Kit awoke alone late the next morning, surprised that her mother hadn’t sent for her, though she wasn’t too startled to realize Eli had left her. There was a note on her nightstand thanking her for a night unlike any he had ever imagined and promising to see her soon. She hoped he had not been summoned. When her ladies entered to get her ready for the day, they assured her he had not and that they’d seen him with the other Representatives not long ago.
It was past the midday meal when scar face showed up at her chamber door again. Kit was dressed regally in a lavender gown, the closest to royal purple her mother would allow, her hair piled atop her head, her largest crown secured in place. When he announced the queen would see her, she didn’t blink only headed out into the hallway with her shoulders back and her chin held high. Galter and another guard, Sil, walked alongside her, and Kit felt confident that whatever came out of her mouth, she would fin
Beginning of Book 3 Ruled by the Princess: Realm of the Chosen, a Reverse Harem RomanceThe sound of horses’ hooves beating against packed earth, cheers from the crowded stands, and the jarring clang of wood on metal were all drowned out by the sound of Princess Katrinetta’s heart beating out of her chest as she stared down from the riser. Gripping the wooden barrier that separated her from a fifteen foot fall to the arena floor beneath her, Kit’s knuckles were white, and despite the cool temperatures, a fine line of perspiration beaded her forehead.The princess loved a good jousting tournament.This one was different, however. These weren’t random noblemen or royalty from another realm visiting the queen. No, the contestants in this particular competition were all hers, and while it was difficult to decide who she wanted to win, one thing was for certain; she didn’t want anyone to be injured. Which meant every
Landon and Gavin went flying at each other again, and Kit grabbed hold of her armrests, praying to every goddess in the heavens both of them would manage to make it through unscathed. This time, Landon landed a solid blow on Gavin’s shield, and the rider from Brendrake’s lance broke cleanly. Queen Rona signaled a point for Landon, and the crowd began to cheer for the young man.“See, he’s just fine,” Avinia smiled, removing her hand from Kit’s shoulder to clap.Letting out the breath she’d been holding, Kit nodded, glad that the next pass would be the final of the match. The score was two to one for Gavin, and if it was a tie, it would be up to Kit to determine the winner. While she liked Gavin, a gangly man with curly, unruly brownish hair that always seemed to hide one of his brown eyes, Landon was certainly her choice, and not just because he had a way of making her weak in the knees. He’d overcome the difficulties pre
The princess was anxious. She was trying to hide it, but it was still obvious to those who knew her best. Since Eli had known her most of her life, he certainly fit in that category. Even from the far end of the arena, he could see how white her knuckles were as she squeezed the railing in front of her, and even when she sat down, the rigidity in her back let him know she was tense.He wished she would calm down. While there was always a small amount of danger involved in a jousting tournament, none of the Representatives were willing to actually harm one another as Landon’s gesture to help Gavin up off of the ground should’ve assured her.But Kit wouldn’t be able to relax until they were all back at Castle Wrenbrook safe and sound. He hoped there would be no more jousting tournaments during the Choosing if Kit was going to be so concerned the entire time. The point of the event was to give her an indication of the strength and sportsmanship of each o
“I would’ve put my money on Drake,” Cassius said, leaning in and talking closely into Eli’s ear without pulling his eyes away from the match. “He’s so much bigger than Danyen.”“Yes, but Danyen is lithe and quick,” Eli reminded his competition. “Size and strength isn’t always everything.”Cassius let out a low rumble of a chuckle and pounded Eli on the back hard enough to jar him forward from the waist up. “True, true. Suppose we’ll find out.”Eli hoped that would be the case. Despite Cassius’s observation that strength and girth were most important, Eli would be willing to take him on—in the joust anyway. A fist fight might be another story.At least Cassius was on his side where it mattered most. Eli stole another glance at Kit whose worried expression concerned him more than he could let on. He wished he could go remind her that she would be queen soon
With the cooler weather came shorter days, and by the time Eli climbed atop his black stallion, Aeros, to face off against Cassius in the final match of the tournament, streaks of pink and orange painted the horizon. They’d both earned their way to the match through tough battles, and at one point, Eli thought perhaps Reeve might defeat him when the other man had won the first two points, but Eli had recovered, and much to the queen’s dismay, he was ready to square off against Cassius.Across the arena, Cassius brought his enormous beast, Snowduster, to the starting line. Dressed all in white, astride a white steed, Cassius looked like a noble warrior of the goddesses come to do battle with a villain. Eli was wearing red and blue, the colors of his province, but his horse was black, and in his darker colors, he may as well have been a malicious entity squaring off against the man sent to protect the valor of the princess. The idea that good always triumphed agains
Eli took the offered lance and got back into position. He could tell Cassius’s disposition had changed slightly after the last pass. While he didn’t seem hostile, he wasn’t laughing anymore. When Eli turned his attention to his opponent, he could see an air of determination rolling off of him and knew this was going to be the most difficult pass of all.The knight marshal made his announcement, and Eli plowed full speed ahead again, pushing Aeros to charge even faster than the second pass. Cassius was pressing Snowduster as well, and Eli could see before they even collided that Cassius would try to change up his own timing so that it would catch his opponent off guard.That might’ve worked if Eli wasn’t expecting it. But since he saw the tactic coming, he was able to strike a split second before Cassius was ready, and at such high speed, his lance shattered, and Cassius went flying off of the back of Snowduster, landing with a hard thunk o
The fireplace in her special pleasuring chambers was unlit on her own request, but as Kit stood pacing, waiting for Eli to arrive, she thought perhaps she should’ve had a fire to take a bit of the chill out of the room. Wearing a robe over her thin chemise wasn’t quite warm enough with the autumn evening air slipping through the stone castle walls. Of course, she realized the room would heat up in a different way as soon as her Representative made his appearance, and she had originally thought that would be enough. Now, she ran her hands across her arms in an effort to keep from shivering as she waited.He wasn’t late. In fact, she’d never known him to be late to anything in all of his years. But she’d come from her regular chambers a bit early because she wanted to be alone to think, and her ladies-in-waiting wouldn’t stop chattering about the joust. While much of the discussion was about how brave certain contestants had been, and how fri
Eli must’ve felt the same way. He slid his teeth together to enclose gently on her lower lip and tugged at it as he released her mouth. Kit’s head tilted back in a deep sigh, and he pulled her chemise off over her head. When he realized she was wearing nothing else, Eli gasped. Her eyes met his as his grin widened, and he gathered her up and dropped her onto the bed.His lips were on her once more, teasing her earlobe before tracing her neck as one hand kneaded her breast and the other nestled against her hip. Normally, Kit liked to take her time at this stage, letting her suitor explore her body with his hands and mouth, preparing her before he completely took her breath away, but with Eli, she was never patient enough to wait for him to tantalize her too long. She wanted him inside her, and she wanted it now.Despite the fact that she slipped her knee around the outside of his hips, attempting to coax him further between her legs, he continued to take his
Eventually, Kit stepped back, signaling she was done, and her party faded into the hallway. Eli was right, there was much to be done, and Kit wasn’t even sure where to begin with the task of restoring the realm to its former glory. But there was no doubt her first appointment with the council would be to approve the new law that would allow her to rule before the end of her Choosing, one that would allow her to keep all seven of the men who stood around her now.As if reading her mind, Zora, her great-aunt and a distinguished member of the council stepped forward. “Queen Katrinetta, I would like to present to you a new law, passed by the council earlier this day. All it needs is your signature.”Confused, Kit took the sheet of parchment and began to read. When her eyes reached the bottom of the paper, she looked up. “How did you know...?”“Junno explained everything to us,” Nil said, stepping forward. “And we agree
“We love you, Kit. We’ll always be here for you,” Jate said to her right.“Even when we’re broken,” Danyen added, getting a giggle out of her and the others.“It’s our privilege to be with you,” Drake said in his deep, steady voice.Reeve took her hand. “Your belief in us has shaped us into who we are.”“And given us the confidence to stand with you as you become queen,” Landon said in her ear.“It’s all been well-worth it, Kit, to see you take the throne.” Cassius was still battered, but he looked much better now, with a smile on his face, than he had since Kit had found him in the dungeon.Kit shifted her eyes to Eli, assuming he would also say something. His eyes darted around several times, and she could tell he was attempting to come up with something no one else had said, but they’d all expressed themselves so well, it was a difficult
No longer frightened of the woman who used to terrorize her, Kit raised her arms between her mother’s bringing them down to the sides quickly so as to prevent her mother from ever making contact with her neck. Rona’s arms snapped down and she winced in pain. Her eyes bulged in surprise at her daughter’s strength. Kit took advantage of her mother’s stunned expression long enough to plant her fist in Rona’s right eye. Her mother rocked backward, grabbing at her face as Kit felt Eli’s familiar hand on her shoulder, seeking to calm her. Clearly, the older woman was no physical threat to Kit or anyone else.The bejeweled, golden crown atop Rona’s head wobbled as the queen staggered from the blow. It slid free, tumbling toward the floor. Kit reached out a hand and plucked it from the air. “The goddess have spoken!” she declared, ignoring the fact that it was the force of her own strike that had dislodged the crown. Nearly everyo
Watching the battle take place from the hallway had been unsettling for Kit, especially when she saw Eli faltering. For a moment, it had looked as if Vin might be victorious. Her attention had been pulled away when she learned Danyen was injured. Despite Galter’s best efforts to stop her, the princess insisted on going in and tending to him, and she had been there, placing pressure on the wound when Armant arrived. Danyen apologized for not being as handy with a sword as he was a quill, but Kit had only kissed him and assured him he was perfect in her sight.And then she’d seen hesitancy in Cassius and Eli as they considered mercy for Vin, the monster who had hurt and tortured so many. Ending him seemed like the right thing to do for all of the people of Yewforia, though she could never fault her men for weighing the costs of taking a life, even when that life was as worthless as scar face’s.She’d been stunned to see Jecob standing on the dais,
Across the room, Eli heard a shout and a roar of laughter. He could hardly let the situation distract him, but his head flickered in that direction for a moment, and he saw Danyen on the ground, grasping his middle. Drake was there and ended the laughing soldier who’d stabbed Danyen, but the Representative looked seriously wounded. Looking around the room, as he saw Vin trying to take advantage of his distraction, out of the corner of his eye, Eli spotted a member of his own guard who had just finished a man off. “Nen! Go to the infirmary and fetch Armant, as quickly as you can!”Eli hardly had time to see the guardsman nod in understanding before Vin’s persistence paid off, and his sword caught Eli in the left shoulder. It was a glancing blow as Eli dodged to his right, but this wound was deeper than the last and hurt more. It was not enough to slow him, though. Eli came flying back at Vin with a vengeance, thinking of his comments about Kit, how he h
The scene in the throne room was chaotic at best. Looking around, Eli quickly ascertained the situation. While the revolutionaries and several members of the Princess’s Guard had the upper hand, there were still twenty or thirty members of the Queen’s Guard and military doing their best to defend the door to the queen’s chambers.Across the room, Eli caught sight of a familiar set of dark eyes grimacing in his direction, and the Commander narrowed his focus as he stared him down. Scar face didn’t take his eyes off of Eli as he began to work his way through assailants, cutting them down easily as he moved toward his target. As he advanced, the aura of pure evil shifted the room such that darkness seemed to blot out everything around them until only Eli and the man who’d tried to end him remained. One of them would not walk out of this room.His concentration was broken when he heard another recognizable voice shout, “Goedwig! You&rsqu
The door to the castle was nearly nonexistent. Shards of wood hung from the upper posts, a few clung to the doorjambs, but for the most part, what had been an elegant entryway was now reduced to nothing but splinters and flecks of gold paint, thanks to the battering ram Eli had mentioned earlier.Realizing the only weapon she had was the small dagger, Kit scoured the ground for a sword. She saw one lying on the floor just inside of the castle entrance and picked it up, certain the poor fellow reposing nearby would no longer need it. She turned to tell her ladies they should do the same but noted they were already armed. Seph and Isla both had swords, though not as large and cumbersome as the one Kit had just procured, and Avinia had a bow she must’ve been carrying on her saddle, a quiver strung to her back.Armant and the other men who had come along with him stepped forward. “This is where we must leave you. We’ll head to the infirmary and check on t
“Are the two of you at peace now?” Kit asked Eli and Cassius.“I suppose so,” Eli began. “If he wants to go off and get himself killed, there will be one less person to share you with.” He smiled at Cassius, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and the larger man reached around Kit and popped him in the arm.“You’d better not get yourself killed. Any of you.” Kit looked around and saw all seven of the men she’d chosen nearby, five of them already saddled and ready to go, the other two done arguing. While she hadn’t made Drake’s appointment official, she would, as soon as she knew the outcome of the battle at hand.Kit’s hip was still aching from where she cut it on the door earlier. Normally, she’d be able to mount Belle by herself, but with her leg torn up, she decided it would be easier to ask for help. Turning to Eli, she asked, “Will you give me a boost?”&ldq
Avinia had quite an entourage with her, including several wagons’ worth of food and water, clean clothes, a few weapons, and Armant with medical supplies. She’d enlisted some castle servants to drive the wagons, and as soon as they reached the remaining prisoners, they also helped the physician as he began to assess wounds and care for the sick and injured. Bea, his nurse who was also a faithful member of the revolt, was there to help as well.Kit wasn’t sure who to go to first. Both of her cousins, along with their husbands, dropped down from their horses, and Kit could see Avinia’s eyes searching for her through the crowd. But she also wanted to run to Drake and Danyen, who were bringing up the end of the line, along with Gavin, Asher, and a few of the other remaining Representatives.The men would have to wait. Avinia rushed over, embracing Kit quickly before she backed up. “You smell terrible.”“Thank you. I just sli