Dauneth’s face reddened. “Of course not. I didn’t mean-“

“You should have seen me at Huthduth,” the princess continued, her voice now light and cheerful. “Clearing stones out of fields, leading plow oxen, harvesting squash, picking raspberries, hunting wild mushrooms…”

Tanalasta paused, thinking it better not to add “swimming naked in mountain lakes.”

Merula the Marvelous raised an eyebrow, and she felt a sudden swell of anger. Could the wizard be reading her thoughts?

“You were hunting wild mushrooms, milady?” asked Dauneth. “In the forest?”

“Of course.” Tanalasta returned her gaze to Dauneth, still struggling to decide how she would deal with the wizard’s intrusion. “Where else does one hunt for mushrooms?”

“You really shouldn’t have,” Dauneth said. “The mountains around Huthduth are orc country. If a foraging mob had come across you…”

“I wasn’t aware that protecting me was your purview, Dauneth. Has the king told you something he has yet to share with me?”

Dauneth’s eyes betrayed his surprise at the woman returning from Huthduth. “No, of course not. The king would hardly confide in me before his own daughter, but I do have a… a reason to be concerned with your safety.”

Tanalasta said nothing, allowing Dauneth a chance to make himself sound less presumptuous by adding some comment about a noble’s duty to safeguard a member of the royal family. When the Warden remained silent, she realized matters were worse than she had expected. With King Azoun turning sixty-three in two days and Tanalasta on the far side of thirty-five and still unmarried, people were starting to wonder if she would ever produce an heir. Certain individuals had even taken it on themselves to hurry things along-most notably the Royal Magician and State Pain-in-the-Princess’s Arse, Vangerdahast. The crafty old wizard had no doubt arranged to celebrate the king’s birthday at House Marliir for the purpose of advancing Dauneth’s courtship.