Conquering the Queen by Ava Sinclair

Reginald wants you to consider building a second castle in the south. He asked me to go into the library and find the old plans of the master architects of this castle for you to consider, as a model. He ordered me return by the end of the feast so plans could be discussed with the Ravenscroft nobles.”
    Xander slowly let the advisor go. Cynric was smooth; he’d never seen him scared and confused and knew this was no act.
    “My father purposefully got you out of the way,” he said. “He arranged for the feast to start early so that Avin would be there when I arrived.”
    “Avin?” Cynric asked, worry edging his tone. “What happened?”
    Xander told him—told him how he’d promised to escort Lady Fleur but had been forced to wait when she wasn’t ready, how he’d arrived to find the feast already in progress. How he’d looked up once he’d found his seat to see his beloved chained to the wall among the dogs, wearing a beggar’s dress, with food thrown at her feet.
    “Were it not for Lady Fleur’s kindness, it would have been worse,” Xander said. “She was the first to rush to Avin’s aid, even before I could. She helped me get her up to the room. I will have to express my gratitude.”
    “No…” Cynric shook his head. “You will have to exercise caution. The Lady Fleur is not what she seems.” The advisor lowered his voice. “There is nothing genuine in her kindness. Everything she does is by design. Everything she does is political. She is in collusion with your father, Xander. She seeks to be your queen, and to do that she must elevate herself even as Avin is reduced. Her show of compassion to a hated slave was all to that end. Don’t you see?”
    Xander turned away. “So many times I’ve joked that a man like you knows nothing of women, and here I am completely fooled by one.” He turned back. “I left her alone with Avin. She said she wanted to comfort her.”
    “You should go to her, Xander. Go to her and find out what was said.”
    “I will,” the king replied, then his face turned stormy. “But first I will confront my father.”
    “No…” Cynric held up his hand. “You’ve trusted me before. Trust me again. Your father will simply plead misunderstanding. We must have proof that they are both undermining you, if you are to act. Do not confront your father. He will only use it to his advantage, and it will hurt the alliance. The fact that he obviously conspired to have Lady Fleur chide him was a crafty move. It made her look magnanimous, while dashing any public tensions between the two of you.”
    “I will not wait long,” Xander said. “And I will not allow his meddling any longer.”
    “I know that,” Cynric said. “Go to Avin. Comfort her. Wait for my word.”

Chapter Fourteen
     
     
    Xander took the stairs two at a time in his eagerness to reach Avin’s chamber. He did not knock, but opened the door and went in.
    “Avin.”
    She was seated on a chair by the window, her back to him. She did not respond, but Xander was not to be dissuaded. He knew she was hurt and humiliated. He could only imagine the assumptions that were running through her mind.
    He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, only to have Avin explode from her chair, turn, and throw something at him. It was a cloth, and it took a moment to register that it was the tapestry she’d been working on, its intricate rendering of the Ravenswood now ripped to shreds. He looked at it, baffled, then looked at her.
    Never had he seen her face this tortured, not even on the day she’d been delivered to him by the guards.
    He dropped the tapestry. “Avin,” he said. “You will listen.”
    But she just shook her head as she backed away. “You could have just told me,” she said. “You could have told me you were going to marry her.”
    He shook his head.
    “Marry her? Avin, you couldn’t be more wrong. She was my dinner companion, nothing more.”
    “Don’t play the ignorant.” Her voice was shaking