I hurried down to the hut. I wasn't supposed to be meeting Genevieve here until late tonight, but I was anxious to get out of the palace. Things only seemed to get more cramped and crowded every time I had to answer another question about the wedding plans.Thinking about the wedding made me sweaty. I knew it wasn't happening. I knew it was nothing but an expensive distraction at this point. I hated it. The constant hemorrhage of money was making my head hurt. I didn't know how to call it all off without raising suspicions, so I just watched the treasury bleed out.The hut stood like a lone soldier keeping watch over a glassy sea. It was becoming a sanctuary, a place where Genevieve and I could be together without fear of discovery or judgment."You're early," Genevieve said, flinching as I entered the hut."So are you," I noted. "Did I scare you?""Yeah, sorry." She laughed. "I thought I'd be alone for a while.""Want to tell me why you're hiding out here?" I asked, lookin
*Genevieve*Rowan went to the door while I smoothed my hair back into place. While Budge and Tony both knew that Rowan and I were together, they definitely didn't need all the gory details.I'd come down here early because I had listened to as much of the wedding planning as I could stand. I hadn't expected to fall in love here. I realized I didn't know if I was expecting to fall in love ever. I never had the luxury of imagining a lavish wedding, or even spending much time at all thinking about what my dream wedding would look like.Before Rowan, I had never imagined a wedding at all.I thought I was a simple kind of girl. I thought I was the kind of woman who would be happy getting married at the courthouse and moving on with my life if I ever got married at all. Marriage seemed so pointless when someone could always just walk out.My mother had left my father as soon as she'd been able to. They never actually got a divorce, she just managed to drop off the face of the plane
*Rowan*"Word is that several members of different European royal families are going to be coming," the reporter started, holding up a tape recorder. "What are your thoughts on that?""I'll be thrilled to draw more attention to our home. We have a beautiful place, with lots of fascinating history, especially between both of our islands. I think it would be beneficial to get the rest of the world thinking about our country and seeing what we have to offer," I tried to answer thoughtfully and truthfully.I was a man about to be married. It was okay if I finally started to show that I cared about the people I governed. If my father wanted to kill me, it was clear he realized I had been faking not caring all this time. I couldn't be sure when he figured it out, but I supposed it didn't matter. He knew now."And your thoughts, Duchess?" the reporter asked, turning to hold the tape recorder out closer to Aurora."I believe Rowan is right, it's time that the world discovered what a
*Jonah*"He turned me down," Aurora reported, standing in front of my desk looking like a scolded dog."The playboy prince himself turned you down?" I scoffed. "If I hadn't seen exactly what you had to offer myself, I'd say you weren't trying hard enough."It didn't make sense. I hadn't known Rowan to ever turn down a woman. And Aurora was one hell of a woman. She might be a few cows short of a herd in the brains department, but she was the sort of beautiful that men went to war for. I still couldn't believe she'd been interested in getting to know me after our initial meeting.It was what drove me to make sure she stayed kicked down a peg. If she got too confident, she'd realize I was out of her league. Or maybe she wasn't. I would be king soon. I would go to war to conquer nations, stringing together an empire of islands. She should be honored to be offered the chance to rule at my side.If I offered her that chance.I was still considering letting her take the fall for a
*Genevieve*What the hell was that? I was confused by Jonah's strange display, and more than a little unimpressed. I knew better than to believe he felt any real attraction to me. More than likely, he was trying to distract me from something. I couldn't really be bothered to consider what that might be because, at this point, the plan was laid out.Unless they'd made some massive change to their plot, we would have the three of them in custody in a matter of days. Just in time, perhaps.I waited a few moments to ensure Jonah was fully out of the hall before I swept to Rowan's room. I didn't even bother knocking, I just barged in.Rowan's head snapped up to see who was comfortable enough to just force their way into his room this way.He was standing in the doorway to the bathroom. His towel was wrapped loosely around his waist, his hair dripping tiny crystal drops of water to the floor. His eyes flared with surprise, before heating with recognition."Well, if you wanted me,
*Rowan*I shoved another piece of bacon in my mouth and chewed it. The dining hall was beginning to be draped in streamers and fabric, the structures assembled that would eventually hold the endless greenery and florals that were going to decorate the palace for a wedding that would never happen.Genevieve's note was folded in my pocket, but I felt like I could still see it. I loved the hurried scrawl that marked each of her notes, the way it made me feel as if she was always in a rush to speak with me. And she seemed to be.Genevieve wanted me in spite of the fact I was a prince, not because of it. She loved me in spite of a lot of the things I'd done and had the patience to see who I was under the facade of the uncaring playboy. She might have been disgusted by who I was when we met, but she had the patience to get to know me all those mornings in the gym.For once, this note wasn't a matter of life and death. It wasn't about the fact that we had to constantly meet in secrecy
*Genevieve*This was uncomfortable. Aurora's eyes darted between the two of us, her brow furrowed. I could tell that she was suspicious."Hey, Aurora," Rowan greeted, sounding much more casual than I felt."What's up, guys?" Aurora pasted a smile on her face, but I knew her well enough to know it was a fake smile."Just getting Genevieve's arm patched back up. Would you like to help?" Rowan offered."I'll come watch." Aurora shrugged.We all entered the room. I felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, but I just breathed in deeply through my nose. Something was definitely off, but I couldn't decide what."Here, have a seat," Rowan instructed, gesturing to the edge of his bathtub. I went into the bathroom and sat down as instructed, watching Aurora and Rowan in the room. Rowan handed first aid supplies to Aurora and then the two of them joined me in the bathroom.Rowan turned on the water, letting it get hot. He pulled the showerhead off the wall an
I didn't realize the palace sat on top of an old prison.It wasn't exactly a prison. At one time, it had technically been a dungeon, but now, it served as holding cells for political prisoners.There were no windows. It had been cut straight into whatever rock made up the island. It was wet, water constantly dripping down the walls. There was some sort of mold growing along the walls too, and it smelled like dead fish.I was the only one in the entire holding area. There wasn't even a guard down here at the moment. A few incandescent bulbs lit the area, but it didn't do much to light it.Old-style prison bars constructed two walls of my cell. I gripped them and rattled them, but they wouldn't give in. I contemplated throwing myself at them a few times to see if I could work something loose, but I was sore enough that I didn't want to risk any further injury.Purple and blue bruises were starting to bloom around my wrist, and I had barely managed to staunch the bleeding from m
Rowan wanted to watch this movie. I wanted to be a good wife and watch it. I wanted to show that I was interested in his interests. But war movies were just so boring, and I could think of something much better to do with my time.In the few days between his proposal and our wedding, I'd had time to do a little shopping in town. I hadn't exactly needed lingerie our first few days here because we'd been too ravenous for each other, but now, I thought it would be a nice touch. And useful in convincing him to ignore this awful movie.Crawling into the bed, I pulled the covers up over my lap and settled in next to him. He turned to me and gave me a little smile before returning to watching the movie. Someone on screen threw a gun at someone else.I stroked his arm, trying to put on a convincing show that I was watching the gray planes on the screen drop bombs on the towns below. He absentmindedly scooted closer to me. Rowan's hand found my thigh, and he ran his finger along the skin,
*Genevieve*The good thing about the fact that there was a massive wedding planned to happen in a week and a half was that it took little to no time to throw together our wedding.I didn't want the elaborate wedding that Aurora had planned, but I did want something romantic and beautiful. I had helped the palace staff make some adjustments to the current decorations, rearranging some of the decorations and florals and everything else to make the wedding more fitting to Rowan and me.Finding a wedding dress had been a little more complicated, but a dress shop in town had been willing to accommodate me.As I stood and studied my reflection, I found myself wishing my mother hadn't abandoned me. I wished my father wasn't an alcoholic. I wished that I hadn't thrown my entire personality into my military training, keeping me from having any time to make friends my own age.The dress was sleek ivory satin. It stood out against my tanned skin, but it didn't overpower me. It had a sco
I awoke the next morning in Genevieve's bed. She was curled around me in a warm embrace. I debated over whether or not to just close my eyes and go back to sleep. If I could just stay in this moment, wrapped in her arms and not having to concern myself with what I knew was waiting outside the door.Aurora's room was next door. Jonah's room wasn't far either. Those rooms would be empty today, no longer inhabited by traitors. I wondered what my mother was doing. What did she think? How was she feeling?It was thoughts of her that drug me from bed. Genevieve barely stirred. I knew she must be exhausted from the events of yesterday. I scrawled out a quick note to her and set it on the pillow next to her.Slipping out of her room, I hurried to mine. I needed to find some clean clothes. After hurrying to put on my clothes from last night as quickly and quietly as I could, I was disgusted by how wet and cold they were. The ocean water didn't smell very nice either.I took a quick show
*Rowan*I thought that if I heard my father say it himself, it would feel more real.My father had been the one to take the shot in the dining hall.He had tried to shoot me and had successfully shot Genevieve. When I finally put the pieces together and realized what was happening, I had prayed that somehow I would be wrong. I knew that my father and I didn't get along. It wasn't a surprise that he didn't exactly have warm sentiments when it came to me.But for it to be confirmed that he wanted me dead?To know for sure that he would have killed me himself if I had just been a little less lucky?I should be groveling at Genevieve's feet. How many times had she saved my life? A woman who had been in my life for a matter of months cared more about keeping me alive than my own father. I owed so much to her.She pulled out a chair for me to sit on. Budge flopped down on her bed, muttering about wanting to get a few kicks in himself. The people in this room were the people who
For fuck's sake.We just couldn't catch a break tonight. They were ahead of us at every turn. I expected my heart to race, my knees to go weak, for some sign of the distress I knew I should be feeling to make itself known, but there was nothing.I was numb. I felt defeated. I let the ice-cold anguish wash through me and back out to the ocean. Maybe it traveled down those same damned drainage pipes we crawled through. Wherever the feelings went, I found some well of strength deep inside and pulled from it to stay standing.The king smiled, his yellowed teeth showing from underneath his salt-and-pepper mustache. "Am I interrupting something?""What do you want, Dad?" Rowan demanded."I don't want you to take this personally," the king began. "It's just that the blonde ruined things this afternoon, so I've had to expedite my plans.""Do we have to do the monologuing?" I sighed.I was soaking wet. I'd been falsely accused of attempted murder, imprisoned, and had to scramble f
*Genevieve*It was impossible to tell what time of day it was. The handful of dim lights in the dungeon were on all the time, so telling time was impossible. I felt like it had to be nighttime, but I couldn't be positive.Hurried footsteps trampled down the stairs, echoing against the rock walls of the wet basement."Genevieve," Rowan hissed.I stood, hurrying to the edge of the cell, grasping at the bars."What are you doing down here?" I demanded, though the relief at seeing him nearly swept me away like a tidal wave."Getting you out of here," he answered, racing from the base of the stairs to my cell door.He fumbled with the keys, jamming several different ones into the keyhole before finding the right one. He twisted it and yanked the door open."Let's go," he urged.I followed him out and down the hall. Rowan held his hand behind his back and I reached up and took it. He guided me away from the stairs he had used to come down here, and instead, toward a door at
*Rowan*There were two guards posted outside of my room. Luckily, they allowed Budge to be the guard inside my room, but we were effectively prisoners."You know, it seems a little stupid to have a fireplace in a bedroom," Budge pointed out, kicking at the ash in the fireplace. It made a little gray puff in the air."I mean, if we lived somewhere cold, it would be nice," I excused."We live on an island. It's stupid," Budge insisted."I won't disagree with that."I was on my laptop, scrolling through articles online trying to see what I could do about all of this. The problem was that there wasn't a whole lot of information online about Boldovan law."We'll get her out," Budge assured me, coming to rest a massive hand on my shoulder."I know we will. I won't survive if we don't."I wouldn't survive without her. Not just in the way that she seemed to be the only one keeping me alive, but I didn't think I could live without her by my side.It was like I had gone all m
I didn't realize the palace sat on top of an old prison.It wasn't exactly a prison. At one time, it had technically been a dungeon, but now, it served as holding cells for political prisoners.There were no windows. It had been cut straight into whatever rock made up the island. It was wet, water constantly dripping down the walls. There was some sort of mold growing along the walls too, and it smelled like dead fish.I was the only one in the entire holding area. There wasn't even a guard down here at the moment. A few incandescent bulbs lit the area, but it didn't do much to light it.Old-style prison bars constructed two walls of my cell. I gripped them and rattled them, but they wouldn't give in. I contemplated throwing myself at them a few times to see if I could work something loose, but I was sore enough that I didn't want to risk any further injury.Purple and blue bruises were starting to bloom around my wrist, and I had barely managed to staunch the bleeding from m
*Genevieve*This was uncomfortable. Aurora's eyes darted between the two of us, her brow furrowed. I could tell that she was suspicious."Hey, Aurora," Rowan greeted, sounding much more casual than I felt."What's up, guys?" Aurora pasted a smile on her face, but I knew her well enough to know it was a fake smile."Just getting Genevieve's arm patched back up. Would you like to help?" Rowan offered."I'll come watch." Aurora shrugged.We all entered the room. I felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, but I just breathed in deeply through my nose. Something was definitely off, but I couldn't decide what."Here, have a seat," Rowan instructed, gesturing to the edge of his bathtub. I went into the bathroom and sat down as instructed, watching Aurora and Rowan in the room. Rowan handed first aid supplies to Aurora and then the two of them joined me in the bathroom.Rowan turned on the water, letting it get hot. He pulled the showerhead off the wall an