“Guard! Take me to dinner. Now!”
He chuckled. “Let’s go, Princess.”
“Stop calling me that.”
He laughed again.
WE TRACED THE STEPS WE’D taken to my room, back down the staircases to the main floor and then headed deeper into the palace. I kept hold of Guard’s hand, teetering precariously with each step. I was going to break my ankles if I kept this up. Luckily, he didn’t protest or make any more embarrassing remarks. I meant to tease him. But, boy had he turned the tables on me.
I’d joked around with Kyan my whole life, but something about Guard was different. My heart began to jump erratically. I would be coming face to face with Crew and his parents, the Royal Family of Olympus, rulers of the Greaters and Lessers alike, in only a matter of minutes. Guard stopped outside of a large wooden door. Make that seconds. A long creak sounded as he pushed the door inward and motioned for me to go ahead.
I made eye contact with him one last time, taking comfort in the burnt color for a moment. Though, I wasn’t sure why it was comforting.
Harrison and Alyce Cole sat opposite one another, Mr. Cole positioned at the table’s head. Mr. Cole’s suit was completely devoid of color, matching Alyce’s evening gown, adorned with matching ivory feathers that jutted out here and there all over the bodice and skirt. She looked like a regal white peacock. My heels clacked my arrival with each step I took closer to the royal family.
Crew was seated in between his parents with his back to me, but turned once he heard my approach. His eyes lit up, as if they could become molten gold, they began to roil like a gilded storm cloud. He quickly rose and walked to me, offering his elbow, which I gladly clung on to. Leaning in to me, his warm breath brushed my ear and his stubble grazed my jaw. “You look stunning, Abby.” I could feel my cheeks warm. Nervous moisture coated my palms.
I smiled in response but couldn’t bring myself to look at him directly. He walked me around the ornate wooden table and pulled out my chair. Seated, I finally grabbed hold of the napkin in front of me and placed it in my lap, twisting it into a cloth spiral, strangling it with each squeeze. Mr. and Mrs. Cole were now seated again as well. Both had stood when I was seated and waited for Crew to seat himself before settling into their own chairs again.
The table wasn’t large, but the decor was elaborate. Plates sat beneath other plates. I had more forks and spoons than I knew what to do with. I even had three glasses. One held water with ice in it. The other two sat empty. I raised my glass and sipped the cool water greedily, before I looked up and saw three pairs of eyes fixated on me. I slowly lowered the water and looked back at the napkin in my lap. “Sorry,” I muttered.
Several servants spun in and out of the room, around the table, filling our plates with food, our empty glasses with white and red wine. One even filled my water glass again. When everyone had a full plate of food in front of them, Mr. Cole clinked his fork against his glass of white wine. “To young love. May your union be prosperous and fruitful.” With the last word, he pinned his eyes on me.
Alyce raised her glass, as did Crew, so I took mine up as well. “Well said, darling,” she cooed before sipping daintily from her glass. Crew’s eyes locked with mine. He smiled slightly, but I could tell it was forced. I recalled the conversation they had about me outside the train car. Crew could have me, if I was fertile.
“Crew, you should try the new salts that we’ve been given to try.” Mr. Cole waited until Crew picked up the tiny shaker and shook it onto his food generously.
My thoughts ran rampant as I watched him. I didn’t know what I wanted. I didn’t want to be infertile. It had been my dream to settle down with someone I loved, have babies and raise them in the village together, as I had been raised, surrounded by love and friendship. And, as much as I had grown to like Crew while he was in the village, and as much as I thought I loved him, things had changed. He had lied. Deceived me and then claimed me as his own possession in front of the village and his parents. He was a Greater Prince. I was a Lesser. End of story.
Now, I just wanted to find a way out of this Olympian nightmare. I wanted to go home and go back to normal. And, I wanted to take the Lesser girls that had been stolen from their homes, back with me. Something in my gut told me that was never going to be an option now. Something said I would never see my home again. I’d never see Kyan again, either. Crew’s eyes met mine. He took a gulp from his glass and looked down at my neck. My fingers flew to the ring.
Dinner was quiet. No one spoke at all after the toast offered by Mr. Cole. The only sounds were the scurrying of the servant’s feet, the clink of a glass, or ting of a fork against the porcelain upon which it lay. Crew’s parents seemed to be having a silent conversation with each other, making eye contact periodically along with frowns of disapproval. Those were probably aimed at me.
After a while, I just chewed, sipped and avoided eye contact. It was more than clear that I wasn’t welcome at this table. Crew’s jaw flexed and tightened. He shifted in his seat more and more as the evening wore on. When the servants had taken away our plates of rich cheesecake, drizzled with cherries, the silence became deafening. Guard stood in the corner toward the door. My gaze found his more than a few times. I wished he could get me out of here.
Crew followed my line of sight and turned around to look at Guard. His parent’s followed suit. “You. Guard,” said Mr. Cole.
Guard walked swiftly to his side. “Yes, Sir.”
“You were assigned to Miss Kelley?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Has she left your sight?”
“Only while in the steam bath, Sir.”
Harrison Cole chuckled. “Very good. You are assigned as her personal guard until further notice. You will not let her out of your sight—even when she must bathe. You are to be with her constantly. Plaster yourself by her side. Understood?”
Guard’s face looked completely unemotional, but I could see his fingers flex into balled up fists at his side. “Yes, Sir. I understand. She will not leave my sight, Sir.”
“Even while she is with my son, you are to be present. Do not allow him to dismiss you.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Escort Miss Kelley back to her room. Dinner is over.”
“Sir.” Guard pulled the back of my chair out and grabbed my elbow to help me up. The moment that his hand touched me, Crew stood.
“Let go of her, now.” He growled.
“Crew, he’s just helping me up.” I pleaded with him with words and eyes.
His lip snarled up and eyes hardened. “No one touches what is mine.” He pointed a finger at his father. “And you!” He glared at his father. “How dare you say that she cannot be in my presence without an escort? Never mind supervision or impropriety. I am her intended.”
His father did not blink. “You are her intended. And until she is found fit,” he emphasized the last word. “You will not be married. She will remain chaste. The guard will see to it. Do not test me on this, Son. You will not succeed.”
Crew circled the table and grabbed my elbow, jerking me toward the door. “Crew, stop!”
But he didn’t stop. He all but dragged me all the way to my room. I had lost one of my shoes on the first staircase and the second on the narrow spiral leading to my room. He unlocked it and shoved me inside, entering just behind me. Guard wedged his boot inside the sliver of space and pushed his way into the room before Crew could slam the door on him.
“I have orders.” He gritted, as Crew’s hand found his throat.
I grabbed Crew’s forearm. “Please, Crew. Don’t. This isn’t you!”
He turned his eyes toward me. I’d never been afraid of him until that moment. They were hard and lifeless. His breaths were heavy and uneven. His entire chest heaved, veins in his neck bulged out as his teeth clenched together. He released Guard, who fell back against the wall beside the open door, and then turned his attention to me.
I began to back away, around the bed and toward t
he window. My hands trembled as I gathered my dress, which was now a bit too long without my heels. He stalked slowly toward me, meeting my retreat step for step.
“Don’t touch her!” Guard rasped, still trying to catch his breath, scooting himself up with is heels and trying to lean over to get himself up.
This was a Crew that I’d never seen before. Even when everything happened with the Preston’s back in the village, he’d never frightened or threatened me before. My back bumped the wall beside me. The window was just to my right. Night had fallen during dinner.
I turned my face to the side just as he stepped up to me, wincing, expecting the worse. The warmth of his breath fanned my cheek. If I turned my head, my nose would have collided with his. His fingers wound into my braids while those on his other hand grabbed my collar.
“You. Are. Mine. I claimed you. I love you. No other man touches you. Understand?” I didn’t dare nod. He was too close and his fingers inside the collar around my neck were choking me.
“I understand,” I squeaked. My voice trembled.
“Good.” He moved my head to face him and when my eyes met his, his lips fell on mine. They weren’t gentle and loving, not sensual as the kisses we stole in the village. No. This kiss was possessive and demanding. When his hand jerked my collar to get me closer to him, I whimpered and opened my eyes.
Guard had stood up and was watching from his position near the door. His body was coiled tight, ready to strike. I could tell he wanted to help me, but was conflicted. Crew was his Prince. His superior. Though Mr. Cole had ordered that Guard stay with me, Guard didn’t want to upset Crew. And what could he do to him anyway? Crew was the Prince.
Guard stepped toward me. I shook my head. No. He stopped and looked at me as Crew’s mouth claimed my own. When he finally pulled back and let go of my hair and collar, my lips were bruised and swollen. Tears formed in my eyes, and I blinked them back.
Crew turned without even looking at me and fixed his eyes on Guard. “If I find out you’ve laid even a finger on her, even to help her out of a seat, I’ll have you beheaded, friend.”
Guard nodded once, his jaw muscles flexing in rage.
Crew stalked past him, out the door, slamming it closed and locking it behind him before I heard his footsteps retreat down the spiral staircase below. When I could no longer hear him, I released the breath I’d been holding, along with the tears that I hadn’t let Crew see.
I ran to the bathroom and began to sob. I sat on the edge of the large sink and wrapped my arms around myself and cried. After a time, I heard the doorknob turn. Looking up, Guard’s eyes collided with my own.
“You should go. You heard him.”
“I won’t touch you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“I’m fine.” I sniffed and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
“No, you aren’t.”
“That’s not how he acted in the village. He was so sweet and seemed like any other Lesser. I thought he was one. Except for his pale skin, he seemed to have fun and acted like he liked me, maybe even loved me. Until he put this thing around my neck and confessed who he really was. I don’t even think I ever really knew him. That,” I motioned out the door, “was not the Crew I knew in the village. That was a freaking monster!” I began sobbing again.
“That stupid—”
“Guard!” Gretchen pushed the door open behind him. Her eyes widened as she took us in. “What happened to her?” She ran to my side and hugged me, pushing my head into her shoulder. She shushed me and told me all would be well. I doubted it.
“Did you do this?” Gretchen was scary when she was mad. She was like a big, angry mother hen.
Guard threw up his hands in surrender. “It wasn’t me. It was her intended.” He said the last word as if it tasted bad on his tongue.
Gretchen felt around my neck and then began unpinning my hair. When I turned to the mirror, I could see the angry red and purple marks encircling the sides of my neck made by the collar. Made by Crew.
Gretchen buzzed around the bathroom as angry as a hornet, her voluminous black skirts swishing to and fro as she went. Before I even knew it, my hair had been taken down and brushed, my face had been scrubbed, and my dress and all of the uncomfortable undergarments had been removed and I’d been stuffed into a soft, floor-length night gown in a purple so soft, I almost thought I’d imagined it.
When she pulled me out of the bathroom, Guard was crouched near the fire. A fire that he’d built, without even receiving direction from Gretchen. She’d been too busy attending me. My eyes were swollen and stung from all of the tears that I’d spilled that evening.
I just wanted to crawl into bed, cover my head and pretend for a minute that I wasn’t here. I would pretend that I was safe in my bed, Lulu in the next room. Kyan would come for me in the morning and we would go to the orchard together. Laney would greet me on her ladder with a smile, or maybe she would have already climbed into the tallest portion of the tree she could reach. She and I wouldn’t be in Olympus, wouldn’t be violated by the Greaters. I wondered where she was tonight, if she had a warm bed, or slept upon cold floor. Tears flooded my eyes again and I just let them leak out slowly on their own volition.
Gretchen pulled back my covers. “Thank you, Gretchen. For everything you’ve done for me today.” She nodded slightly and fidgeted with the folds in her skirt, before finally muttering something and pulling me in for a hug. I hugged her back, while my tears soaked into the fabric on her shoulder.
“You’ve had quite a day. I can’t even imagine what you’ve experienced in the past twenty-four hours.”
“Guard needs something for dinner, Gretchen. Can you take him to get something to eat?”
His smooth, deep voice sounded from behind me. “I’m not allowed to leave you, Abigail.”
“I’ll have someone bring your dinner, soon, dear.” She hugged me again and headed out the door, locking it behind her.
Guard stood, still as a tree, behind me. “You called me Abigail.”
“What?”
“You called me Abigail. Not Lesser or Princess.” I laughed and sniffed.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“You’re going to be hanging around for a while, huh?”
He shifted on his feet. “Looks like it, from what King Cole said.”
I started laughing and couldn’t catch my breath. I doubled over with giggles. The tears now clouding my vision were happy ones. Or, at least, funny ones. Guard looked at me and quirked a dark eyebrow, a small smile lifting on one side. “What’s so funny?”
“King Cole.” I giggled.
“Yeah.” He drew out.
“Get it? King Cole.” I emphasized between laughs and attempts to recover oxygen. “Have you never heard the nursery rhyme? Lulu, my aunt, used to tell me all sorts of them when I was a child. I recited the rhyme for him and he began to laugh, too, deeply and heartily.
“I’ve never heard that,” he admitted. “It is funny.”
“Will you please tell me your name? Calling you Guard is just weird.”
He smiled lightly. “You are strange, Lesser.”
I feigned heart pain, clutching my chest. “And I thought we’d made progress. You called me Abigail!”
“Ha. Ha.”
“Abigail,” he emphasized, “my name is Gray.”
“Gray? Like the color?”
He nodded. “Yep. Like the color.”
“I like it. What’s your last name, Gray?”
“Wilken.”
“Gray Wilken. It suits you.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded once. “You’re welcome.” Gray stared at me for a long moment. A loud knock sounded at the door. His dinner had arrived. He tore his eyes away and unlocked the door for the servant boy who brought a large tray of food and a pitcher of water for him to drink.
Gray ate his dinner quickly. I wondered if his food had even been chewed, he was finished so fast. I guess when you’re a guard, you have
to eat quickly and get back to work.
“What do you do? You know, when you aren’t ordered to guard a Lesser?”
“Different things. Guards patrol inside the city walls and keep things peaceful. We serve the Royal Family. I was assigned to the factories when I first started. Things are more tense with the Lessers there. None of them want to be there. I’m a Greater. They definitely didn’t want me anywhere near them. The working conditions are, um....less than ideal.” Gray’s eyes flickered toward mine. “There are often fights, and disturbances in the Lesser sections.”
“Is that why you hate Lessers?”
He paused for a moment, his last piece of bread caught midway between his plate and mouth. “It wasn’t easy. Left a bad taste in my mouth.” He took the bite and began chewing. “But, in all honesty, you’re different from any other Lesser I’ve ever seen. You haven’t caused any trouble. Not that it hasn’t found you anyway.” He ground the last sentence, motioning to my neck. I feathered my fingertips over the tender skin on the sides and back of my neck and head.
“I’m sorry about everything that happened today.” I couldn’t even look at him.
The metal fork he’d been holding clanged loudly on the plate below him. “You’re sorry? You have nothing for which to apologize, Abigail. Your intended was way out of line. I know that I could be hanged for speaking about the prince in such a way, but it’s the truth. You did nothing to provoke him. I’ve only seen him a handful of times, but this evening’s behavior seemed way out of character from what I have seen.”
“It was. I’ve never seen him like that. He’s never been anything but gentle and sweet to me. Until today, anyway...”
Gray kept chewing his food and looking at me sporadically. I settled on the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin, blowing out a tense breath.
“Where will you sleep?”
He glanced up at me. “I’ve got a bed roll in my pack.”
Pack? I didn’t even realize that he had one with him. But, sure enough, next to the fireplace sat his weapon and something that looked like a small rolled up blanket with a strap around it. He would be uncomfortable on the floor, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
Reap (The Harvest Saga Book 1) Page 20