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CHRISTINE
I applied creamy foundation to the hickey on my neck, smiling to myself as I thought of August and our time together. I was deliciously sore and emotionally drained, stuck between wanting to give in to the claims August made and still feeling tentative about all of it. I looked at the long A-line dress hanging from my wardrobe and sighed. I would kill for a pair of yoga pants and a cozy sweater. The pink gown with gold detailing represented what my life would be like living here with August. Pretty uniforms, public appearances, and political chess moves that ultimately did nothing for the greater good. Here, I was a pawn. A face to plaster onto currency and a name for people to curse when August did something unfavorable. I was nothing more than a scapegoat and a head for the crown to sit on.
I walked past the dress and found my coziest pair of yoga pants and slid them on, sighing at the soft material against my legs. Then, I found a soft sweatshirt and slid it on over my sports bra. I didn’t put on makeup, either. Instead, I threw my wavy, soft hair up in a clip and felt content by the normalcy of it all.
I had a full day of obligations. A ribbon-cutting ceremony at a children’s hospital. A meeting with my new etiquette advisor. Afternoon tea with the former queen.
It was strange calling her the former anything. Even stranger to view myself as the next in line for the duty.
But I didn’t want to do any of it today. I wanted an escape.
I popped my head out of my bedroom door and addressed the guard stationed outside of my room, surprised to see it wasn’t Leo with his back against the wall and rifle clutched in his grip. The man was older with wispy hair combed over a bald spot and vacant brown eyes. “Where is Leo?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “Taking a personal day. He went downstairs to leave.”
I furrowed my brow. A personal day?
I looked down the hall left and right before grabbing my cross-body purse and slipping outside. “I’ll be right back,” I lied, having no intention of sticking around for the day and following the agenda the royal publicist, Victoria, created for me.
He pushed himself off the wall and started following me.
Fuck. Couldn’t even escape this damn place without someone on my tail. “You really don’t have to follow me,” I called over my shoulder. “Just going to the kitchens for a snack.”
“I’m happy to accompany you, Lady Abernathy.”
I rolled my eyes and started walking faster, my feet shuffling across the ornate carpet while I navigated the winding, moody castle hallway. “I’d like to be alone,” I huffed while marching down the stairs.
“Lady Abernathy, it’s my duty to—”
I spun around and snapped at him. “It’s your duty to obey my requests.”
He scowled. “With all due respect, it’s my duty to follow the king’s orders.”
I scanned the space and spotted a guard with a blond ponytail. “Leo!” I called out before sprinting over to him. A few maids stopped cleaning to eye me curiously. I certainly looked out of place, wearing these clothes and sprinting after a guard. It wasn’t what was expected of the future queen.
Fuck their expectations.
Leo stopped and looked at me. He seemed a mixture of surprise and worry as he noted my attire and the frantic way I ran toward him. I was slightly out of breath when I came to a halt, and the guard at my back looked like he wanted to throttle me for being a pain in the ass. “Please inform this guard that I’m capable of going somewhere on my own,” I said, praying he’d play along. Leo was a higher ranking officer now. August was probably giving him whiplash with all the demoting and promoting.
Leo looked at me, then back at the guard. “I’ll escort her to the king. You’re dismissed,” he breezed easily. A little too easily.
The older man looked like he wanted to protest but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth his time or effort to argue with me. “Of course.” He bowed and started walking back upstairs, and the moment he was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whew. I thought he’d never leave,” I said before smiling at Leo.
Leo checked his watch, a look of annoyance on his face. “What do you want, Christine? I’ll be late catching my bus.”
I looked around at the eavesdropping maids and grabbed his arm, steering both of us outside to the courtyard. The moment I breathed in the crisp air, I felt like my lungs were expanding for the first time in days. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“To visit my mother and sister. I haven’t seen them in a while since I was stationed in the countryside and haven’t gotten a chance to visit since I’d returned.”
I grinned. I loved Leo’s family. They were warm and supportive. “Can I go with you?” I blurted out. “We can take a car. You won’t have to catch the bus. Please, Leo?” I pouted and put my hands together in a prayer pose, looking up at him with doe eyes that made the corner of his lip twitch.
“Don’t you have a full day scheduled?”
I blushed. “Can’t we both pretend for just a moment that I’m not a future queen?”
“I don’t make a habit of playing pretend. Tends to lead to disappointment.”
