"That's a very heavy accusation you're making, Ralph," Orion said, his tone severe. "Do you have any proof?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I can swear on my life I only felt the effects after ingesting both cups of tea," Ralph confessed. "Is this the first time that she made you something to drink?"
"...No, she made it often," Orion huffed out, a furrow growing on his forehead. He had a faint, hazy impression of two tea cups on a tray, and the sharp burst of flavor on his tongue. Elowyn had loved to make him tea.
But he couldn't remember what happened after he drank it.
Meanwhile, Soleia could only huff at the confirmation, her eyes trailing down his body. Orion must have been incapable in bed, for Elowyn to resort to drugging so often. She wondered idly what happened to his nether regions― were they trampled over by an errant horse, or did an enemy soldier stab him right where it hurt?
"What are you looking at?" Orion barked out. Suddenly Soleia's gaze had turned pitying, and it was causing warning bells to ring in his head.
"Nothing," Soleia said simply. No wonder he and Elowyn were so protective of the child in Elowyn's belly. Who knew what sort of tactics they had to resort to in order to get such an outcome? "I was just wondering when you would leave."
"I'm not leaving this place, nor am I leaving for the palace tomorrow morning," Orion declared, his eyebrow twitching at Soleia's insistence on throwing him out. "In case you have forgotten, this estate belongs to me."
And if Elowyn was indeed drugging him, he wasn't going to throw himself into her arms without a plan.
"Oh, now that you've mentioned it, it did slip my mind," Soleia said sarcastically. "But how can you fault me, when you've done nothing to help run it since you've returned?"
Orion sucked in a deep breath. This woman was infuriating, but she had a point.
"I will do better in the future. But before that happens, I need both of you to stop me if I make any attempt to ride to the palace the next morning."
Ralph and Soleia had identical looks of disbelief on their faces.
"Are you…" Ralph carefully asked, "Really not heading to the palace come the morrow? You promised Elowyn."
Orion's lips were pursed tightly together and he gave a jerky nod. "I must get to the bottom of this."
Surprisingly, Orion Elsher's eyes bore more emotions than Soleia had ever seen before. Previously, it was always filled with rage and anger when his gaze was upon her, and love whenever he looked at Elowyn. Now, he seemed deep in thought, the blue of his irises swirling as he looked down at his feet.
Orion clenched his teeth, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he did so.
"I am a man that prides himself on keeping promises, but I do not recall making such a promise to Elowyn," Orion confessed in one low, quick breath.
It took every muscle in Soleia's body to force herself not to roll her eyes at him. There it was again. Either Orion Elsher had short-term memory, or he should sign up for the next audition at the local theater with how great he was at lying without batting an eyelid.
"But you two can bear witness to this one," he continued. He held a hand to his heart, his expression ever-earnest.
"And if Elowyn asks?" Ralph questioned. He too seemed in doubt. "I doubt she would accept this change in plans."
"Then I will explain it to her as such," Orion said. "That Princess Soleia has done a remarkable job at maintaining the fief thus far, and has proved to be a suitable duchess without argument."
Soleia and Ralph shared a surprised look. Perhaps it might be good to take his words with a pinch of salt, but Soleia felt the stone in her heart lift ever the slightest. At least if she maintained her position as a duchess, her father wouldn't find fault with her.
Eventually, it was Soleia who broke the silence first. She cleared her throat, her gaze shifting between Ralph and Orion.
"Very well," she said. "I can only hope that you will keep your word, then, Your Grace. But in the meantime…" Soleia gestured to Ralph's still-red face. "We should call a physician for Sir Byrone. Who knows whether the dosage of the aphrodisiac he consumed is safe or not?"
"The snowstorm is getting heavy," Orion said, glancing out of the windows. "I will head to town first thing tomorrow morning."
"Then you ought to catch some rest soon, in that case," Soleia said. She stood up and made her way to the door, standing right beside it. "Good night, My Lord."
"You're… truly planning on staying the night here?" Orion asked again. "You weren't jesting?"
"As I said before, I won't be alone with Sir Byrone. Lily will also be here as a chaperone," Soleia repeated.
"A maid for a chaperone? What can she do?" Orion sneered, tossing his hands into the air. "You'll either order her to leave or get her to join in the fun!"
Ralph was not innocent after all, and Orion knew how good his best friend was at cajoling women to his bed.
If he left Soleia and Lily with Ralph, that was tantamount to putting a fox in the chicken coop! Only in this case, this particular chicken might eagerly let herself be devoured out of sheer spite.
The skin under Soleia's eye ticked at the judgemental glare in Orion's eyes. She stomped forward to where Orion stood, stopping only once she was right in front of him.
"I am not the sort of woman who would go looking for another man while I am married, Duke Elsher, you can rest assured of that. For a single day I am still your wife, I will remain loyal. Even if there is no love in this relationship, I have respect for the man who is my husband, which is unfortunately you," she said.
"But unfortunately, I have nowhere adequate to stay for the night. If you don't believe me, feel free to visit the servants' quarters to verify my words."
"You're just trying to get me to leave so you can fornicate with him!" Orion retorted, a muscle twitching in his jaw as he loomed over her.
His own words conjured a terrible mental image in his mind, of Soleia with tousled blonde hair, her skirts hiked dangerously high up her thighs while Ralph lavished kisses on her bosom.
Desire and revulsion rose immediately within him, so closely intertwined he couldn't tell where one emotion started and another began.
Meanwhile, Soleia took Orion's brief pause to argue hotly. "And I suppose you would know, since you're an expert in fornications with people who you're not married to. And before you claim you can't remember, the baby in her belly is certainly proof enough―"
Her angry words went in from one ear and out the other. Orion did not register anything through the racing of his heart. Impossible. He definitely did not desire Soleia. She was a spy for her father, a leash aimed at making him heel. Even if Eloywn had drugged Ralph, it did not change the facts.
He would never desire her, this impertinent woman, with her smart mouth and wicked mind and fiery eyes, believing that he wouldn't see through her plans―
Suddenly, he wanted to shut that mouth of hers for good.
He leaned even closer to her, their lips a hair's breadth from touching. Soleia froze, her eyes wide with shock.