AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You look nice,” he leaned in and murmured into my ear so only I could hear. His breath was cool against my neck. I turned to meet his gaze and was about to open my mouth to speak when Synder stalked into the room with the King following behind. Everyone stood in Lunder’s presence. I glanced over to Sie, gauging his reaction to the male who tried to kill him. The male he was forced to learn from, but his expression was blank and unreadable.
Everyone bowed at the waist except Sie. I curtseyed along with the group, my lessons crashing into me.
Queen Lasindra followed a few steps behind her husband. She was gorgeous and elegant and a Queen in every way, reminding me how out of place I was. My eyes lingered on her beautiful, ornate crown resting on top of her luscious, golden curls. Her heavy dress matched her crown and had intricate gold pieces scattered throughout the ecru material.
Despite being forced to have lunch in the same room with her every day, she paid me no heed. I wondered what her thoughts of me were. If she was upset that soon she would no longer be the Queen.
King Lunder clasped his hands together as he took his place at the head of the table, the only seats that were assigned. His gaze found Sie and me further down the table.
“Welcome. Please take a seat,” he gestured at everyones still bowed form. “Tonight, we dine together. In the morning, Prince Noren and Princess Rumor will embark on their tour of the Kingdom. The first of many royal festivities to begin now that we are one month into our six month celebration of Sie’s rise to the throne.” He raised his glass toward us. Everyone else followed suit.
Sie picked up his own wine and took a long sip.
Across the table, Peter looked at me. “The tour is a tradition for every future King. It’s a way for the new royals to meet their people and for them to gaze upon you as well. You will travel to every village of Tennebris. There will be a scheduled visit at each one. We leave first thing in the morning.”
I understood what he didn’t say, no training. I smiled, and mouthedthank youto him. He flashed his dimple filled grin back, then resumed conversation with Alec and Reagan. I stayed silent throughout most of dinner and only spoke when someone asked me a direct question, which to my relief, wasn’t often.
Sie, on the other hand, seemed to be relishing in my discomfort. Halfway through dinner, he leaned into me and whispered, “I missed you these past couple of weeks. No more bathroom visits?”
I choked on my water and tried to recover by wiping my doily over my mouth. “I told you I thought it was my room.”
“Don’t look so upset. From what I can recall, you seemed to enjoy the visit.”
I ground my teeth so hard that my jaw hurt. “It won’t happen again.”
“Until our wedding day then, huh?” Sie looked at me, noting my tense jaw, my knuckles white from clasping my silverware. “Damn, Scotlind. I’m just joking. Relax.”
He didn’t talk to me the rest of the meal.
Reagan glared at us from across the table, visibly upset that Sie sat next to me and not the empty seat still beside her. I knew from the little training I received from Lady Applebee that the way she was stabbing her meat was not proper etiquette. She visibly tensed every time Sie turned his head to glance my way.
Alec placed a possessive hand on her and murmured something into her ear. She looked up and our eyes met as she smiled. I swallowed and tried to avoid their glances the rest of the evening.
Finally, after everyone was done eating and the King explained the tour for the tenth time, we filed out of the dining hall.
Alec stopped me. “Princess, wait up a second.”
I paused at the door, allowing the others to pass. Alec caught up to me with a smile on his face. “Sie asked me to give this to you,” he said as he discreetly placed a piece of paper in my palm.
“Thank you,” I replied, crumbling the paper in my hand. I forced myself not to look at it until I was alone in my room.
I glanced around the dining hall, but Sie was already gone.
I was pacingback and forth in my room with the note in my hand, contemplating if I should go. Sie asked me to meet with him tonight. The message was simple. A time and a place to meet with clear instructions to come alone.It’s important,the note emphasized.
I didn’t trust myself alone with him. I didn’t want to repeat the night in the bathroom, but he said it was important. What couldn’t wait until I saw him for the tour tomorrow morning? Did he discover the reason I was selected? Did he know what the High Council was planning? Did he know the truth about me? Why I was brought here?
My curiosity or anxiety got the best of me, the two emotions were blending together. I took a deep breath, crumbled the note back up into my hand, and walked over to the door.
I pushed open the heavy wood, only a crack, careful not to alarm Kole. Mercifully, he was lax with his guard duty. He hadn’t entered my room since the first night and waited out in the hall. Once his shift started, I remained locked in my room. Any chance of avoiding Kole, I took.
Lately, I’d been having Abherham escort me to the royal library before his shift would end. I loved books and the escape they provided. I loved becoming invested in made-up characters and engulfed in an unrealistic world. Along with training, books were the one thing to settle my mind. But I didn’t read for enjoyment, not anymore.
I scavenged the library for any texts on Lux. I read history book after history book until my eyes bled and my brain hurt. I hated history. I hated boring texts, and I absolutely hated documents, but I needed to know. Any bit of information I gleaned could help me. I searched for answers, for any indications of what Luxian powers I could possess. For any reason as to why I might be here. I read texts dated back to when our kind lived on Allium, scanning to see what documents existed between the two Kingdoms. The necklace around my neck made me question everything I had learned. I started to doubt that the Advenian Kingdoms always lived separately. I stared down at the design etched on the pendant. The Tennebrisian symbol of the twin pink moons surrounded the Luxian sun, making it seem like they belonged together.
But every night, I was left disappointed. I found no proof of Luxians and Tennebrisians living together. I barely found any information on Lux. Whatever texts were in that library were factual and just as bland on the inside as the cover suggested on the outside. But I wouldn’t be reading tonight.
I sent a silent prayer to the Goddess that Kole wouldn’t see me as I slipped past the door. Luckily, he made just about the worst guard ever. He was resting his head back against the wall. An echoing snore escaping his open mouth.
