by K.N. Lee
Rowen flickered a glance to his bed. “Shall I just lay beside the woman you already have in your bed?”
As expected, Rowen’s sudden change of attitude baffled the prince. He took a step back and beheld her with an odd look as if he finally saw her as more than prey. Then, he laughed heartily.
His scales were as black and stood out on his naked bronze skin, faint. They caught the light spilling in from the window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Freshly out of his teens, Rickard was handsome. He was bearded, unlike his older clean-shaven brother, and usually wore his hair tied at the nape.
“I swear I think your mission is to vex me,” Prince Rickard said, raking a hand through his dark, shoulder-length brown hair. “The beautiful human walks into my castle and continues to ignore my shows of affection. What game are you playing?”
Ignoring his question, Rowen straightened her dress and pulled the letter from her sleeve. “I’ve come to deliver this letter from Princess Noemie.”
Rickard nodded and snatched the letter from her grasp. He tapped the letter onto the palm of his hand and watched her. “I will figure you out, little human. Mark my words.”
Rowen narrowed her eyes as she examined Rickard’s face. He was an interesting specimen. If there was one thing she wished her mother had taught her, it was about men.
“I am sure you will, your highness.”
“You’re lucky I have to leave soon. I’d ravish you right here on the floor.”
Rowen rolled her eyes. “I am sure you would.”
Startling her, the prince caught her by the wrist. His grip was too tight, and pinched her skin. Whatever euphoria she felt after his earlier touch was replaced with fear.
He brought his face close to hers. “Do you mock me, human? I have a mind to find out what you were really doing last night.”
“Forgive me, your highness,” Rowen said quickly. The last thing she needed was to have Prince Rickard following her and getting into her affairs.
Rickard’s growl made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
“Silly little fool,” he breathed, pushing her against the wall. “I think I like you even more with each passing day.”
That feeling of desire and pleasure returned at full force and Rowen sucked in a breath.
Her skin grew tight and warm as his fingers ran along her clavicle.
A guard stood in the doorway, abruptly ending the moment.
“Your highness, my apologies. You’ve been summoned by the king. Urgent business.”
Rowen slipped from her place before Rickard and past the guard.
Once outside, she exhaled and fanned her cheeks. For hating him so much, he knew how to leave her flustered every time they were faced with one another.
Chapter 7
ANOTHER ERRAND SENT Rowen from Princess Noemie’s dressing to one of the sitting rooms where noblemen spent their days playing cards, telling awful jokes, and drinking the finest wine the castle had to offer. The king of Withrae treated nobility well, and they spent more time in the castle than they did at their own estates.
Rowen yelped when she passed by an open door and was yanked inside. Strong arms pulled her and wrapped around her frame.
To her surprise, she looked up into the eyes of Prince Lawson, the heir to the Withrae throne.
“There she is,” he said, and lifted her into the air. Her skirts flared as he spun her around the room.
“You nearly sent me into shock, Prince Lawson,” Rowen said with a breath of relief. Her fear was replaced with a genuine smile. “But, I will forgive you this time.”
He grinned and kissed her on the cheeks. “You’d better,” he said, and set her down on her feet.
“This is a surprise.” Rowen looked around Lawson’s private study. There were two rooms, one with his desk, shelves of collectibles and scrolls, and another with sofas and a fire place. “What has you so enthused this fine morning?”
She spotted a table set with food and wine.
“I have some good news,” Lawson said, sliding his arms around her small waist. She loved the feel of her body against the hardness of his. This was one thing she would miss if she ever did need to make a quick escape.
That gave her an idea.
Pouring herself a glass, Rowen grinned. This was a pleasant diversion from her endless tasks of the day. “And, what is that?”
She took a sip of wine. The sound of a book closing caught her attention.
Rowen’s smile was wiped from her face when she saw Prince Rickard in the sitting room with his legs propped on the side of the seat.
“Lady Rowen?” Prince Rickard asked, his eyes widening as he looked her up and down. “This is the lady you’re planning on ruining the sanctity of our blood line for?”
“Yes,” Rowen said, answering for Prince Lawson. This time, she truly faked her confidence. Her idea was to ask him for protection. Now, she was afraid that Prince Rickard’s knowledge of their affair would threaten everything she’d built.
Her voice wavered and her eyes watered as she fixed her gaze on the prince who sat on a red sofa. He had a booklet in his hand, one with a strange symbol on the cover.
Rickard looked from Rowen to Lawson. “You sneaky bastard.”
“Listen,” Lawson said, holding his hands out before him, as if to keep Rickard from lunging from his seat at Rowen. “Nothing has changed. I confided in you about the woman I loved, and you told me you supported my decision. Well. I chose Rowen, over all the women in the kingdom.”
For a moment, the silence was agonizing. Rowen’s heart wouldn’t slow no matter how hard she tried to calm herself.
“You’re serious?” Rickard asked, lifting his brows. “Like, utterly serious?”
Lawson’s jaw tightened. “I am.”
“Well,” Rickard said, surprising them both. “I’m starving.” He stood and walked toward the main exit back into the palace.
Lawson laughed, a bit nervously. “What?”
Rowen remained tense, and waited to exhale.
“I’m starving. I’m going to find some food. Do what you want with your life.”
“I will,” Lawson said, with finality.
Rickard took Rowen’s glass of wine from her grasp. The look he gave her when their eyes met and he drank down her wine turned her blood cold.
Instinctively, Rowen stepped away and folded her arms before her as Rickard held her gaze. She could feel cheeks paling as she read the truth in his eyes. The silence was agonizing. But, she could read what he hid behind his cool attitude.
He now hated her.
And this would not be the end of this.
As if he knew that she recognized what he was thinking, Rickard cracked a grin. “She’s a bit of a bore, Lawson. But, so are you.”
Lawson sighed and they both watched Rickard leave the study.
Once Rickard was gone, Lawson turned to Rowen.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Rowen fell to her knees, overcome with nausea.
“No, Lawson. It’s worse than you know.”
Chapter 8
“HOW COULD YOU tell your brother? He is the last person I wanted to know,” Rowen said, her palms wet with sweat. She rubbed them against her dress and closed her eyes. “He will ruin everything.”
“What was I supposed to do, Rowen? I turned to the one person I trust for advice. He’s my brother and that fact will never change.”
Rowen’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at Prince Lawson. “Advice about what?”
“About you!”
To her surprise, Lawson’s usual smile was absent from his face. She didn’t like the way he looked at her, as if she’d stolen something and he’d caught her.
“What do you mean?”
“You forget that I saw you outside of the castle just last night.”
Groaning, Rowen pushed herself up to her feet. She straightened her dress and returned to the table of wine and cheese. Picking up the glass Rickard h
ad taken from her grasp, she poured herself another and drank it down.
Just when she thought the day was going well. It wasn’t a surprise. For Rowen, whenever things did go her way, something terrible always followed. Perhaps this was the worst of it. She licked her lips and stared at the plate of assorted cheese. She could figure this out.
Rickard was just an impulsive young Dragon. Maybe this would work in her favor. Perhaps this revelation would cause him to no longer pursue her. She rubbed her temples.
No, that wasn’t like Rickard at all.
“What were you doing last night?”
Sighing, Rowen looked to him and shrugged. How could she tell him the truth? Her love for him was strong, but her survival instinct was stronger.
Her love for Lawson made her weak. She didn’t know how to hide her emotions from him the way she could from others.
“I was afraid,” she admitted.
Lawson took her by the hand, sat down in his arm chair and pulled her into his lap. “Of what?”
Instead of meeting his gaze, she kept her eyes down. She couldn’t hide the truth from him forever.
“Rowen,” he said, and tilted her chin. “Look at me. Tell me what troubles you. If there is one person in the kingdom that can fix it. It is me.”
Rowen looked up and their eyes met. Sometimes she wondered if she was part of his game, and just thought she was the master of it all. His bright green gaze nearly took her breath away no matter how many times she gazed into them. The flecks of gold around his iris were unlike anything she’d ever seen. She touched his hair, trying to formulate her words.
Lawson’s black hair was styled in the fashion different from the upper-class, long and tied into a knot on the top of his head. It was different, but fitting. Rowen was certain that after the party, everyone would be wearing their hair just like the future king.
It wasn’t hard to fall for Lawson. She was lucky in that respect.
“I just worry. You can have any woman in the seven Dragon kingdoms. But, you chose me. That’s frightening. Do you know how many people hate me already? Just for who and what I am. We both know that your father will never let you marry me.”
“Listen. We will find a way to make this work. But, seeing you out last night worried me. I thought you were trying to slip away in the dark of night. I thought I’d lose you.”
“No. I wasn’t trying to leave you. I just worried that things may never come to fruition. I don’t like secrets. Your brother doesn’t hide his feelings. Why do you? He can go around the kingdom collecting mistresses like prizes, and fighting in the streets like a madman.”
She kept her face free of the joy she felt for her expert manipulation. Prince Lawson would have never noticed her if his brother hadn’t hit her in front of everyone at court. It was her way into his heart. Through his compassion. Now, all her work was in jeopardy. How long before Rickard told others?
He stroked her back and sighed. “My brother is reckless. He will never make a good king. But, he has a good and loyal heart, and when he does find his true mate, he will do as every Dragon does and will be devoted to her for life. The same as how I intend to be devoted to you.”
“But, I am not a full-blood. You might change your mind.”
“Nonsense,” Lawson said with a smile that wasn’t as convincing as she’d hoped. “I could never leave someone as beautiful as you.”
Rowen sighed. Her beauty could only take her so far. She covered her mouth with her hands and exhaled.
“I just don’t like Rickard knowing. Something about it doesn’t feel right.”
“Can you fault me for telling him first? I assure you, I will tell my father soon, and we will make this work.”
“I suppose,” Rowen mumbled.
“You see, I’d prefer to keep my plans quiet, so that no one can ruin them. When the time is right, I will make it known to everyone in the kingdom. Lady Rowen Glenick has my heart, and will one day be my queen.”
“Queen of Withrae, Harrow, and all the cities of Draconia. My stepfather would just die from the shock of it.” She shook her head. It didn’t seem possible.
“That’s right. You just sit tight and let me worry about the laws and tradition.”
Nodding, Rowen rested her head on his shoulder. She breathed in the scent of the cream his valet used to shave him, and felt as though she could stay there, wrapped in his arms, forever.
“I remember when you first came to the castle. While there were whispers of the only known half-blood being in our castle, I was intrigued by you. Not because you are half-human, but because there was something special not everyone could see. I’m happy that you are the first human to live and work in my castle. No other Dragon kingdom can boast of such a thing.”
“Some might say otherwise. Some might find it distasteful to have the bloodline muddled by human blood. And, some might be offended to have me on the throne by your side.”
“Dragons of the seven kingdoms of the north fail to remember that we still hold some form of human blood. Whether we choose to admit it. Our people prefer to live in our human form when we could just as easily curl up in our Dragon form in caves like the olden days. Fascinating, really.”
Rowen never thought of it. She did envy the Dragons for being able to shift into both their bestial and human form with ease, when she was stuck in her human form.
“Doesn’t change the fact that I am more human than Dragon. And, that will never change.”
“Perhaps. But who cares what anyone thinks?”
Lawson laced his fingers into her hair and pulled her up to face him. A deep kiss awakened her body in ways that she’d never known before coming to Withrae.
When they parted, Rowen looked deep into his eyes. Could he make it work? He knew nothing of her ability to prophesize. Perhaps it was time to tell him.
“Lawson,” Rowen whispered.
“Yes, my love.”
“We’ve managed to keep our relationship a secret for almost a month.”
“We have. Clever, aren’t we?”
Rowen pursed her lips. Cleverer than you think.
“Indeed,” Rowen said, mustering the courage to say what was on her mind. “But, do you have any secrets you wish to tell me?”
“Many,” he said. “But there are some things best left unsaid, and some secrets that protect my kingdom.”
Rowen sat up. “I see,” she said.
“Why? Do you have secrets?”
Shaking her head, Rowen fixed the collar of his shirt and smoothed his burgundy vest. It seemed that she would take the truth of her machinations to her death bed. “None. You know all there is to know about me.”
“Ah, but there is one thing I do not know. One thing that will be our only obstacle when we make our plans for marriage known.”
Alarmed, Rowen’s eyes widened. “And, what is that?”
He stroked her cheek, lingering on the spot where her bruise was fading.
“The truth of your origins,” he said, and Rowen tensed. “I’d very much like to know who your father is.”
My father? Rowen shook her head. He wondered the one thing she’d been searching for answers to all her life. She’d thought of him many times throughout her childhood, but no one had ever asked her about him.
“He’s dead. Why does it matter?”
“Maybe it doesn’t. Don’t you ever wonder who he was?”
Rowen’s shoulders slumped. “He’s a mystery to me.”
“But, you had to ask your mother about him. Aren’t you a little curious?”
“He was a human,” Rowen said, narrowing her eyes as she recalled how her mother described him. “Handsome, with eyes so gray that they were almost white.”
“Like yours,” Lawson said.
Nodding, Rowen went on. “He was charming and as my grandmother would say, he bewitched my mother and made her act recklessly. She risked everything to run away with him. She left her family and a chance to be royalty behind. To chase after a hum
an that did nothing but break her heart.”
“She loved him.”
Like I love you, Lawson. Rowen thought of the moment she realized that Lawson had stolen her heart in the same way she’d dreamed of her mother’s heart being stolen. Now that she knew what love looked like, she was certain that her mother never shared those feelings with her stepfather. She’d been promised to a king, fell for a human of no noble birth, and settled for a duke.
She could have done worse.
Rowen cupped Lawson’s face in her hands. She’d reached high, and claimed royalty for her own. Could she reveal to him that that was her plan all along?
Her stepfather was wrong about most of the names he called her. But, ambitious and manipulative were the only true ones he’d ever used. The innocence of Rowen’s face hid her many truths, and her plan to climb the ranks had worked.
Now, if only she could keep her prince, and her head.
“To think, your mother could be a queen now if she hadn’t left.”
“My mother and I are the same in many ways,” Rowen said. “We’d do anything for love.”
Lawson stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You know I’ll never break your heart, don’t you?”
Smiling, Rowen nodded and closed her eyes against the feel of his touch. “You better not.”
He pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips touched and his hands slid up her dress to grab her naked thighs.
Locked in the kiss, Rowen’s eyes widened. He’d never touched her that way, and while exciting, she feared where this level of intimacy was going.
His tongue parted her lips and eagerly, almost desperately, he worked to unlace the strings at the back of her dress.
“Lawson,” Rowen said. “I can’t right now. I must get back. Macana has an errand for me. I can’t miss it. She’s already suspicious of me.” She hated lying to him, bit didn’t like where he was taking things.