Page 69 of The King's Maiden

But I didn’t have long to think about it, since hair and makeup were a part of the dress code for this shindig. Landon had already warned me about being late to asecondevent with the other Maidens. He’d also grumbled under his breath—something about punishment and not being that kind of Knight.

If he meant for me to hear that, it had the opposite of what I assumed his desired response would be. With renewed incentive to disobey his rules rather than to follow them, I had to tell mytraitorous pussy to calm the fuck down. I still had no intention of giving in to him.

I locked myself in the bathroom as quickly as possible so I couldn’t purposefully get myself into trouble.

And so I could take the edge off myself.

An hour later, I was primped, polished, and—most importantly for Landon—punctual.

He deposited me outside the formal dining room on the first floor, letting me know he’d be back to get me when it finished. I didn’t protest him leading me around like a guide dog, only because I still couldn’t tell my ass from my elbow as far as the layout of the house was concerned.

Staring around the prim and properly decorated space as I took my seat, it did not make me feel better to see that everyone else at the table was dressed in the same skimpy outfits. But it did help that most of the girls shared my displeasure over it.

“I was taking a sip of water when he showed me the dress,” one of the Maidens shared with the group, lifting her glass to her lips. “I spit it out on his shoes.”

A collective gasp sounded around the table, from everyone but me.

Her reaction sounded perfectly reasonable from where I was sitting. “If I’d had something in my mouth at the time, I would’ve spit it out, too.” I raised my glass to her. “Can’t say it would’ve been an accident, either.”

This shocked everyone even more.

I looked around at the other girls, confused by their reactions. They stared back at me like I was crazy.

“What? You can’t tell me any of you were excited to be dressed up like this.”

Most of them shook their heads, but a few wouldn’t meet my eyes. They glanced around at each other, clearly uncomfortable. No one would say what was on their minds, though.

But, of course, Vivian didn’t have that problem.

“I knew you looked like a little freak.” She snorted and whispered something to the Maiden beside her.

My brows drew in as my annoyance flared. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She ignored my question, pursing her lips as she assessed me. “No, it’s not that you’re a freak by nature…”

Her icy blue gaze ran up and down my body and she tapped her chin, smiling when the most vile response she could think of came to her.

“It’s the dead daddy issues. Isn’t it?”

My hands cracked against the marble table, and I pushed back from my seat. I was over this whole charade before I’d even left Landon’s room. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to stick around when Vivian was running her mouth before lunch had been served.

I threw my napkin down on my empty seat. “Well, ladies, this has been a barrel of laughs. Can’t wait to do it again, but now, I’m done.”

Eyes widened around the table before more whispers followed. Brushing that aside, I smiled my sweetest smile at Vivian. “Hey, V, do me a favor and give Max my best.”

I added a wink for good measure, enjoying the way her mouth pinched tighter despite her efforts to appear nonplussed. It didn’t shock me in the least when she refused to let me have the last word, pulling out the oldest trick in the slut-shaming handbook—the coughed slur.

“Whore.”

Rolling my eyes, I adjusted the hem of my dress. “Real original, sweetie.”

She glared, and as much as I wanted to rile her up by not letting any future insults get to me, getting the fuck out of there sounded even more satisfying.

I turned to leave the room.

But Elaine tugged on my arm, whispering urgently, “Sit down, Quinn.”

I shot daggers at where she gripped me, but the panic on her face gave me pause. “I want to leave, Elaine. I’m sure you all will be fine without me.”

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