The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)(10)

“As such, these roads are in the greatest need of repair. I have fine carriages, and even they struggle. You can imagine the strain this puts on the poorest of my community who might need to travel to the capital for any reason.”

“I can.” He made a good point. Back home at Varinger Hall, we, too, owned and kept lands, and we had many families who lived on them and paid rent to us in money and goods. I’d seen their old horses and weathered carts. It would have been a challenge to come even from our closer county to the castle with those things. I couldn’t picture trying to do it from the farthest reaches of the country. “What is your aim here, sir?”

“I’d like a royal survey of all the roads in Coroa. I’ve tried to mention this to His Majesty twice this year, and he’s brushed it off. I was wondering if you could . . . encourage him to make it a priority.”

I took a deep breath. How in the world would I go about that?

I looked down at the papers I had no hope of understanding before handing them back to Lord Seema. “If I can get the king to focus on this, I would ask a favor of my own in return.”

“I assumed nothing less,” he replied, crossing his arms.

“If this project moves forward,” I began slowly, “I expect you to speak kindly of me to anyone you pass who mentions my name. And if you discuss this interaction with the other lords, would you please tell them I received you graciously?”

He smiled. “My lady, you make it sound as if I would have to lie. You have my word.”

“Then I will do all I can to help you with this worthy project.”

Satisfied, he gave me a deep bow and left the room. As the door shut, Delia Grace burst into a fit of laughter. “Hollis, do you realize what this means?”

“That I need to learn how to make the king care about old roads?” I offered.

“No! A lord of the privy council just came asking for your help. Do you see how much power you have already?”

I paused for a moment, letting that thought sink in.

“Hollis,” she said with a grin, “we are on our way up!”

This time, when I walked into the Great Room for dinner and Jameson waved me to approach the head table, Delia Grace came with me. My parents were already to the king’s left, chatting up a storm, so I went up thinking I had some time to figure out how to casually work road repair into the conversation.

“How in the world am I going to do this?” I asked Delia Grace quietly.

“No one said it had to happen today. Think on it more.”

I didn’t know how to explain why this felt bigger than earning Lord Seema’s allegiance. I wanted Jameson to see me as someone serious. I wanted him to know I could be his partner, that I had a mind capable of handling important decisions. If he could . . . then a proposal surely wouldn’t be far off.

As Delia Grace and I listened to my parents go on and on about how Mother’s favorite tiara had gone missing last Crowning Day, and she was hoping the culprit would show up with it this year so she could finally get it back, I thought back on how easy our conversation had been the night before. How would I have said something then? A crumb of an idea hit me, and I waited until my mother finally let the king have a break from her incessant talking.

“I had a thought,” I began sweetly. “Remember that old swing back at Varinger Hall?”

Jameson smirked. “What of it?”

“I think I would like to go back to it, and have the strongest hands in all Coroa push me on it. Maybe then I would finally feel like I got to be a bird,” I teased.

“That sounds positively charming.”

“There are many places in Coroa I’d like to see with you,” I continued.

He nodded seriously. “As you should! More and more, I’m thinking you need to be well versed in all of Coroa’s history.”

I added that little tick mark to the list of things the king had said that made me think he wanted me as queen.

“I hear the mountains in the north are so beautiful, they’ll bring you to tears.”

Jameson agreed. “The way the mist settles on them . . . it’s as if they’re from another world entirely.”

I smiled dreamily. “I would very much like to see that. Maybe it would be a good time to go on a tour of the country, let your people see you. Show off your great possessions.”

He reached over, wrapping a strand of my hair around his finger. “I do have some beautiful things, though there is one gem in all of Coroa I am aching to call my own.”

Tick.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I would go anywhere with you, Your Majesty. Although . . .” I peeked around him at Father. “Father, didn’t you have trouble on the road the last time you went up to Bern?”

After swallowing his oversized spoonful of food, he answered. “Broke a wheel. Those roads are rough out there.”

“Are they?” Jameson asked.

Father nodded gravely, as if everything he spoke of with the king was of utmost importance. “Unfortunately, yes, Majesty. Not enough people out there to keep them up. I’m sure there are plenty more in the same state of disrepair.”

“Well, that won’t do,” I said. “I wouldn’t want Your Majesty injured. Perhaps another time.”

Jameson wiggled his finger at me. “Who was it . . . Ah! Lord Seema!” he called. Out of the crowd, Lord Seema lifted his head and rushed forward to bow before the king.