Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
My eyebrow rose. “Did you not tell me before that men do not enjoy boat rides?”
“Will you seek to argue with me, even now?”
I clamped my mouth shut and just nodded, motioning for him to go toward the lake. He shook his head at me and motioned for me to go first. Rolling my eyes, I did so.
I noticed I did not hear the distant laughter and conversations from the queen’s canopy any longer. When I glanced over, I saw that all of their eyes were now on the both of us as we reached the dock at the lake’s edge where a few boats had been brought out for any couple who wished to use them instead of hunt. Of course, no man chose to forgo the hunt but him.
“If a group of geese is called a gaggle, what do you call a court of gossiping women?” he asked as he stepped inside.
“A conspiracy?” I answered.
“No, a Medusa,” he whispered, his hands on my waist as he helped me down into the boat. He smiled softly. “Avoid eye contact, or surely you will turn to stone.”
I laughed. “They will be the ones to have your head on a shield if they hear you say that.”
“Then it shall be a secret between you and me,” he replied, untying the rope from the dock before he sat down across from me and took hold of the oars.
“Do you have many secrets?” I asked him.
“Yes. Doesn’t everyone?”
“I don’t.”
“Everyone has a secret.”
I tried to think, and then shook my head. “I know other people’s secrets, but I have none of my own. Does that make me boring?”
“I believe that makes you…a lady of good standing.”
“To you, ladies of good standing are boring.”
“Normally. But you are…”
“I am what?” I waited for him to finish, but he just looked at the water. “You are aware that no matter how fast you row, you will not be able to avoid answering, correct? I am in the boat with you.”
“This is why you are not boring. Other ladies would understand not to push further, but you are unrelenting.” He shook his head at me. “You are different, Lady Hathor. It is both infuriating and refreshing, which is why I am here, rowing. So spare me, if only slightly. This is…new for me as well.”
“What, you’ve never rowed before?” I teased. “I applaud you, you are doing quite well.”
He gave me a stern look as he understood my humor. Looking away from him, I focused on the water, reaching out and spreading my fingers to touch it. The water was cool, and the breeze tickled my face. I could not help but grin.
This was nice and calming. And the more I looked out across the water and over the landscape, the more I wished I’d brought my sketchbooks.
“It would be so lovely to paint this. I’ve never thought of viewing the estate from this angle before,” I said.
“Yes, I am starting to see the appeal of boats more clearly,” he said in a strange voice. When I looked back to him, I noticed he’d stopped rowing and was now staring at me. For some reason, the intensity of his gaze was too much for me; I had to look away. After a few more moments, he was rowing again in silence.
I hoped he could not hear how fast my heart was beating all of a sudden.
Who knew a man’s eyes could make you feel so…warm?
Wishing to distract myself from the pounding of my heart, I thought quickly of something to say.
“I know your name is Wilhelm Augustus. But why do you go by the nickname August and not Will?”
“I was born in the month of August,” he replied.
“That’s it? Well, that’s anticlimactic.” There went my effort to make conversation.
“My father is King Wilhelm II. He wanted to name his heir after himself, but believed my brother would not live past infancy as he was so weak. Thus, the name was given to me. My mother called me August so as to not remind my brother, and I preferred it because I dislike my father. Climactic enough?”
Well, damn. My shoulders dropped. “Must all your stories be sad? It ruins the mood, utterly.”
He laughed. “My apologies. What great and joyous story exists behind your nickname?”
“I have no nickname. Everyone just calls me Hathor. Well, they try; many people mispronounce it as Heather. My family is not very big on nicknames. The only person who has one is Aphrodite, whom we call Odite or Dite, because she disliked always being compared to Aphrodite the goddess. I call Abena little bug, because she’s a terror. Oh, and Abena gave Damon’s daughter the nickname Mini. But that is it.” I considered for a moment if any of my extended family had nicknames, but none of them did.