Kit and her two ladies in waiting, Avinia and Isla, walked along in silence to Kit’s chambers, and once they were inside, the cousins went about readying her for dinner with her mother. There would be music before the meal was served, which was why she was expected so early, and Kit imagined her mother would introduce her to the son of some foreign dignitary, someone meant to find his way into her chambers. She was aware that queens had been bargaining with turns in their daughters’ beds for generations, and while that was just the way of it, Kit liked the idea of choosing one of her own guard members far better than the thought she might spend the night with a prince from another land who was only there because he was seeking pleasure as well. It was almost ironic that a queendom built on the belief that women superior to men and were entitled to be pleasured by them could make such deals, but that wouldn’t be the only law of the land that seemed backward to Kit.<
The music and dinner were pleasant enough, but Kit found each second that ticked by on the large grandfather clock across the room seemed to take an eternity. While her mother supplied her with several visiting nobles to entertain her, Kit hardly heard a word any of them said. Perhaps she would have found one or two of the men attractive if her mind were not elsewhere. When it was time for her to head off to her chambers, nearly four hours after the festivities had begun, she did so without remembering a single one of the gentlemen’s names.Her mother had asked her several times what was on her mind, but with each question, Kit had only shrugged and said she wasn’t feeling like herself. As she headed down the long hallway with two other guards beside her, ones she remembered from her secret viewing out the window earlier but could not name, she tried to calm her nerves. It wasn’t as if she was feeling ill, but a stirring inside of her, something like the sen
Kit entered the bedroom from the antechamber to see that the lantern by the bed was lit, though she was the only one in the room. She had a look around and found everything as it was the last time she’d been here except that next to the lamp there was a sheath and the lubrication Mikali had supplied her with, as if someone had come along to prepare the room for her. She wondered who might’ve done so, unless her cousins did it out of hopefulness. The linens on the bed were turned down as well.Kit hardly had a chance to stand there and quake before she heard a rapping on the outside door. Her breath caught in her throat, and the idea that she was not ready filled her head. But the sound of footsteps let her know it was too late, that she was no longer alone, and she slowly turned around, telling herself to be calm, that it would be all right.Terrowin stood in the doorway wearing only a thin white tunic and a pair of brown trousers, no shoes, no jerkin, no c
Terrowin’s body hovered over Kit like a shelter with most of his weight on the bed next to her. Only his protective arms and his broad chest rose above her. The longer Terrowin kissed her, the lower his hands seemed to explore until Kit realized he had her legs spread slightly and his fingers were poised between her legs.The dull ache she’d noted earlier when she’d first seen his well-formed chest had turned into a throbbing pain, and as his fingers slowly began to wind their way along her outer edges, she longed to reach down and press them further inside. “You’re wet, my love,” he whispered in her ear, and she realized that wasn’t the half of it. His fingers slipped on her skin, sliding easily due to how badly she wanted him inside of her, and each time his fingers probed a bit deeper, she cried out a little more.“Do you like that?” he asked, his teeth nipping at her ear. “Are you enjoying yourself, my swe
The ChoosingBright flags and banners in every color imaginable lined the road leading to the castle. It seemed like a never ending caravan of horses, wagons, carriages, and people marching in on foot. Kit stood next to her mother, most of the Royal Council members nearby, while her own ladies and her mother’s assistants stood in the distance, watching the Representatives pour into the castle grounds. A glance over her shoulder let Kit know her father was also there, though as a male, and only a duke, he stood in the back and would not actually greet anyone. Still, it calmed her to see his reassuring smile. She couldn’t imagine how he must feel about the beginning of this process; his little girl finding a mate had to be unsettling to some degree.Taking a deep breath, the princess prepared herself to meet the next delegation. Today was the first of several where she’d spend long hours standing outside waiting for the Representatives to
So went her day, and Kit wondered at how long it took for the first dozen Representatives and their delegations to arrive and come through the line. She knew she wouldn’t see any of the Representatives again for a few days because she would be spending her time here, and while they did have two more weeks to arrive, her mother said she didn’t believe it would take any of them that long. She thought they would all be there within the first week, which would leave the second week for entertaining the Representatives before the Choosing itself would begin, assuming the queen didn’t alter the timeline of activities, which she could at her own discretion.The setting sun ended the welcoming for the first day, and Kit returned to her chambers to freshen herself before dinner. She wouldn’t dine with any of the Representatives this first week as that might give them an unfair advantage. Their quarters were on a hall near her own, and there was a small possibil
“What do the gentlemen do now?” Blankka asked, pulling the gown they’d decided on earlier in the day out of the wardrobe. The dress she would wear to dinner was heavily beaded but made of a light yellow material.“Well, they will move into their chambers as they arrive. They can keep a liegeman with them, but everyone else must stay outside of the castle. The servants who will stay with them throughout the time they are asked to dwell at Wrenbrook are allowed to put up tents in the fields behind the castle, though I have no idea why any of them would need more than one servant,” Avinia explained with a shrug. She gestured for Kit to move onto the stool in front of the mirror so they could start doing her hair, and the princess ignored her. A sharp clearing of her voice had Kit sighing and pulling herself to her feet, tromping the few steps to the stool and collapsing once more.“I do wonder why no one ever refers to you as ‘You
“Did you see anyone of interest today?” Queen Rona asked from Kit’s right, at the head of the dinner table. Her voice was low so that the other council members who were dining with them would struggle to hear, but Kit noticed everyone else grew silent in anticipation of her answer, as if they’d all been longing to ask the same question.Giving a shy smile, Kit replied. “I did. I am interested in getting to know all of the Representatives better.”“Some of them were quite handsome,” the Queen Mother, Junno, noted. Kit smiled at her grandmother, glad that her health had permitted her to attend the first day of arrivals. She was only in her mid-sixties, but poor eyesight and an illness she’d suffered from for years limited her health and had caused her to abdicate the throne to her daughter, Rona, when she was only in her forties. Rona had inherited the queendom right after her own Choosing. Of course, she had been eag
Even the most sensible shoes she owned were no match for standing on the stone dais for hours, and by mid-afternoon, Kit’s feet ached, even though they had taken an hour to dine not that long ago. So far, she’d met a few interesting candidates, but when the delegation from Warchester Keep arrived, the day suddenly became more interesting.A full foot taller than the man before him, the one she assumed would be doing the introductions once they passed through the security line, Kit caught the Representative’s easy smile and instantly remembered him from her eighteenth birthday celebration. His green eyes sparkled and his curly mop of dark hair caught the breeze. His eyes never strayed from her face, and for the first time on what was becoming the longest day she could remember, she was intrigued.“Your Majesty,” the stooped older man began, addressing her mother first, “may I present the representative from Warchester Keep, Cassius of