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“Then perhaps you can pay her to deal with the next husband who comes after you for sleeping with his wife,” I brush him off. “And fix your hair. Eden does not need to see you like this.”
Castor chuckles, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “Perhaps this will be a good teaser for her. So she knows who’s waiting for her when you decide you no longer want her.”
My boots dig into the gravel. Exhaling, I turn slowly to face him. We’re the same height, but I loom over him nonetheless.
Behind his smirk he knows that I am still the one Father has left our lands too. The one responsible enough to manage our estates, and the one who makes the hard decisions, no matter how difficult those decisions may be.
We may be as close as brothers, but I’m still the prince he answers to.
“Have you already forgotten what I told you last night?” I ask in a low voice.
“Of course not.” He shrugs. “I’ll go easy on her, like you said.”
“You will not hurt her.” My tone is lethal. “And you will not fuck her either. That part of her belongs to me.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” He bows mockingly before noticing that I’m not smiling with him. “You don’t have to take that tone with me, Lux. I won’t ruin her for you,” he sighs. “I’m not an animal, and you know I don’t hurt innocent women.”
“Good.” I march onwards, down the cream stone steps that lead to our circular drive.
“Well, unless they ask me nicely, of course.”
Groaning, I shake my head.
“Relax,” he chuckles. “I’ll make sure your little princess feels right at home here.”
I don’t like his tone, but I’m not in the mood to argue with him anymore. Not when I can hear the horses of her carriage approaching through the forest.
My hands flex restlessly.
“I must ask though…” Castor stops as I do, by the front of the manor. “In all your love letters to your new sweetheart, did you think to inform her about our heritage?”
I tense. “I don’t see why she would need to know.”
“You haven’t told her?” he laughs. “But how ever will you cope without your party tricks?”
“Our magic is not essential.”
“It was for you before. That trick with the fountain was how you used to woo all the ladies here.”
“Yes, well, now that I have Eden my ‘wooing’ days will soon be over.” I spy her carriage gleaming in the sunlight. Two horses trot down our drive, a dark-haired woman steering them towards us.
She gives me a look far too intense for a normal carriage driver. Strange.
“You should tell her today, Lux,” Castor’s tone turns serious. “If you truly care for this girl, you have to tell her about us. She needs to know. Like you said, she’s an innocent in all this.”
“I will tell her when the time is right.”
“You mean when she can no longer run from us?” he says, but I’m barely listening.
After too long, the carriage pulls to the front of the manor and the driver hops down to open the gilded door.
Slowly, it creaks open.
4
EDEN
Burying my hands into my skirt, I grip the fluffy tulle. I was up all night making this gown. Buttercup satin covers the bodice while, for the skirt, I used a gorgeous yellow tulle that fades to a soft pink near the hem.
