tinted her cheeks. Shoulder length blonde hair curled in at her jaw line. The layered platinum strands shimmered white fire from the glowing crystals embedded in the ceiling.
The queen huffed a short laugh and gathered a stack of papers. “I still run out of steam and want to take naps, though.” She tapped the documents on the desktop, and then placed them in a shallow wooden box. “Enough about me. Rhycious, have you anything to report?”
Rhy leaned forward in his chair. “Kempor Aleksander and I met with an interesting civilian. He moves in the underground circles and makes it his business to hear things. The male strongly insisted the primary source of the rebellion is building from within the palace and, more importantly, from within the political ranks.”
“I see.” Savella closed her dark brown eyes and sighed, rubbing the pads of two fingers slowly over her eyelids. Dropping her hand, she opened her eyes again. “This subversive resource of yours, did he have a name attached to the primary source?”
“No, Your Majesty, he didn’t. Nor do I think the conspirators meet inside the palace to plan their moves.”
“True. A gathering in confines close as ours wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.” Savella drummed her manicured nails on the desktop. “The forest, then?”
Rhy nodded. “The woodlands are readily available and remain private, for the most part. Centaurs collecting in groups could be anything from work parties, to those who live outside your walls of protection.”
“Your Majesty.” Patience scooted forward in her seat. “This is where I can give big-ups to the bang—”
Rhycious cleared his throat and Hippy covered a laugh with a fake cough behind them.
“Patience,” Rhy explained to Savella, “will work with me in enlisting the Wood Nymphs in becoming our allies.” He turned and smiled at Patience.
Icy shards of glittering green stared back. The line of her mouth pressed so tight, her lips were bloodless. She kicked her crossed leg forward and back, reminding him of Samuel Beiler’s cat with its angry tail. Each swinging motion fluttered the pink ribbon from the cuff on her pants.
Uh-oh. Patience looks pissed off. Was it something I said?
“Now you’ve done it.” Hippy said under her breath.
Rhycious glanced behind him and glared. He turned to face Patience and Savella. “What?”
Now the queen frowned in his direction.
“I’m perfectly capable to speak for myself.” Patience uncrossed her arms and stuck a finger in his face. “If you trust me to mediate on your behalf, why wouldn’t you let me speak to your queen?”
He licked his bottom lip and looked to Savella, who held her palms up and away from her. Damn. “Sorry.” I haven’t apologized this much in a hundred years.
Patience relaxed her hands to lay them over the chair’s arms and smiled at Queen Savella. “I grew-up on my parents’ stories of a fairytale Boronda, before the relationshame between mythological species detonated. It’s mo’deepest hope couture, for the future of our races, that we be existable in synchrolicious ways, just like in ancient times.”
Rhycious found himself wondering how the queen would handle the confusing collage of words.
Savella rose gracefully to her feet and adjusted her sweater with a gentle swish. She smiled at Patience and nodded. “And we are honored to have you and your forward thinking. Your hope is the same as mine, Patience. Working with the Wood Nymph people in this tandem venture is one step closer to burying our differences and moving ahead to prosperity.”
Rhycious rose to his feet the moment Savella stood to address Patience. He let her royal words sink in. The past two hundred and something years weren’t kind to either side, and all that hatred leeched out to encompass other residents of the Boronda Forest. Everyone getting all caught up in the swirling cesspool—the fence straddlers, religious leaders, civilians both hooved and toed, even the humans.
This brought to mind his Amish friend, Sam. For whatever reason the gods had chosen, Samuel was embroiled in this civil unrest along with the rest of them. In his buggy outings to gather willow branches for his specialty furniture, the human had found Patience.
It made Rhy wonder, what else had the man seen?
Twenty-One
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” In front of the queen’s desk, Patience rose out of her chair and stepped forward to offer her hand. “I look forward to chillin’ in that copacetic tide.”
Rhycious looked around the office. For a moment he felt discombobulated, and he viewed the goings-on as a spectator, rather than a participant.
Could satisfaction do that to a man?
The woman he loved leaned forward, shaking hands with the queen of his people. His close friend, Hippy, covered his back.
Surreal. Like a wish actually coming true for once.
“Rhycious?” Patience waved a hand in front of his eyes.
Hell of a time for his mind to take a vacation. He blinked rapidly to clear his thoughts and reached for her hand to hold. Not because her waving it bothered him, but because it just felt good.
Savella raised her brows and cocked her head to one side. After her gaze flicked between the two of them, she settled on him. “If you have a moment, I need to go over a few items with you.”
“Of course, Your Majesty. I’d like to have a quick follow-up exam with you as well, if that would suit.”
“Perfect time for me to bounce on outta here and let you two have a ripper,” Patience said.
Rhy squeezed her hand and chuckled, appreciating her thoughtful insight. “I’ll walk you to the door.” He nodded once toward the queen. “Excuse me, Your Majesty.”
Bacchus’ breath. Savella did not just wink at me. When your ruler winks, and there’s nothing medically wrong with her eye, what is the proper response? His face heated and he took a deep breath to center himself, pushing confusion out of the way.
Patience dipped a curtsey to Savella and turned to leave. She wrapped her hand around his bicep for support and he felt a tremble run through it. Rhycious doubted it was from excitement. Glancing down, he saw determination in her eye and lack of color in her cheeks.
“Polytima,” he whispered as they wal
ked toward the door. “How do you feel?” He mentally kicked himself for not insisting she take a break before the meeting. Her shakes downstairs in the atrium were a red light warning.
“Tiredation again. Since I don’t have my tree, I should probably rest before I’m sleep buzzed.”
“Uh, you need to rest. I caught that part.” He kissed her temple, sneaking a quick temperature check in the process. No fever, that was good.
Hippy caught his eye before opening the door for them, and raised a brow in question. Rhy indicated Patience with a bend of his neck. “I need an empty stall for her to rest in.”
Hippolyte’s sharp eyes cut to the fatigued Nymph who drooped beside him, and quickly scanned her face. Her combat experience assessed the situation in under two seconds. “If you’ll stay with Savella, I’ll make sure Patience is comfortable.”
He silently cursed and clenched his mouth tighter. Torn between serving his queen and caring for Patience, Rhycious needed to bust his fist and release the inner pressure. His agitation was coming on strong. Whether it came from the pull of the moon or lack of food, it wouldn’t change his predicament. Savella would have to come first.
This time.
Rhycious moved swiftly, so he wouldn’t change his mind. Not that he could. He held Patience’s face between his palms and gave her soft kiss. “Go with Hippy. As soon as I’m through here, I’ll come to you.”
Patience nodded and smiled. The color continued to leach out of her face like winter invading autumn.
Find the rebel leader.
Find the missing sister.
Find what’s making Patience sick.
So much to do in the little time he had.
Hippy laid a friendly arm around his pixie and walked her out of Savella’s office. He stared at the closed the door for a moment, then turned and walked to his chair, concentrating on the exact placement of each foot. He made damn sure his toes pointed forward and didn’t do a one-eighty to head out the door.
Gamóto. Please don’t let this be the longest meeting known to Centaurs.
Plush and thick, the spiked bluegrass cushioned the fall of his boots. Years ago when he lived in the palace, he didn’t care about the lack of windows. But for some reason, gazing into a serene forest held special appeal at the moment.
“You know how skeptical I am that we’ll all live happily ever after, don’t you?” Queen Savella asked.
Rhy shook his head. “Wasn’t aware you felt that way, Your Majesty.” He lowered himself into the chair.
Hippy wouldn’t disclose their personal history to Patience, would she? The scar on his cheek began a slow drumming tick.
“Too many Centaurs running around with the same outdated beliefs Uncle Nicky held.” She picked a fountain pen up and tapped the desktop with the end. “All this time, peace prevailing, and those intractable backward thinkers want the old ways back. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Patience hoped—and that’s the word she’d used—for the old, old, ways. What would you call those days? Prehistoric? The days before King Nickolaus were the days to which she referred.
Rhy scratched his chin. Stubble roughened what had been a smooth shave this morning. He shot a glance at his watch and noted the hours before sundown.
“I don’t know,” he repeated, and shook his head. “There’re some crazy ideas out there, and madmen who sway logical thinking with fancy words.”
“Not to add to your inventory, but there’s also the years of war and dissidence between Centaurs and the woodland people.” The pen stopped its droning beat. “Another thought of mine is this might be a prelude to civil war, like the human’s own a few hundred years ago.”
“I often wondered if our kingdom’s unrest unknowingly brought on theirs. There was an overlap when our wars ran parallel to each other.” Humans and creatures of the Myth fought alongside one another, and the humans never knew it. What were a few more dead bodies here and there?
Someone rapped lightly on the office door, and Rhycious turned to look over his shoulder. Hippy slipped in and made a half bow. With a nod and quick smile in his direction, she took up her place guarding the door.
“In either case, I have to make an appearance soon,” Savella continued, sitting back in her padded executive chair. “Gossip has it the advisors are questioning my health. You know how they’re like wolves attacking the weak.”
“I understand you need to protect your image.” Rhy inhaled on a sigh and Patience’s scent of spring rain drifted to him. He resisted the urge to check his watch again. “When will you appear next in the communal chamber?”
“I’m expected to conduct the binary meeting in a few days. That’ll bring me into the public eye and take care of those rumors.”
“Savella,” Hippy’s sword pinged off the rock wall when she pushed off to move toward them. Her four legs brought her to stand behind Patience’s vacated chair. “While I support your decision to maintain visual strength, I worry for your safety. Can you not bring the meeting here, to your office, or another chamber perhaps? A smaller area to control will aid in security issues.”
Savella dropped her pen to the desk. Clasping her hands together, she leaned forward on her elbows. “What choice do I have? Doing it this way will take care of two problems at once. Assign more guards if you think it’s needed.”
Hippy frowned, but after years as Savella’s bodyguard, she would know when the queen’s mind was set. “I’ll arrange the security detail immediately.” She took a step away, but leaned in again. “An uprising may try to thwart your position, but they’ll not succeed. The people of Boronda respect you for being a hands-on ruler. You’re nothing like King Nickolas, who remained behind palace walls and hidden.”
“Thank you, Hippy.” Savella smiled in easy companionship. “You always know what to say.”
Fist to chest in a deep respectful bow, Kempor Hippolyte pivoted on her hind leg, paddled in crossover fashion with her fore, and returned to her station.
Savella rose and rounded the desk to stand in front of him. “Want to get that follow-up exam out of the way?”
Rhycious smiled and nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
He held her wrist and counted seconds on his watch to find Savella’s resting pulse rate. Her eyes were clear and smiling.
“Any more abdominal pain? Feelings of dizziness or nausea?” he asked.
“No. I just tire easily. Like right now, I could take a nap.”
“Then as your personal Remedy Maker, I order you to bed.” Rhycious smiled at Savella’s look of gratitude. “And stay there until dinner.”
“Yes, sir.” She chuckled. “And bring Patience by soon. I like her.” He raised his brows at her offhanded comment. “She has gumption, that one. Reminds me of a kitten I once had—all soft and purring one moment, hiss and nails the next.”
Rhy laughed at the queen’s accurate description of Patience. “She’s all that and more.”
Hippy added her currycomb’s worth. “Rhy’s nymph is honest and pure, and doesn’t take any flack from him.”
The ladies broke out in laughter as Rhycious left the room. He shut the office door harder than necessary, inviting a curious look from Bastian.
Now that his meeting with Savella was finished, time to find his little pixie and check on her health. Damn. I didn’t ask Hippy where she put Patience, and I really don’t want go back in there. The cause of her increasing fatigue turned over in his mind. What he knew of plants pertained to their medicinal values, not dendrology.
It was time he went home and regrouped. Perhaps he would find answers to a few questions of his own.
Twenty-two
Rhycious opened the door indicated to him by the harried palace aide and stepped into a mid-size stallroom. After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the room’s dim glow. Oil paintings depicting battle scenes decorated the pale peach walls. He peered closer at one portrait in particular.
Dead Wood Nymphs. Damn.
His gaze
swept the room. Patience slept sprawled on the traditional Centaur floor bed; face up, arms thrown over her head. Her small hiking boots lay in disarray where she must have kicked them off. A lightweight blanket covered her.
Her sexy mouth hung open and the most charming snuffles came out. He grinned with bottomless peace and satisfaction. I must have it bad if I think her snores are cute.
Not able to stop himself, he crouched down and kissed her.
Patience stirred and yawned.
Rhycious stroked wisps of hair away from her cheek with his finger. “I’ve ordered some food delivered to the room.” He circled her delicate ear. “Thought you might be hungry.”
Her sleepy, innocent eyes blinked. She started to smile, but a huge yawn invaded the lower half of her face, and she arched in a body stretch that lifted the draped cover. Would it slide down and reveal her body to him? His whole being seemed to be filled with waiting.
“I wasn’t fungry until you mentioned it.” She pushed to a sitting position, and the blanket fell away. Beneath the thin top, her nipples hit the cool air and peaks hardened in an instant.
Drab military green would forever be his favorite color.
“Do you feel any better?” he asked.
“Why are you asking my breasts?”
“I can’t help it. They’re pointing at me.”
And they were. His tongue remembered the taste of her and flicked out to lick his lips. Rhycious’s field of vision narrowed as he moved closer to her sleep warmed body.
Mr. Happy twitched his approval.
The dubious look she threw him didn’t stop his advance—nor did the slap to his reaching hand.
“I just want to check your temperature is all.” His fingers slid down the soft column of her throat, pausing over the carotid artery throbbing under her skin.
His hand continued its downward course. Though Patience remained quiet, her respiration increased, along with her pulse. Between her breasts, he flattened his hand. Her heart pumped beneath his palm.
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