AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shot me a cold look. “You don’t need to play nice, lady.”
My eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
I glanced toward Lady Glennis, but she was already making her way out of the solarium. So much for asking for my private audience. The three other women were out of earshot, chatting among themselves with delicate porcelain cups of coffee in hand.
“Don’t waste my time,” Rona said. “I’m not interested in playing along with your nice little girl act.”
“Excuse me?” I asked again, rearing back. Rona hadn’t been nice to me, exactly, not even at the dinner last night—but I’d expected her to at least be cordial. Her eyes flashed gold at me, and her voice came out low, and rumbling. Internally, my wolf snarled, sensing the threat immediately.
“We all know they call you Ice Princess in Daybreak,” Rona growled. “Cold. Picky. Unfriendly. Unshifting.” She spat the last word like it offended her personally. “The king needs a woman—he needs a wolf. A wolf who isn’t afraid to defend what’s hers.” Her dark eyes roved judgmentally over my body. “A wolf who isn’t afraid of sex.”
My wolf urged me to bare my teeth, growl back, show this woman that I was just as capable as she was. For a moment, my wolf surged dangerously close to the surface—my skin prickled and my adrenaline surged with the desire to show dominance. It was close enough that Rona sensed it. She smirked.
But this was exactly the kind of woman I didn’t want to be. Angry and conniving, using my wolf to get what I wanted. I was a lady and I was going to act like one, even when my wolf wanted otherwise. She was so active internally, more demanding than she’d been in years.
Efra was bringing out the worst in me.
Before I could say anything in response, the door opened, and Lady Glennis stepped back inside. “Ladies,” she said.
The air in the room crackled with anticipation. The three other girls hurried to the table, setting their coffees down, and stood near Rona and me. My wolf settled back down, cowed by the knowledge of what was about to happen.
Lady Glennis stepped aside. The King of Frasia strode into the solarium.
He looked nicer than yesterday. If he’d been dressed like this, I would’ve known who he was. He wore fine dark trousers with a plain white shirt, but his full black cloak was gorgeous, lined in dark fur and embroidered in ivory and deep purple. He wore no crown, but his cloak was fastened with a fine silver and moonstone clasp in the shape of the crescent moon crest of Nightfall. His feet were bare on the stone floor.
We all curtsied delicately. When I lifted my gaze, the king’s eyes were on me. There was a small smirk playing on his lips as he watched me. Again my skin prickled under his attention—simultaneously wanting more of it and to get away. He exuded the same easy confidence he had in the hallway, except now I knew why.
“Good morning,” the king said. His voice was deep and rich, like dark chocolate. He removed his cloak and handed it to one of the guards. His white shirt did nothing to hide the curve of his muscles—even less so when he rolled the sleeves up to the forearms like he was about to go out into the stables for chores, instead of breakfast with his potential wives. He took his seat at the head of the table, and once he was seated, we joined him. Lady Glennis took her seat at the foot.
Servants rushed in, summoned the moment we sat down. They moved effortlessly, silently, setting our plates with a luxurious breakfast of eggs, sausage, dried fruit, crusty bread, rich butter, and coffee. We all sat with our hands in our laps, silent, until the king began to eat. Then the Lady Glennis. Only then did we five competitors begin as well.
I felt the tension heavy in the room, like we were eating beneath our own private guillotines. The king seemed as pleased as ever. He ate his food with gusto, and drank coffee from a different mug—which I assumed was because the delicate porcelain we used would shatter in his strong grip. He ate leaning back comfortably in his chair, casting his gaze around the table at the five of us like he was amused. His dark eyes kept darting back to me, over and over. I sipped my coffee. I found it hard to swallow around the tightness of anxiety in my throat.
Adora squared her shoulders, and then cut the silence with her bright, cheerful voice.
“Your Highness,” she said, “I’m so impressed by the royal gardens in Efra. The climate is harsh but the grounds are beautiful. I spent some time with the gardener yesterday learning about Nightfall’s unique cultivation techniques. It’s quite lovely.”
“Did you now?” the king asked, with a small smirk on his face. It was almost patronizing—like he was interacting with a small child instead of a grown woman.
“Yes, he introduced me to your rose hybrids. Even pruned a few myself.”
The king hummed a wordless affirmative. With the silence broken, Wynona found her voice, too, launching into a discussion of the pack’s training grounds. The king regarded her with the same mild interest. None different than the other. At the foot of the table, Lady Glennis looked almost irritated with him.
“And the library, Your Highness!” Fina said with delight. “The library here is amazing. Lady Reyna nearly had to drag me out of there.”
“Did she?” the king asked. His face broke into a wider smile. “Lady Reyna, did you find anything of interest in the library?”
My cheeks heated.
The king took a sip of his coffee. Over the rim of his mug, his eyes gleamed and flashed gold.
What kind of game was he playing here? What reaction did he want? I felt like a butterfly pinned to a board under his eyes. Part of me wanted to make a sharp-tongued remark, while my wolf wanted to roll over and bare her belly. Would it be better to acknowledge what had happened or pretend it never did? What did he want from me? What would be best for my court? I couldn’t risk offending the king further—if he wanted to prove a point, he could punish me, or my pack. If the king decided to take over Daybreak, there was no way we could stand against his soldiers. We were a merchant pack. We had soldiers, sure, but nothing like the armored wolves of Nightfall.
My tongue felt too big for my mouth. I’d tried so hard to be ladylike through all of this. And now I felt stuck, like I didn’t know how to behave at all.
“I spent my day with Duchess Alana,” Rona interjected.
The king’s eyes widened, then narrowed, but Rona didn’t seem to notice. The duchess was the king’s mother, who would be stepping down when the king chose a bride.
