Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
A warning growl erupted in her mind, and she smiled weakly. Oops. She had forgotten about him reading her mind again. But whereas such instances had amused him before, this time he remained frowning, and her smile faded.
"I didn't mean to make fun of things," she said uncertainly.
"If you want to be treated like a grown-up," he said flatly, "then you need to act like it." He saw her flinch at his words and bit back a curse, realizing how unnecessarily harsh his tone had become. "I'm sorry." He took hold of her hand and pressed it to his lips. "I just have a lot of things in my mind." He saw her face soften, and he tried not to feel guilty about it, knowing that she misunderstood his words. She thought he was worried about tonight's planned offensive against the vampires, but that wasn't it at all.
What Lysander was finding extremely difficult to adjust to was the growing strength of his feelings for her. He had thought, now that he knew of her imperfections, he would be able to control his love for her. But he had thought wrong.
Accepting his love for her was just like opening a fucking dam inside of him, and now both man and beast craved for her beyond reason. So much so that when she had asked him if she could join him in his last strategy meeting before going to battle, he hadn't been able to say no. Even when he knew it would mean appearing weak before Fina, and he might as well have admitted his wife had him by the balls—-
He had to give their love a shot. She was young, and it was his fault that she had to surmount challenges that even the most experienced rulers would have found a challenge. But he was here now, and he would make sure she didn't make the same mistakes.
Preparations for the battle were already underway when they came out of the house to join Lysander's men. The clanging sound of swords clashed mixed with the rough grunts of soldiers doing hand-to-hand combat drills. Overall morale appeared high enough, but Lysander had a feeling this would change if they learned the princess had been completely shut out from planning tonight's offensive.
The twins, along with several of the Faes' most experienced soldiers, swiftly came forward to engage the prince in discussion, and Estrella just as quickly hung back. This had the other men glancing at her oddly, but she pretended not to notice it.
Even Lysander's gaze drifted to her once in a while.
He was probably worried she'd go back on her word, she thought worriedly, and act horribly presumptuous in front of people who were a thousand times more experienced than her.
She wished she could tell him that the only reason she had been so confident all these years was because of him. Keep my kingdom safe for me. I trust you. Those were his very words, and it had inspired her, gave her strength and power when she so badly wanted to cry and give up and run to her big brother for help—-
Estrella was startled when Lysander suddenly appeared by her side. "Husband?"
"I..." A grimace worked its way to the prince's handsome face when Lysander realized he couldn't think of anything to say. He had been listening to her thoughts, and the entire time, he had been unable to stop wondering if she was still faking it, and she was merely thinking of things to make him feel guilty.
How was it possible that he was able to love her without trusting her? And how was it, despite all the lies and doubts, everything in him still rebelled against the mere knowledge of how much she had hurt in the past?
Estrella's brows furrowed. "Lysander?" Are you worried about tonight?
Lysander forced a smile. No. Of course not. The words, while not a lie, wasn't exactly the truth either. There were more than a few red flags in Fina's plans, but even if the worst was to happen, his calculations told him that the risks would still be manageable. He owed this to Fina, after what she had suffered—-
As they reached the foot of the stairs, a blur of movement coming from the manor's front doors caught his eye, and the beast inside him growled in warning. Lysander was immediately on guard, and he reacted swiftly and instinctively, reaching for Estrella to put her behind him as he turned to face the threat.
Which turned out to be none other than Fina.
Color stained Lysander's high-boned cheeks when he realized that the beast inside him seemed to have deliberately messed up with his senses, making him erroneously react to his own spymaster as some snake that slithered in treacherous silence. It was a despicable and inexcusable mistake, and he immediately loosened his hold on Estrella to make amends.