Chapter 73 - (9)

By the time Walter had had breakfast and come down to meet the lords in the study, he was sure the entire household knew Lady Steinhouse was in his room last night. From the servant that had come with the water for his bath, to the one who delivered his breakfast, all gave him knowing looks.

He sighed as he descended the stairs and made his way towards her study. The lords were already inside and went silent as he enter. Looking at their faces, Walter sighed inwardly.

"Not you two as well." he said and the lords smirked.

"As well? I guess by the way she ran out of your room this morning, the entire house knows you slept with her." Lord of Merve said as he sipped his cup of tea.

"Define sleep." Walter said as he took a seat.

"I saw when she entered your room last night." Lord Morge answered.

"I saw when she left this morning." Lord of Merve continued.

"Then the fact that you both grew up with her must be made up then, what great friends you are, letting her enter my room last night." Walter said a he stretched. Probably because he had interacted enough with the lords, he felt relaxed with this conversation.

"She is a grown woman; she should know what she wants." Lord Morge answered said.

"If you had stopped her last night; as a good friend should have, she would not have..." Walter started to say.

"...What? Slept with you?" Lord of Merve asked.

"Define sleep. You both are thinking too much." Walter answered.

"Are you saying you did not touch her? You were a perfect gentleman and gave her a spot to sleep till the next morning?" Lord of Merve smiled knowingly.

"The noise from you room last night said other wise, Walter. We know you fucked her. We don't care." Walter sighed at Lord Morge's crude words.

"Fucked her? No; but I never said anything about touching her." Walter said and Lord of Merve choked on his tea. His gaze at Walter was full of respect. All that noise and you only touched her?

"What happened in the city?" Walter asked changing the topic. They had gotten too comfortable to start using crude words and he did not want to talk about Helen in that manner. One thing was sure; he needed to stay away from that woman.

"The entire city has been shut down. This morning, some city guards came and informed us to stay indoors. Apparently, some assassins tried to kill the prince and they are hiding in the city. We're just going to have to wait till things calm down before we can move her safely." Lord Morge answered.

"What are the odds the prince gets attacked the same day we take her?" Walter said.

"I know what you mean. Lady Wickshire had said the woman lying up there is the Teel family head. She said the next queen is her daughter." Lord Morge thought it suspicious too.

"We have no idea when the lady intends for us to return her to her daughter, if she even intends to have her returned." Walter said thoughtfully.

"We'll wait. I'm sure we will be informed soon." Lord of Merve said.