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“I don’t think the king’s advisor will be too happy to hear that you saw me naked,” I said, hoping he might bite on the lie I was using as bait.
“Lord Arkyn has told me to keepmy eyes on you. And that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
“Pig,” I muttered.
“What was that?” he growled.
Don’t say it, Sage. Don’t say it.I chanted the mantra.
But when I looked at the guard trying to assert his male asshole-ness over me, my self-restraint dissolved like sugar on a tongue, and I answered him honestly. “Pig.” The word spread like gossip amongst the stone walls, chattering back at us, over and over again.
The ladies-in-waiting let out a shocked sound, like I had just said the dirtiest word their clean, little virgin ears had ever heard. I tried not to roll my eyes—the hypocrisy of it all.
Despite his age, Grouchy moved fast. He lunged towards me. I ducked underneath his grasp, a laugh escaping my lips—admittedly, this was the most fun I had had in days. He twirled around, lunging for me again, but even in my laid-in-bed-for-two-weeks sorry-ass state, I was too quick for him. We continued our little dance, his anger growing with each failed attempt. I swore that if he took his helmet off, his face would be as red as the banners that hung above—
Come to think of it, it might do his withered brain cells some good to have a little fresh air. Perhaps I should take it off for him.
So I did just that when he charged me again—I stole his helmet.
As he raced past me, I glanced down at the shiny metal, scuffed with a few battle scars. Suddenly, it felt like a scalding hot potato in my hands. Eager to get rid of it, I yeeted it into the pool.
A loudplunksounded, followed by a ripple of protest—the water disturbed from its peaceful, dormant state.
All four of us paused, watching as it sank down, down, down. My gut followed its lead.
My head swiveled to his. That was the first time I got a good look at his face. Crow’s feet shot out like cobwebs from his eyes, and deep wrinkles etched around his mouth—and they weren’t of the smiling kind.
“You are going to pay for that!” he bellowed at me. His hand flew to his sword, the metal singing as he withdrew it from its scabbard.
Apparently, I had struck a nerve.
Although I wanted nothing more than to take the sword from him and ram it up his pompous ass, I did not think the king, norArkyn, would take kindly to me killing one of the guards—self-defense or not. And the last thing I needed was to draw attention from the king.
“Look,” I started, my hands raised in defense. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
But he wasn’t in the mood to listen—no, he was locked on me like a bull locked on a matador’s red cape, steam coming out of his flared nostrils.
“What’s going on here?” demanded a male voice behind me—a voice gilded in regality and splendor. Poised and clipped and heavily accented.
Immediately, the ladies-in-waiting dropped into a respectful, elegant bow.
“Your Royal Highness,” Grouchy sputtered like a toddler stringing together the alphabet. Dropping his sword, it clamored against the stone floor as he fell onto bended knee, his head drooping, metal screeching.
Slowly, I turned, my gaze lifting. Lifting . . . to meethis.
It was as if the Creator had taken liquid gold, sprinkled it with stardust, and poured it into his eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Undoubtedly.
But it was not his eyes that made my mouth fall open, it was the color of his hair—as white as winter’s first kiss of snow.
The very same color as my own.
Sage
“Iapologize, Your Royal Highness, I—”
The regal male raised his hand, silencing the guard immediately.
As he watched me, I watched him, my gaze shifting, taking all of him in.
