The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)(9)

“Oh, Hollis!” She threw her arms around me.

“So there. I’d like to see my parents try to wriggle their way around that.”

“I’m sure they’ll try.” She shook her head. “It sounds like he’s willing to give you anything you want.”

I looked down. “I wish I could just be sure of what he wanted.” I sighed. “But even if I was, I don’t know how to win people over, and I’d have to do just that to make the lords happy with his choice.”

Her eyebrows knit together in thought. “Go get some sleep. I’ll be in your room in the morning. We will figure this out.”

She’d have a plan. When had Delia Grace ever not had a plan? I hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Good night.”

The next morning, I awoke feeling anything but refreshed. My mind had been racing through the night, and all I wanted to do was talk through each of my thoughts and pull at the threads until I found the answers tied up at the end of one.

I still couldn’t believe that Jameson might truly want to make me his queen. But the more I considered whether it was a real possibility, the more exciting the thought became. If I could just do something to make the people comfortable with me as a choice, I, too, could be adored. People could kiss the places I’d visited, like Queen Honovi, or have festivals for me, like Queen Albrade. Save for Queen Thenelope, who’d been royal in her own right, every other queen had been a Coroan girl, like me. They’d all come from good families, all been embraced, all left a mark on history. . . . Maybe that could be me, too.

Delia Grace walked in carrying a handful of books while I was still hugging my knees to my chest in bed.

“Do you think becoming queen means you get to sleep in all the time now?” she joked. I could hear the hint of a bite to her words but decided not to address it.

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“Well, I hope you’re ready to work regardless. We have a lot to cover.” She went to the vanity and nodded at it, her way of instructing me to come and sit.

“Like what?” I walked over, letting her pull my hair off my face.

“When it comes to dancing and entertaining, I believe you can top any lady at court. But your understanding of international relations is weak, and if you want to convince the lords of the council that you are a serious choice, you need to be able to speak to them about politics of the court.”

I gulped. “Agreed. So, what do we do? I feel like if I have to sit through a lesson with a stuffy old tutor, I might just die.”

Delia Grace placed her pins quickly, pulling the top section of my hair into a simple bun while leaving the rest of it down. “I can help you. I have some books, and anything I don’t have, the king would certainly provide.”

I nodded. If Jameson really intended to take me as a bride, he’d want me as educated as possible.

“And languages,” Delia Grace added. “You need to learn at least one more.”

“I’m rotten with languages! How am I . . .” I sighed. “You’re probably right. If we ever visit Catal, I don’t want to be completely lost.”

“How solid is your geography?” she asked.

“Solid enough. Let me get dressed.” I hopped up to go to my armoire.

“Might I suggest Coroan red?”

I wiggled a finger at her. “Good thinking.”

I tried to consider other small, strategic things we could do to curry favor, but, as Delia Grace had so astutely pointed out, I was much more gifted at entertaining than planning. As she cinched up the last string of my kirtle, a knock came at the door.

She tied off the knot and went to answer it as I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure everything was straight before my company came in.

Lord Seema was standing there, his expression looking as if he’d recently been eating a lemon.

I sank into a curtsy, hoping my shock didn’t show on my face. “My lord. To what do I owe this honor?”

He wrung his fingers back and forth over the paper in his hands. “My Lady Hollis. It has not escaped my notice that you have gained the king’s special attention in recent weeks.”

“I’m not sure about that,” I hedged. “His Majesty has been very kind to me, but that’s all I can really say.”

He glanced around the room, looking like he wished he had another gentleman to share the moment with. Finding no one worthy, he sighed and went on. “I can’t tell if you are playing ignorant or if you truly can’t tell. Either way, you do have his attention, and I was hoping you might do me a favor.”

My eyes darted to Delia Grace, who raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Go on!” I clasped my hands in front of me, hoping to look modest and attentive. If I needed to learn about the politics of court, I supposed this was as firsthand a lesson as I was going to get.

“I can’t make any promises, sir, but please, tell me why you’ve come.”

Lord Seema unfolded his papers and handed them over to me. “As you know, Upchurch County is at the farthest edge of Coroa. To get there or to Royston or Bern, you have to take some of the oldest roads in the country, the ones made as our ancestors slowly worked their way toward the forests and fields at the end of our territory.”

“Yes,” I said, and, for what it was worth, I did remember that little bit of Coroan history.