Free King of Mist (Steel and Fire Book 2) by Jordan Rivet

used to support a man called Drimmez.”
    “ The Drimmez?”
    “I understand he was popular.” Lady Tull took a delicate sip of her wine.
    “You could say that.” Siv barely resisted the urge to blurt out Drimmez’s statistics. He had been undefeated for seven straight years before Wora Wenden came on the scene and met him point for point! Drimmez was one of the most famous duelists Vertigon had ever known. Lady Tull didn’t sound nearly impressed enough that the house she led had such a legacy.
    Dara would have been impressed. Siv took another gulp of wine. He hoped she was all right.
    “Your Highness,” Lady Tull said, daintily slicing the last baked plum into quarters. “You must know that Bolden has asked for my hand in marriage.”
    Siv nearly dropped his goblet. He took another sip to buy time. So they were going to take the direct approach, were they?
    “I assumed he had,” he said as nonchalantly as he could manage. “And have you answered?”
    “Not yet, Your Highness.”
    Lady Tull dabbed at her mouth with a lace handkerchief and met his eyes, waiting patiently. She had a soft gaze, almost as if she were looking past him or trying to remember a dream from the night before. It was too easy for Siv’s attention to slip away from her and linger on the mist-cloaked mountaintops outside the glass wall of the parlor.
    Dara’s eyes were riveting. With her, he could never look away, even when he should.
    Siv stood and approached the glass wall of the parlor. Vertigon spread beneath him. The mist-filled Fissure, like a river of milk. Village Peak, with its humble buildings and scattered lights. Broad Square Peak, with the smudged outline of the Burnt Mountains beyond it. His kingdom. Siv thought of the many times he had studied that view with his father. That was why he was doing this. Vertigon had to remain strong.
    “My lady,” Siv said, his resolve strengthening as he turned his back on the view. This dinner with Lady Tull may not be particularly romantic, but she was a smart woman. She knew why they were really here too. “You must know I had hoped to ask you the same question. Denmore and Ferrington have long been powerful houses.”
    “Rollendar is powerful too,” Lady Tull said.
    “Yes, it is.” Siv frowned at the implication that House Rollendar already rivaled the crown itself for power. But he carried on before he lost his nerve. “I believe Vertigon would be well served by an alliance between your family and mine. Would you do me the honor of being my queen?”
    “I am humbled, Your Majesty,” Lady Tull said. “Will you grant me some time to consider your offer?” She didn’t hesitate. She had already chosen her words before she arrived, perhaps in consultation with those advisors of hers. “I’m worried about damaging my house if I refuse Lord Rollendar now. We have been keeping company for some time.”
    “I understand,” Siv said. “Take as much time as you need. But I vow to look out for the interests of your house even if you refuse my offer. I want Vertigon to be strong, and Ferrington and Denmore have always been part of its strength.”
    “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
    Lady Tull sipped gracefully from her goblet. She smiled at Siv, and there seemed to be real warmth in her expression. He wouldn’t go so far as to call it a spark, but it was something. Lady Tull hadn’t pretended she was considering the two young men. Like him, she was looking for the best alliance possible—but she wasn’t necessarily convinced that it lay with the king. That was a problem.
    “If I may say so, Your Majesty,” she said, “you have come a long way. I hardly recognize you as the man who used to drink and play mijen with us in the parlors.”
    “You are too kind,” Siv said. “Consider my offer. And I hope you will return to the castle for another visit soon.”
    “It would be a pleasure.”
    When the hour grew late, Siv walked Lady Tull to the door of the glass-encased parlor, but