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Ace struggled with the hoop of the skirt, lucky it was one of the smaller varieties. She squatted in her heels. Her new extraordinarily tall and curvaceous body was much harder to hide than her smaller and squared one.

Footsteps were already making their way down the corridor. A steady tap of a stranger coming to find them in their devious act. Ace's heart began to hammer, that at least was the same no matter what body she wore.

"Do not say a word. Do not evenbreathe." He shook his pointer finger at her before disappearing on the other side of the desk.

The spell had left behind its sour scent in the air, a fresh layer to add to the old smell that already existed in the room. It clung to her clothes ever so slightly.

"Hey! Shelby!" Whoever it was, they were close now.

Shelby cleared his throat as the person stopped in the hall. "Hey, Rodrey."

"What are you doing in here? I wanted to hear the end of your story about that servant girl you ran into, and I could use an extra set of hands…" The male voice trailed off.

Ace pressed into herself behind the desk. Whoever had come looking for Shelby sounded younger than she anticipated. She listened for creaking floorboards as the person came further into the room but he never did. Instead, she heard Shelby shuffling.

If he wanted to get rid of her now was his chance. Her throat went dry at the mere thought of it. She would be nothing against these two men. She'd be hanged by the queen faster than the gods could even think up a way to get her out of this.

Don't do it. Don't do it,she silently begged him. Yet, she knew her place in his life—what little she'd become in under five minutes. She was nothing to him. The girl who'd forced him here on the end of a butcher knife and swore she worked for the gods. Anybody with half a mind could have guessed that what he wanted most was freedom.

The real question was, did he really believe her? Did he think he could trust her? How much did he want that freedom?

"Uh, inspiration struck for a good spell that I thought the queen would be interested in. I wanted to make sure I wrote it down before I forgot." There was an odd tremor in his voice, like he didn't even believe what he was saying.

Ace let go of her breath.

"Is that…is that my knife from the kitchen?"

Then she sucked it back in, holding it in her chest.

Metal scraped against wood as Shelby picked up the object. He laughed dryly. "Bad joke? I thought it would be funny to have you searching for it. Here." He moved away from the desk, the floorboards groaning.

"You have…such a weird sense of humor."

Shelby laughed again. "I'll finish writing down that spell then see you in there?"

"Sure, yeah." His friend sounded confused at best, but ultimately, he turned and began down the hall again.

Neither she nor Shelby dared to move until they heard his steps disappear and the thud of that door closing down the hall. Ace finally let go of her breath, curled her fingers around the top of the desk, and peeked over the edge. Shelby faced away from her, his head hung, shoulders slumped like that one lie had taken everything from him.

"So tell me about that servant girl." Ace broke the silence.

Slowly, his shoulders straightened and he turned around. His cheeks flushed as he snarled at her. "I've known you for less than an hour and you've already turned me into a liar."

"And a criminal!" she added, though the words made him flinch. "You're a terrible actor, you know." Her palms smoothed out the lavender dress around her, the skirt swaying as she walked around the desk. The page from the spell book crinkled inside of her sleeve.

Shelby frowned at the sound. "Rodrey is my best friend."

"Then he will probably understand when you explain the situation to him one day."

He picked up the spell book from the floor and neatly placed it back where he'd gotten it. Not that that mattered. "What's next?"

"You can escort me to the party."

"Oh, you were serious about that."

"Why would I joke about something like that?"

"I don't know, you seem to think everything else is a joke?" He folded his arms over his chest.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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