Page 63 of Retribution

“Aye, I do,” he said. “But my father, who is concerned with perception, likes to wave that appointment around like a banner.”

She snorted softly. “Then your father and mine have something in common,” he said. “Children they use for their own gain.”

He glanced at her, at the top of her white head, as she lay back on his arm. “True,” he said. “But back to my statement about this situation we find ourselves in. My lady, I realize we have only known each other a few days, but surely you know that I have been attracted to you since the start. From the very moment I saw you in Adelie’s.”

Her smile was back and she reached up, gently pinching his chin. “I think we are beyond formalities,” she said. “Please call me Cleodora. Or Cleo. I will answer to whatever you wish to call me. But calling me ‘my lady’ after we have shared a bed? That seems silly.”

His eyes glimmered warmly as he chuckled. “Agreed,” he said. “Your name is beautiful, as are you. But you are the Pearl.”

The joy in her eyes faded. “Do not call me that,” she murmured. “Please. I do not want to be called that.”

“And if I were to call you my Pearl?”

“Your Pearl?”

“Does that distress you?”

She grew serious. “I would like nothing better than to be yours, Aidric,” she said. “Truly, it would be the most delightful thing I can think of. But I will never be your Pearl. Your Cleo, mayhap. But not your Pearl.”

“Would you rather be my angel? You look like one, you know.”

Her smile returned. “That is much nicer.”

“Then my angel it is.”

She still had her hand near his face, now toying with his chin, tracing the edge of his square jaw. “The situation is very complicated for us,” she said. “I wish it was not, but it is.”

“More than you know,” he said. “In fact, before you accused me of thinking you had asked me to kill Cambridge for you, there was more that I wanted to discuss on the subject.”

She looked sheepish. “I did become angry, didn’t I?”

He grinned. “You did,” he said. “You are delightful when angered, but the truth is that I came to ask you something.”

“What?”

“You and I were discussing the death of Cambridge as a way to eliminate the threat against Edward,” he said. “I cannot get close to Cambridge to kill him. He would have his soldiers cut me down before I could get close to him, so my being an assassin does not make good sense.”

She had lain back down at that point, dropping her hand from his face as she gazed up at him. “I suppose not,” she said. “Cambridge has de Baume with him most of the time, and others. They would all be prepared to kill for him.”

“I know,” he said. “Much like Edward, who surrounds himself with an elite personal guard, Cambridge is also surrounded by protection. In situations like this, the only assassin who makes any sense is either someone who has never been a threat before or someone Cambridge already trusts. Someone who eats with him, lives with him. Someone he would never suspect. The very last person he would suspect.”

She stared at him for a few long moments, her pale blue eyes fixed on him. “Do you mean me?”

“It would be the most logical solution,” he said. “He would never suspect you. But I know you were opposed to killing the king, so if you are opposed to killing in general, I understand. You are a fine lady and—”

“I’ll do it.”

She said it so quickly, interrupting him, that it took him a moment to realize she’d said it. When he looked at her as if unsure whether she meant what she said, that it was simply a whim, she nodded her head and sat up, her white hair flowing around her like a gossamer cape.

“I will,” she said, nodding emphatically. “Tell me what to do and I will do it. Aidric, I could not let you do it. You were right when you said that his men would stop you. They would kill you. I could not live with that. But they would not suspect me at all.”

He reached up, gently stroking her cheek. “Your words are sweet,” he murmured. “You would truly be distressed with my death?”

“It would devastate me.”

“We cannot have that,” he said, still touching her cheek. “I would not like to be the cause of any distress to you. But you are very brave to agree. Very, very brave.”

Her features softened as she leaned into his hand. “No one has ever called me brave before.”