Free WindBeliever by Charlotte Boyett-Compo Page B

get.”
    Yuri nodded. “I know that, Your Grace.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen you in action.”
    “But she hasn’t.” Conar folded his arms over his chest. “She’s going to find herself outclassed.”
    It was on the tip of Yuri’s tongue to tell the Prince it might well be the other way around, but he said nothing, instead nodding sagely at the young man’s words. It might be best to let the two of them, Prince and Tzarevna, settle the differences between them in their own way and in their own time. The outcome would prove to be most interesting.
    “So,” Conar said, “what is on the agenda for today?”
    Yuri looked down at the wet washcloth in his hand, seeming to see it for the first time. He looked back at Conar, lifting a brow in inquiry. When Conar shook his head, Yuri laid the wet cloth on the bedside table.
    “If you are up to it, I will order a bath for you and have your clothes pressed and ready to wear when you are finished with your bathing. Then, if you like, I will escort you down to His Highness. If you are still feeling a bit under the weather ....”
    “I feel fine,” Conar answered, flinging the cover back. “Against my wishes and better judgment that Healer of yours gave me laudanum for the headache.” He saw Yuri frown.
    “Exactly,” Conar remarked. “It wasn’t enough to cause any harm, but I really didn’t want it.”
    “I will speak to him if you’d like, Your Grace,” Yuri promised.
    Conar growled with just enough anger to get Yuri’s immediate attention. “Don’t call me that, Andreanova! I detest being called that! If you can’t speak my name then get the hell out of my sight and send me someone who will!”
    Yuri’s face turned white. “I could never call you by your given name, Highness!”
    “Then don’t speak to me again and go find someone who can!” was the rigid reply.
    “But I have been assigned as your personal bodyguard!” Yuri protested. “I know you well, Your ....”
    “Don’t say it!” Conar warned, pointing a finger. “I mean it!”
    Yuri groaned. Why did royalty have to be so perverse? “It is an insult for me to call you anything but your title.”
    Conar glared at him. “I look upon it as an insult when you call me by that title, Andreanova!”
    What was a man to do? Yuri moaned to himself. He knew better. Such familiarity would cause trouble for him with his own royalty, but if the Prince was going to be so stubborn about it....
    “Conar.” The word nearly choked Yuri, but he got it out.
    “See?” Conar grinned, “that wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”
    “Conar.” Repeating it wasn’t quite as hard.
    “Isn’t that easier to say than all that Your crap?”
    “Conar.” It was a friendly name, Yuri thought.
    “Don’t wear it out, Andreanova,” Conar mumbled.
    WINDBELIEVER
    Charlotte Boyett-Compo
    Page 38
    Yuri nodded. He thought he could say it without flinching too badly. He looked at his companion and saw laughter.
    “You enjoy putting people on edge, don’t you?” Yuri asked. “It truly gives you pleasure, doesn’t it?”
    “Living on the edge is the only way I know how to live,” Conar answered.
    Yuri smiled. “The only way you want to live, eh?”
    “Same
    difference.”
    Conar rummaged through the armoire where his clothing had been hung upon his arrival. He took out one shirt, frowned at it and dropped it to the floor.
    The Outer Kingdom warrior shook his head. Not for the first time did he wish the Serenian Prince’s lady were still with him.

    Catherine moved away from the door where she had been shamelessly listening to the Serenian speaking to Yuri.
    “You don’t like to be called by your royal title, eh?” she mumbled.
    Such a thing was without class, of course, she thought with disdain. One born to royalty had certain obligations despite what one wanted. But then again, the Serenian was without class, himself. And he had been stripped of his title and positions, although Catherine had not been told