The Shadow Queen

of the way, so he’ll set it wherever you want before he heads back to Kaeleer.”
    “I can take care of that,” Ranon said, looking at Cassidy. “You want it near the house?”
    “Actually . . .” Cassidy looked flustered. “The furniture is for Gray, so somewhere near the back of the gardens would probably be more convenient.”
    “For me?” Gray said, looking stunned.
    “In that case,” Burle said, “perhaps Prince Gray could give me a few minutes of his time and show me the space and give me some thoughts about what might suit him.”
    “But you just got here,” Cassidy protested.
    “And I’ll be here for the next few days,” Burle replied. “But when I’m paid for a full day’s work, I give a full day’s work. So you get on with your work, and I’ll get on with mine, and I’ll see you at dinner. Go on, now. Git.”
    “Are you allowed to talk to a Queen like that?” Gray asked.
    “Hell’s fire, no,” Burle said, laughing. “But I’m not talking to a Queen now, am I? I’m talking to my daughter.” He gave Cassidy a comically fierce look. “You still here?”
    “Fine,” Cassidy grumbled as a smile tugged her lips. “I’m going.”
    Didn’t take much brainpower to figure out Lord Burle was going to be reporting personally to Prince Sadi when he went home, so Theran extended his right hand and said politely,“Lady, if you’re ready, the Steward is waiting to review some information about the Provinces.”
    His conduct as he escorted her into the house was absolutely correct.
    Too bad she looked so stunned by it.

    Cassie’s father. This man is Cassie’s father.
    Gray couldn’t keep his mind on anything but the big man walking beside him—including where he put his feet—so he kept tripping over nothing.
    “I guess you’ve known Cassie for a long time,” Gray said.
    “All her life,” Burle replied with an odd smile and a twinkle in his eyes.
    Fool. Idiot. Gray wanted to smack himself. Now he was tripping over his tongue as well as his feet. Could he sound any dumber? Why couldn’t he sound like Theran or Ranon or any other grown man?
    And why did it suddenly matter so much that this man didn’t look at him and see a boy easily dismissed?
    “I guess Cassie was upset about the stuff in the shed,” Gray said.
    “I didn’t see the note myself, but I gathered she was pretty riled about it,” Burle replied.
    “She didn’t need to get riled. It’s not important.”
    Burle stopped walking. “You didn’t tell her that, did you?”
    “No, sir.”And considering the way Burle looked and sounded right now, he was very glad he hadn’t said anything.
    “Smart man. When a woman’s riled up about something, the biggest mistake a man can make is telling her it’s not important. She won’t hear it the way the words are meant, and sometimes it can take a long time to mend things between a man and a woman—if they can be mended at all. If she thinks something is important, it’s best for the man to treat it as such.”
    Gray thought about that. “Because treating the thing that’s got her riled as important tells her that she’s important?”
    “That’s the way of it,” Burle agreed, continuing on to the shed.
    When they entered the shed, Gray wished he had straightened the tools, swept the floor. Something. But, Hell’s fire, he hadn’t expected Cassie’s father to show up!
    Burle pushed the old blanket aside and pursed his lips. “You gonna get a new chair to put in that corner? With a better lamp, that would give you a place to read. I’m figuring you like books, since a bookcase is one of the pieces requested.”
    “I like books, stories and such,” Gray said. “And I’m studying the Protocol books.”
    “Protocol is a good thing to know,” Burle said, nodding.
    But Gray’s thoughts had followed a different path. “You would know stories about when Cassie was little.”
    “I know stories,” Burle agreed. “Might even share a few.”
    Gray smiled. He wanted to hear those stories, wanted to share more than the now of Cassie’s life. “When I have a daughter, can I call her Kitten?”
    Burle made a strange sound. “You’re skipping a few steps in the dance, aren’t you?”
    “Huh?”
    Burle studied him a bit too long before saying, “You know how to use a hammer?”
    “Not to build things.”
    “You want to learn?”
    Gray hesitated. He did want to learn, and he wanted to spend time with Burle,who understood an important difference between a daughter and a Queen—and had shown him, and everyone else, that Cassie understood the difference. That was something