Free The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

asked.
    James gestured toward the head of the table. “At events like this, I’m not important enough to sit by the crown prince, but I can see him from here. If anyone threatens him, I’ll just cut down everyone between us. I’m not worried.” He winked as though it had been a joke, but there was a hardness to his expression that revealed otherwise.
    â€œWe’ll be sure to stay out of your way, in that case.”
    So the prince was present after all. I glanced in his direction and saw the distracted, sullen expression of someone who didn’t want to be here. He sat between Lady Meredith and his father, who looked very gray this evening. The queen sat on the other side of the king, her face turned away from me.
    James caught the prince’s bored look, too, and flashed an awkward smile at me. In a low voice, as though sharing a secret, he said, “His Highness doesn’t usually come to balls and parties. He’ll make an appearance when he must, like tonight, but often he spends his evenings alone with his father.” James cast another look toward the crown prince and shrugged. “His preference for staying in gives me plenty of nights off, but it is good for him to be out in society.”
    â€œAh, the scandal there would be if he’d skipped this event!” Clint chuckled to himself.
    Why should I feel sorry for him, even if he was watching his father die a lingering death? By my count, he’d had nine years more with his father than I had with mine. And he would get to say good-bye.
    I shook the thoughts away—I was Julianna tonight, not Wilhelmina—and let myself be pulled back into James’s company as he indulged Melanie and me with the names and ranksand current gossip of everyone at the table.
    This, if nothing else, was an excellent time to study my enemy.
    A glass clinked at the head of the table, and Lady Chey rose to her feet; a servant spirited her chair back, out of her way. She smoothed her elegant lavender gown, with finely cut diamonds arranged in an elaborately stylized wave that crested on the bodice, which accented all her best feminine qualities.
    â€œThank you all for joining me this evening.” At Chey’s greeting, the remaining murmurs faded and the quartet played a soft chord before lowering their instruments. “I hope we’ve all had opportunities to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.” She glanced at me, eyebrow lifted in falsely sweet acknowledgment.
    It took all my self-restraint not to flip my little finger at her.
    â€œTonight, we’re here to celebrate the engagement of two people who I admire greatly, and who are some of my closest friends.” She made a welcoming gesture toward Crown Prince Tobiah and the young woman sitting next to him. “His Royal Highness Tobiah Pierce, and Lady Meredith Corcoran, Duchess of Lakeside.”
    The prince smiled politely, though he managed to make it look gloomy. Lady Meredith was radiant as she gazed up at her fiancé.
    Well. That was bound to be a loving marriage with no problems whatsoever.
    Lady Chey continued with her speech, mostly recounting all the time she and Meredith spent together, and how privileged she was to host their engagement ball thanks to this closefriendship. A few of the guests began shifting in their seats, and a woman—her mother, perhaps—glared pointedly, a clear signal for Chey to stop talking.
    Finally, the first course was announced and served. After the blessing, everyone began picking at the crab puffs, and it was all I could do not to shovel the food into my mouth as quickly as possible.
    Melanie moved just as stiffly as she speared a puff, and soon the conversation turned toward favorite dishes and desserts. James and his friends kept up a steady chatter, which allowed Melanie and me the space to observe them, as well as the rest of the guests.
    A few people flashed us curious looks, but I didn’t