Page 47 of Her Dark Promise

“I’ve had enough of your questions today, scholar. You will clean. Have I made myself clear?”

“As you wish, your grace.”

I blanched. Was he not going to fight back?

“May I at least have run of the castle? For research purposes, of course. You mentioned some doors would be locked.”

“There are very few places that I don’t allow you to venture into. Stay out of the West Wing, South Wing, and the greenhouse. You may go everywhere else: the kitchens, library, any of the other rooms and the grounds. Of course, stay away from the main gate and don’t wander too far into the forest. I wouldn’t want to assume that you are trying to escape… Not like you could even if you tried,” I said teasingly.

“The library?”

I think he heard me say ‘library’ and then tuned out everything else.

“Yes, the library which I know you will love since you are a self-proclaimed scholar. Tomorrow you can start there.”

His eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.

I narrowed my eyes at him, dumbfounded, as Bastian asked, “What the hell are you so excited about?”

Soren cleared his throat and gave him a shrug. “What? Am I not allowed to smile? It is a beautiful day, is it not?” He gestured outside to yet another gloomy afternoon.

Bastian went right back to eating his food when Callum scoffed.

Bastian set his fork down aggressively and turned to Callum. “Actually, what about you? Your only job can’t be to fuck her.”

Callum smirked, though I assumed he would have gotten upset over what Bastian just said. “My duty is to service the queen with all of her needs, as you saw a few nights ago. And if I remember correctly, you rather enjoyed the show,” he teased, rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip.

I interjected, “That reminds me, hunter. Callum hunted a few days ago and we are running low on meat for tonight's meal. So, that’s your job for today.”

Without looking away from Callum, he said, “Yes, your grace.”

I knew he was only using my title to demean me. Bastian was a horse in need of breaking, and soon.

“And I will join you.”

All of their heads turned toward me simultaneously, mouths agape.

Callum swallowed. He looked at Bastian suspiciously and then back at me. “I understand why you would want to go with him, but hunting is not a job for a queen such as yourself. Let me go in your stead.”

I leaned forward, skimmed my fingers along his jaw, and said, “You worry too much, little bird.” And then sat back in my chair, looking at Bastian. “We will go after I garden.”

Bastian did his best not to roll his eyes, but I could sense the tension radiating off of him.

Instead, he said too sweetly, “Callum is right, hunting isn’t for a woman of your stature. Not to mention that I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you. What a shame that would be.”

I knew what he was saying, could read between the lines. “Yes, what a shame that would be. Though I wonder…what mischief we could get into with a rifle all alone in the woods where sound goes to die?”

He didn’t take his eyes off mine for a second, stuck in a war of our own making, waiting for the other to look away. He finally realized that it wasn’t something he would win and conceded. “As you wish.”

We all heard a noise at the door as Emilia entered. My back straightened at seeing her sudden appearance, and I realized that I should have checked on her earlier. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot as though she had been crying for hours; she looked completely disheveled.

She stormed up to the table, slamming her hands down, causing the fine china to tremble. Her throat bobbed, and I knew it was sore, but she spoke as loud as she could, “You are thespawn of the devil! Curse you and your entire fucking family!” She blindly grabbed whatever was within her reach and began to throw the items as hard as she could at both of them.

Everyone was out of their seats. The brothers shielded themselves from the onslaught of food and drink. I stood there in shock as I had rarely seen even an ounce of anger from her in the past twenty years. I had come to my senses and found that Callum had rushed around the table and grabbed her by the waist to haul her away. He whispered something in her ear that no one else could hear.

She wasn’t listening to anything he said, thrashing in his arms, doing everything in her power to get away from him and back to the brothers.

The sound of her screams disappeared as they rounded the door, and he took her back to her chambers, I presumed. The entire ordeal left me stunned, my ribs tightening around my chest and heart.

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