“What do you suppose would happen if the population of Orlune thought that one of their numbers might be its lost heir?”“I'd guess some would try to take advantage of it.”I went ahead and said this with as much conviction as I could. At this point, there was no reason to try hiding such ideas from the king. He'd clearly thought of these on his own and seemed to be testing me. I'm sure he wanted to see if I would try to lie my way out of it, and then he could say that I was doing exactly that. Because if I was going to lie to the king about being his heir and try to claim a place within the royal family, why would I tell him that's the sort of plan someone might come up with?“Are you trying to take advantage of me?”His blunt question was accompanied by a direct stare as if he would see straight through me to the truth.“I wouldn't dream of it. I've built a career around trying to do what's best for our country. I know that you need an heir. But lying about it wouldn't serve the bes
We lay on the chaise together for a while, just being calm in one another’s presence, soaking in their scent. As soon as Charles was sure David had fallen asleep, his hands skimmed all over my body, cupping, touching, probing. Each of his touches strategically drew me closer until, without planning it, I found myself on his lap.He pulled my skirt out from underneath me, then carefully undid his fly. He licked the rim of my ear, pausing long enough to whisper, “we'll have to do this quietly.”Charles skimmed his hand up my stomach underneath my shirt. When he reached the lower edge of my bra, he simply wiggled his fingers up underneath the fabric, tweaking my nipple between two of his fingers.I sighed and leaned back into him, tipping my head back against his shoulder and pressing gentle kisses along his jawline.He reached a hand up under my skirt, pressing the fabric of my panties out of the way, and tucked his erection between my lips and inside the fabric. His rod of flesh slid a
“Have you known I was still alive before these reports came out?” I asked him.He shrugged. “Not that it matters to you, but I've known since Lupinton. You smell just like the baby that failed.”“Then why didn't you claim me then?” I demanded. “If you knew, why scare me half to death and make it seem like the palace was coming after me?”“Because I had to be sure that I wasn't being manipulated by yet another unworthy woman. If you had known your heritage for your whole life and were simply trying to play me, then I would have needed to eliminate you. There's also another aspect to this that you don't seem to understand, which is that your presence as my daughter makes a mess of things between me and the current queen.”He sneered at me. “It also makes you the Queen's number one enemy. No Luna supports another woman's child to inherit what her own offspring ought to.”“But isn't the current Luna queen barren?”“You're finally catching on. You see how yet another woman has failed me.”
The moon goddess laughed. “You're thinking too much about heavenly matters,” she said. “If the gods and goddesses combine our powers and our talents, fate can be altered. But it's not something we do frequently or at all for that matter. Because altering fate means that nothing will ever be the same again after.”“I don't understand.”“I know you don't,” she said. “Think of it this way. Right now, even though you can see a dozen different choices leading in a different dozen different paths if you make each one, you can still see where those paths lead.”“I guess,” I said hesitantly. “I just need to know which one to pick.”She nodded. “That's the problem. If I interfere with fate and change it, then you won't be able to see what's down any of those paths anymore, and neither will anyone else. Chaos will ensue, at least for a time. You don't wish to plunge creation into chaos, do you?”I sighed. “No. I guess not. I see what you mean, though, where it might take a while before enough d
“Kathy?” My voice shattered that awkward silence.“Yeah, I'm still here,” she said. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this.”“I know the feeling.”“I think I've talked to you less than once a month. I feel out of the loop. I'm not entirely sure what to say to you anymore, especially not about something this big.”“That's not your fault,” I said. “Never, ever think that I didn't call you because you did anything wrong as my friend. You have always been amazing. But with everybody on my case about everything, I just couldn't risk leading them back to you. I hope you understand.”“Of course,” I understand, she said. “I've been worried sick about you for months now. Not that you needed to protect me like that. I’m a big girl and can handle trouble just fine. But I assumed that you didn’t call because you’re always protecting people like that. You weren't contacting me, and since there wasn't really anything that I could do to help you as it was, I decided to just follow along
I woke to knocking on my door.“Just a minute,” I called, trying not to sound too sleepy.I couldn't tell what time it was, only that it was light outside. Who didn't put a clock in the bedroom?I sat up and stretched, then grabbed my phone to check the time. My goodness! Being pregnant was making me tired. It was almost nine.I climbed out of bed and put on my clothes from the night before. I hadn't even opened the closet. I didn't care to see whether it was empty, awaiting my things, or whether the king had given me clothes that he expected to see me in. Either way, the contents weren’t anything I wanted.I opened the door, prepared to face whatever punishment the king was going to dish out at me, and instead was greeted by a rough hug from Charles. He pressed kisses all over the top of my head, drinking in the scent of me.I pushed him away and then squirmed out and underneath his arms. “They let you come see me?” I gasped.“I didn't ask,” he replied. “As if they could stop me from
I made a face at Charles and scrambled for my clothing, yanking it on. Instead of getting dressed, he twitched back my covers and took a seat inside my bed, covering himself with the sheets.Someone pounded again, and I jerked open the door, surprised to find myself face the face with Theo. He didn't wait for an invitation, instead pushing me back inside by the shoulders and shutting the door behind him.The look on his face, I couldn't quite read, but it was intense.“What's going on?”Theo crossed his arms over his chest and eyed me. “What did you do, Elena?”I put my hands on my hips. “What do you mean ‘what did I do?’” I wanted to avoid having to tell him that I had sent the conversation between the king and me to Jasmine.The muscles in his neck twitched with tension. “They've arrested the king.”“What?” both Charles and I yelped at the same time.Theo gave a short nod. “So, I'll repeat myself,” Theo said. “What did you do?”I pressed a hand to my forehead, willing the room to st
Evidently, the law moved a lot faster for the king than for anyone else I’d ever heard about because it was less than an hour later when the mousey chamberlain showed up.He gave me a low bow. “Lady Elena,” he said. “I'm here to escort you to the opening proceedings of the trial.”“Already? I guess the lawyers don't need any more time to prepare.”He shot me in an incredulous look. “The lawyers have been working tirelessly on this case since, somehow, a recording of your private conversation with the king got admitted into the public sphere last night. They are at least prepared to take opening statements. Make sure you have yourself ready,” he said disdainfully.“For what I demanded. I haven't even had time to consult with a lawyer or anything.”“When making a blatant power grab, one ought to be prepared for the consequences.” The Chamberlain turned on his heel and started walking down the hall, not waiting for me.Charles started after him, fury on his face, but I caught his arm and