Before I can gape at him-or laugh, my first impulse-Piers drapes his arm around my shoulders with casual nonchalance. Caine glares up at him, his pack rumbling growls my sorcerer friend ignores.
"Your Majesty," Piers goes on in his bright, brittle tone, "imagine my dismay when I discovered you had unwelcome guests from abroad in your house." He must have been watching the palace to discover the arrival of Caine and his pack. Either that, or Piers has been spying on me. We will talk about his indiscretion at a later date. Right now, I could kiss him.
"Indeed," Oleksander says. "Though this is the purview of the werenation."
"Naturally," Piers says, bowing as best he can with his arm around me. "I am merely here as the voice of the Steam Union, your faithful and trusted allies, to offer w
