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Cassidy held up her hands "I wore the heavy gloves I used a tight shield to protect the palarden that were obstinate" And if it really wasand trying not to think than she’d spent on actual labor
Burle crouched beside her, took her hands in his, and studied her pal with a few calluses, but a hand that’s torn up can’t serve" He gave her hands a gentle squeeze and let go "Still, you didn’t need to do all of this yourself"
"My father taughtwith hard work or sweat"
Laughing, he stood up, bringing her with him "I used to wonder if your brother, Clayton, heard half of what I said And I used to worry that you heard too ood woood Queen"
"Good Queen?" Control broke, and the pain she’d been living with since she’d shown up at her parents’ house the week before flooded out of her "Poppi, ned All thethe Steward and Master of the Guard--informed me that they wanted to serve another Queen--a Queen who had served her apprenticeship in , Poppi"
She sobbed out all the hurt, the shock of betrayal Only bad Queens were abandoned Only abusive Queens had their First Circle walk away, breaking the court Only
She couldn’t think about the man who had been her Consort That hurt went too deep
She wasn’t pretty Had never been pretty She was tall, big-boned, and gawky She had red hair and freckles, and a long, plain face She didn’t come from a wealthy family or an aristo family Except for a distant cousin, Aaron, as the Warlord Prince of Tajrana and was married to the Queen of Nharkhava, there was no social status connected with knowing her or being in her bed And since she wore a Rose Jewel, she didn’t have the kind of power that would intrigue anyone There was no reason for anyone to look twice at her
Except that she was a Queen, an oddity in a family that had rarely produced anyone ore a dark Jewel, let alone so caste
Now she was a Queen without a court She felt as if so had been ripped out of her, and she didn’t kno to stanch the emotional wound Lady Kermilla had the First Circle who had served her, the Blood and landen villages she had ruled, the house she had lived in, and the gardens she had tended
She hadn’t wanted to be important, hadn’t wanted to become a Province Queen and rule over District Queens And she certainly had no ambitions to become the Queen of the whole Territory of Dharo She’d been happy ruling Bhak and Woolskin She had wanted to ood place to live for Blood and landens alike
But the -stone to serving in er Queens When they realized she wasn’t going to be a stepping-stone to anything, they grimly fulfilled their contracts--and walked away froht into a contract with Kermilla, a pretty, vivacious Queen as ready to establish her first court Kerh Jewel to be a big lure, but she had soerand enty-one years old
"There now, Kitten," Burle said as he patted her back "Don’t take on so It’s no shame on you that you ended up with a First Circle who has to drop their pants in order to use their brains"
The ie that popped into Cassidy’s head stopped the flow of tears Made her hiccup Ended with a watery giggle
"That’s better" Burle called in a neatly folded handkerchief "Mop up or you’ll end up on the sofa with bags of salad over your eyes"
"It’s a slice of cucumber, Poppi You put a slice of cucumber over your eyes" Cassidy mopped her face and blew her nose "Mother swears by that re with the way your ht, and every hour in between, she looks just fine"
He meant it And because he meant it, and because she’d inherited the red hair and freckles froht the man who had been her Consort had also ht she was lovely
When he’d left, the bastard had told her what he really thought
"Well," Cassidy said, vanishing the handkerchief, "we’d best get to the table before Mother co an arm around her shoulders, Burle ai I re her apprenticeship in your court, and I’ll tell you this, Kitten If those fools chose her over you, then they deserve what they’re going to get"
"Maybe" Probably When she’d sent Kermilla’s evaluation to the Province Queen, she’d tried to be kind, but there had been no denying that she’d had concerns about Kerht back
"Their loss, ot the two finest wo in my house"
"For a little while," Cassidy said
"What’s that , Poppi Next week, I’ll start looking for a place of my own" A very simple place, since there hadn’t been much left of the tithes she received fro the court expenses and sending the Province Queen her share That had been her income while she ruled, and the fact that there was any left was due to her careful upbringing and her ood life didn’t have to be an expensive life
And since it was her income and what she’d saved from the tithes was all she had, she would continue to tear up Ker: how ift" the new Queen?