Thorn Queen (Dark Swan, #2)(39)

"Dorian," I said uneasily. "Don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do."

She glared at me. "I don't need your assistance here."

"What she wants is irrelevant," said Dorian. I was a bit surprised at how casually he was able to order her about and objectify her. I'd assumed whomever he was sleeping with at any given time would be someone he had feelings for. Who knew? Maybe he cared about her a lot but was still able to treat her as a subject. Or maybe he just cared about me more.

"Yeah, well, I don't want her," I retorted.

"Also irrelevant," he replied, eyes still fixed on Ysabel. "You made a promise to give your teacher a fair chance-unless you're going to be human and go back on your word?"

"This isn't quite what I expected!"

"It doesn't matter. You're either going to keep your promise or you won't. And you," he said to Ysabel, "are either going to obey or not."

Ysabel's eyes were ablaze with rage, and her breathing was heavy. I had the feeling she wanted to burst forth with a million expletives, but she bit her lip as though physically forcing them back. At last, she swallowed and took a deep breath. When she spoke, her words were to Dorian, but her gaze was on me. I hadn't seen malevolence like that in quite some time-no, wait. That wasn't entirely true. Her look was a lot like the one Volusian often gave me.

"Of course, I will obey, your majesty. With great pleasure."



Along with Ysabel, Dorian sent me back with some shipments of food on credit. I almost would have thought he was trying to soften the blow of me being stuck with her, except Dorian was the type who would actually enjoy the thought of us having an uncomfortable trip. He would get a kick out of knowing how irritated I was and probably regretted he couldn't be there to witness our interactions. Nonetheless, I mitigated the discomfort by riding at the head of my group, sticking Ysabel all the way in the back behind my guards and Dorian's servants.

Shaya was understandably surprised when we arrived back. I left her to distribute the food and deal with Ysabel. "Put her somewhere. Anywhere," I said. "It doesn't matter to me."

"But why...why is she even here? That's Dorian's mistress."

"Oh, yes," I said, watching as a scowling Ysabel stepped aside for the rest of the entourage spilling into my castle. I kind of took offense at the sneer she gave my residence, despite the fact that I knew it was in disarray compared to those of other monarchs. "Believe me, I know she is."

Shaya seemed mollified and distracted enough by Dorian's gifts that I was able to slip away without too much argument. I made the crossing back to my world, not even bothering to change clothes before I went. When I finally got back to my own house, I had the pleasant surprise of finding Kiyo lying on the couch. Three cats slept on the couch's back while one rested on its arm. The fifth lay sprawled across Kiyo's stomach.

"That," he said, "is a great dress. Smells a little like horse, though."

I glanced down at the purple silk dress, which was holding up remarkably well considering all the dust and sweat it had been subjected to today. "It was part of a diplomatic outreach."

"Dorian, huh?"

"What was your first clue?"

"The slit."

I headed across the living room, toward the hall that led to the other side of the house. "I'm hitting the shower. You want to go to Texas with me afterward?"

Kiyo straightened up, spooking a couple of the cats. "Is that like a new restaurant? Or do you mean the state?"

"State. I have to go talk to those two shamans that Roland told me about." I glanced at a clock. "We'd probably have to stay overnight."

He considered. "If we can be back by noon tomorrow, I'll do it."

I assured him we could and then left to shower away the day's dirt. Miraculously-and a little disappointingly-Kiyo didn't come harass me while I cleaned up. He had a tendency to show up while I was showering and offer to "help" clean me off.

Conscious of our time, he let me be, and a half-hour later, we were ready to hit the road. Yellow River was just over the Texas border, making it about a four-hour drive if we kept a little over the speed limit. Kiyo liked to drive-I think it was some manly instinct-so I let him. We stuck to casual topics, which allowed my mind to wander to the Otherworldly affairs on my plate.

The whole stress of running and caring for a kingdom still weighed upon me, but I had the comfort of knowing I'd done what I could and that Shaya would manage the rest. That was her job. We both knew it, and she would perform her duties excellently. I needed to stop stressing about that. The missing girls...well, those were my problem. At least, I'd made them my problem. Meeting with these shamans in Yellow River would hopefully shed light on that situation, so until I saw them, there was no point in worrying about that either.

Ysabel...yes, well, that was something worth worrying about. I'd just let a viper into my household and took some comfort in realizing that my reluctance to stay the night in my castle would probably save me from being smothered in my sleep. If I'd had my way, I would package her up and send her straight back to the Oak Land. My stupid promise bound me. Maybe she did have something useful to teach me, but I had no evidence that she'd actually try to be helpful. She'd probably just glare the whole time, no doubt paranoid I wanted to move in on Dorian....