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T
he Duke certainly knew how to put on a spread. Hara filled her plate and winked at the Duke as she stuffed her face. She was hoping she disgusted him a little bit so he would change his mind about wanting her in his bed. Not that she planned to get near his bed. The Duke kept his face bland as he tipped his glass in her direction.
Gideon asked, “You have a lovely place here. How did you come to live here?”
The Duke narrowed his eyes. “The castle belonged to my late wife. She had such grand dreams for its glory but died before it could come to pass.”
Hara wanted to roll her eyes. Could he not be more cliché of a villain? He gloated in such lofty tones.
“Oh, your wife has passed on? Is Helena, your new bride? Congratulations,” Gideon asked in a voice overly cheerful as he turned to wink at Helena. She ignored the whole interaction and continued to eat.
The Duke had been taking a sip of his wine and he choked on it. He glared at Gideon. “No, Helena is merely a companion.”
Murphy, further down the table, snorted. “Companion? I bet she does more than keep you company.”
Liam elbowed Murphy and he glared at the boy. Hara decided she would say something before Murphy messed it up. “Do you have a new bride, then? Is she here?”
“No, alas, I have a broken heart and it would need to be someone of great beauty and wealth to get through to my broken heart.” The Duke eyed Hara suggestively as he spoke.
There was some snickering but when Hara glared at the others, they stopped. But she couldn’t see who it had been.
Liam said, “You have some fascinating gadgets. Do you make them yourself?”
Thank goodness for that boy. He knew the right thing to say to settle the mood. The Duke sipped his wine magnanimously. “I employ only the best but that is not where my skills lie. I have vision but not the hands to bring that vision to fruition.”
Liam seemed disappointed and when Hara looked his way, he explained, “He had a small automaton in the bathrooms.”
Murphy piped in. “Oh, yeah, cool little thing but nothing compared to Angel.”
Angel was back on the Blazing Blunderbuss. There was no way Hara was going to bring her into enemy territory while they didn’t know the enemy’s strength. But Hara wouldn’t be surprised if she popped up later. There was only so much Alice and Henry could do to keep the small dragon busy.
Liam said, “It scared the bejeebus out of Demetrius.”
The Duke said casually, “Demetrius. An interesting name. Since we were talking of brides, I wondered if you had your own bride. Someone young and handsome as you deserve a good woman.”
Hara looked at the Duke. Surely he didn’t know. They had come straight from the court and no one there had known besides the Emperor what their mission was.
Hara said for Demetrius, “Don’t mind Demetrius. He is shy.”
That had everyone raising their eyebrows. But Demetrius wisely kept his mouth shut. No one would believe he was truly shy but the conversation around the table turned in another direction. Hara had the feeling that this was only the quiet before the storm.
