Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
I left the training yard and found a member of the kitchen staff to send on an errand in the village, then retired to my chambers for a quick nap, a piece of her hair wrapped around my fingers and pressed to my chest. When I returned to the kitchen, the other staff members were surprised to see her back so soon but happy to let her take lunch to the king so they could get ahead on dinner preparations.
Misha’s quarters are larger than mine, as I would’ve expected, but they aren’t opulent by any means. They’re comfortable. The kind of place you’d want to escape to after busy days of too much responsibility. As I prepare their plates in the small dining area, he sits in a wingback chair, eyes on the book in his lap. The midday sun accentuates the sharp angles of his cheekbones and the dark fringe of his lashes. From her chair beside him, Amira pours herself a cup of tea.
She smiles when she notices me, then cocks her head to the side. “Are you okay today, Welsey?”
Of course she would know even the names of all the staff members. I smile and train my thoughts on calming memories—riding through the fields as a child, baking with my mother, anything but how reckless it is to be here right now. It’s one thing to shield my thoughts from Misha. It’s quite another to shield my emotions from his empath wife. “I’m fine.”
She frowns but doesn’t push. I’m sure she has a lifetime of experiences with people denying their emotions. “You tell me if you need anything,” she says. These two are so kind. It’s no wonder they’re beloved by their people.
I busy myself plating lunch for the two. I’m not sure what I thought they’d talk about, but so far their visit has been a quiet one. Like old friends who don’t need to talk to enjoy each other’s company.
Just when I think my efforts have been wasted, Misha closes his book with a huff and tosses it onto the table. “Go ahead and say it.”
Amira meets his eyes. “Say what?” she asks innocently.
“I made a mistake today. You caught me in a weak moment, and I deserve to hear whatever it is you have to say about it.”
She hums quietly.
Misha tilts his head back and stares at the ceiling. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Perhaps that she’s beautiful and kind. Perhaps that she looks at you like you’re a god walking among us.”
He frowns out the windows. “But isn’t that strange?”
Amira coughs out a laugh. “Really, Misha, it’s not like you to be so modest.”
He grunts. “I mean she’s different. Since coming here. Before this visit, I never—” He shakes his head. “It was inappropriate.”
Amira turns in her seat and gives him a sad smile. “No one can fault you for your attraction. And it makes sense that it’s new, that you’re seeing her in a different light now that she’s become a woman.”
He scrubs a hand over his jaw. “If I lay a finger on Jasalyn without wedding bells in mind, Abriella will have my head.” He pushes out of his chair and paces in front of the windows. “Brie wanted me to bring Jas out of her shell, but I don’t think an affair is what she intended.”
Amira sets down her tea. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be an affair. Maybe matching you with the shadow princess is exactly what our realm needs.”
Misha stops pacing and turns to his former wife. “If we were to truly pursue that which is best for the realm, we’d marry the shadow princess to the golden king.”
She tilts her head to the side. “Neither would want that. He still carries a torch for her sister.”
“Are we talking love or duty?”
“I’m suggesting maybe you have an option here that could allow you to be true to both,” she says, her tone infused with patience.
There’s a hollow ache in my chest at the idea of Misha marrying Jas. Which is ridiculous, since he thinks I’m her. Ridiculous, since she’d have none of it.
“Be honest,” Amira says. “Are you resisting out of a sense of honor or because you’re still waiting for the female in your dreams?”
Another tug in my chest—now jealousy over a dream? I’m ridiculous. But his eyes are haunted when he looks at Amira. “Surely they mean something.”
“They haven’t lessened since the princess arrived?”
He shakes his head, then bows it. “If anything, they’ve redoubled. I spend my nights longing for a female I’ve never met and my days wondering at this pull to another.”
“You could wait on a dream forever, and I would support that. But if you’re feeling these things for a real woman. One who’s under your roof and who seems to feel them for you too—”