“You have been a little neglectful,” she teased. Then she paused as another thought occurred to her. “Out of curiosity, who runs things when you’re gone? Maris?”

“No, since he’s an offworlder, Mari can’t. My brother, Ryn, is actually the pro tem in my absence.”

The half brother he’d once been close to…

That made the hair at the nape of her neck rise. “You trust him not to backstab you for your throne?”

“I do. He wants nothing to do with the throne, or the empire for that matter. So he officiates when he has to, and then steps down happily when I return.”

That was a lot of trust for someone he’d grown distant with. “Are you sure he has no designs on replacing you?”

“I have the scar to prove it.” She didn’t miss the underlying bitterness in those words.

And that concerned her most of all. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” He offered her a smile that didn’t reach his shadowed eyes. “I should go. If I don’t, we’ll be on the floor, or the counter, or—”

She playfully pushed him away from her and laughed. “Go.”

He kissed her again, then left.

Pulling on a robe, she went to her room, hoping to find some decent clothing.

She paused as she saw Maris putting her new clothes away in the tall armoire beside her bed. “Were you here when Darling was?”

He shook his head “I left the minute he came in, and didn’t return until after he was on the stairs. Voyeurism is not my sin.”

She loved the way he phrased things. “Thank you, Mari. For everything.”

He inclined his head to her. “Gera wanted me to tell you that she rescheduled your first lesson for four.”

She cringed at the mere thought. “Great.”

“If it makes you feel better, I told her I didn’t think you needed any help. Obviously from what we’ve been hearing, we all know you’re quite capable of pleasing his lordship.”

“Are you going to keep torturing me with that?”

“Probably.” He handed her a sedate dark green dress. “This will be lovely with your coloring.”

Taking it from him, she ignored his comment as she returned to their previous conversation. “Darling said that he’d told Gera I didn’t have to be prepped anymore.”

“He did tell her that. She didn’t listen. She said that this was one lesson you really didn’t want to miss.”

Zarya quirked her brow at that. “I think I’m afraid.”

“I definitely would be,” he whispered. “But it could be good… Maybe. And if it is as good as she says, you’ll have to share with me later.”

“You’re terrible.” She went back to the bathroom to put her dress on.

As soon as she finished, she rejoined him in the bedroom where he waited patiently. “Maris? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, just as long as you understand I’m not obligated to answer.”

She also loved Maris’s disclaimers. He almost always had one for every occasion. “Darling said that he trusts Ryn to run things for him and that he knew his brother didn’t want the throne. He said he had the scar to prove it. But he wouldn’t elaborate. What was he talking about?”