Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
The monarch, damn them, sees my reaction. They study me for a long moment, but when they speak, it’s for Juliette. “If you would like to enjoy my…personal hospitality…come back and see me without your overprotective captain in tow. We would enjoy each other.”
“You honor me,” Juliette murmurs as she rises from her curtsy. I’m not sure how she manages it, but she slams her foot down on mine without missing a beat. “I will absolutely consider it.”
“Good.” They wave a graceful hand. “You’re dismissed. The way back will be easier.”
This time, Juliette is the one to grab my arm and all but drag me out of the room. She doesn’t speak until we’re outside the castle, charging down the road far too quickly. “Well, that was brilliant. You were going to threaten the monarch who rules this entire island. What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t going to threaten them.” I almost sound like I mean it.
She glares. “Don’t lie to me. You had the same look on your face right before you punched Bradley Lee in the face when he tried to get me to flash my tits.”
The memory of that shit-for-brains fool makes me clench my fists all over again. “He was going to yank down your dress. I stopped him.”
“You broke his nose, and then you managed to dislocate his jaw. He still almost pisses himself every time he sees me.”
“He should be grateful for the broken nose, because if he managed to assault the crown princess, he would have been hanged.” That thorny feeling inside me twists and twines through my guts. “You still see him. Why? He’s the baker’s son.”
“They make the best bread in Ashye. I’m careful. He doesn’t know who I am. No one in the main city does when I wear my disguise.” Juliette throws up her hands and curses. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You were going to draw your sword and attack the most powerful person on this dangerous magical island.”
She’s not entirely wrong, but the shame her words bring only fuels my frustration and anger. “We wouldn’t be on this dangerous magical island if it weren’t for your recklessness.”
“Yes, we’ve covered this.” She rolls her eyes. “And after you planned on returning me to my father, were you just going to shed a single tear when I was assassinated in my new spouse’s court? Or were you planning on fighting the entirety of Edrines, too?”
That stops me short. “What are you talking about?” Spouse? Assassination attempts?
“You know everything. Surely you know about my engagement. And you’re not a fool, so it’s only common logic that my new stepchildren will want me dead before I can become pregnant with another competitor for the throne.” When I just stare in shock, some of her anger dims. “Well, it’s a moot point now. I appreciate you coming for me, and also that outstanding goodbye sex, but you’ve made it clear you want nothing to do with me, and I’ve made it clear I have no intention of returning to our realm. Our time together is done. Go secure the spell to leave, and I’ll make my own way.”
She’s speaking logic, but I hate it. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“I am an adult, same as you. If you try to take me back to your ship, I will not go willingly. I imagine the monarch will have some thoughts on that.” Juliette turns and walks away.
She’s right. I know she’s right. But if I do as she says and secure the spell to exit Atlantis, leaving her behind to jump realms…I’ll never see her again.
That shouldn’t be reason enough to fight her, not when I had every intention of putting her on a carriage back to Ashye and her pampered life as Skoiya’s princess. But at least then, I’d know she was out there somewhere, that perhaps one day I would hunt a royal ship with special cargo, that we’d see each other again if it was meant to be.
If I leave her here, this truly is the end for us. It’s what I’m supposed to want, but the very idea is repellant right down to the very fiber of my being.
I can’t do it.
I won’t.
10
JULIETTE
I can hear Maura stomping behind me as I descend the road toward the town, but I don’t look back, and I don’t slow down. I am so damned tired of her hypocrisy. She doesn’t want me, but she doesn’t want anyone else to have me, either. She certainly doesn’t care that if I return to my father’s court, I’m destined for a life of misery in the north.
Well, I will not go quietly.
There are significantly more people around than there were when we passed through before. This must be the crowd we heard when we arrived. Some are chatting excitedly about a ship race, while others are bemoaning lost bets. Many of them seem to have started in The Bawdy Banquet and then poured out into the square.