“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning, princess. Get lots of rest. You’re going to need it.” Jude stepped into his pants and gathered up the remains of his suit, then he took his leave, with one more satisfied glance back at her wrecked body, still splayed out on the bed.
Annah appeared minutes later, and she headed for the bathroom with one look at the princess. Maari followed her, and she climbed into the tub without waiting for the bath to fill. She sat with her knees tucked up to her chest, her arms clasped around them, while the water and a thick layer of bubbles slowly deepened to cover her up to her chin in the massive tub.
“I hate him,” she whispered, as she finally leaned back and lifted her arm, so Annah could wash it.
“The king?”
“Of course, the king. He has Gareth’s head. He fucking kept my brother’s head as a trophy, just like he keeps me, and he refuses to send it home with Jaarod and Clare.”
“I’m sorry, princess.”
“Me too. I… I took some questionable advice and I got him to bite me,” she whispered, hoping the cameras wouldn’t pick up her voice. “Because that was supposed to give me some influence over him. But so far all it’s done is make me orgasm on command, for him. Though that was probably made easier than it should have been by withholding release from me all evening.”
Annah shuddered at the thought. “Maybe you just haven’t figured out how to properly use this second bite,” she whispered. “Though I have to admit, I’ve never heard anything, in the Camden lore, about multiple bites from one brother.”
“Maybe it was a lie. Or a hoax. Or…I don’t know,” she said as Annah walked around the tub to lift her other arm. “All I know is that I fucking hate Jude Camden.”
“Princess?” Annah’s voice sounded strange. She held Maari’s arm up, wiped free of bubbles, and she was staring at the ring the princess still wore. “You must not hate one of them. Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look.” She tilted the princess’s arm, so she could see her own ring. The stone, which had been bright green before, now shown a deep cobalt blue. “That’s just like I remember it, when your mother wore it.”
“Me too.” Maari held her hand up to the light, half-expecting the color to change. “Do you think that’s from the soap? Or the bubbles? Or the hot water?”
“No, ma’am.” Annah stood and ran one hand into her hair, clutching it at the roots in distress. “I remember now. I remember why it was always this color, in my memory. My mother told me once that it…” She dropped onto her knees at the edge of the tub and took Maari’s hand in hers, squeezing it. “Princess, you must feel something more than hatred for at least one of the Camden princes now. Because this blue color in the ring? It means you’re pregnant.”
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Pronunciation guide
I believe that reading is a personal experience and that readers bring as much into a book as they get from that book. Including visualization for the characters and pronunciation of the names and places. So, you’re obviously free to pronounce the Twisted Kingdom names however you’d like.
But if you’d like to know how I pronounce them, here you go:
Maari = Mah′-ree
Jude = Jood
Orlann = Or′-lan
Malac = Mal′-eck
Annah = Ah′-nuh
Geneva = Juh-nee′-vuh
Delayne = Duh-lane′
Valemont = Val′-mont
Loborough = Low′-bor-oh
Saintton = Sane′-ton
Syrus = Sigh′-rus
Also by Emmy Chandler
The Prison Planet series:
Guardian
Hunter
Champion
Dirty Lies
Hostage
Traitor
The Project Vetus series:
Escape
Vendetta
The Twisted Kingdom series:
Dirty Lovely Broken
Wicked Charming Cruel
Cosmic Fairy Tales
(a collection of sci-fi romance fairy tales by a group of eight SFR authors):
The Lion and the Mouse
About Emmy
Emmy Chandler likes tee-shirts and lattes. She firmly believes every woman deserves an armchair in front of the window, near an outlet close enough to charge an e-reader and power a mug warmer. Her perfect afternoon includes cold weather, thick blankets, warm soup, and a good book.
Emmy has another career under another name.
For more information about Emmy Chandler’s books…
www.EmmyChandler.com
Wicked Charming Cruel Page 26