Page 104 of The King's Maiden

Elaine whipped back around to face me. “Well, whoever it ends up being. It’ll be easy if it’s just normal attempts at seduction. I half-expected to be tied up and tortured until I gave in!” She laughed again, this time even more forced than before.

I couldn’t decide exactly how she felt about being assigned to Landon in the next challenge, if she ended up paired with him. I hadn’t forgotten how much she’d wanted him to pick her the first night. Or the disappointment on her face when he hadn’t.

Listening as she tried to talk herself both in and out of wanting to be his Maiden?

Ireallydidn’t like that.

Landon said he’d do whatever necessary to make the Maiden assigned to him ask for more. Initially, I doubted it’d be easy for any Maiden to resist giving into him. While that hadn’t sat right with me, it hadn’t felt like this.

Now, I wondered just how far he’d take things if the Maidenwaswilling. Something I couldn’t avoid thinking about while faced with the possibility of him being paired with Elaine.

That thought swirled like poison in my gut.

If she or any other Maiden caved and offered him more, would he take her up on it? Would it come down to what he felt about me? Because if so, then the need to know exactly how he felt about me became impossible to shake.

“Quinn?”

Landon’s voice pulled my head up. He glanced between me and Elaine, nodding politely at her before looking back at me. My eyes jumped from him to her and back again. The image of them alone in a romantic lake cabin made my stomach turn.

Landon held out his hand for me to take. “Are you ready to go back to our room?”

Ourroom.

Tension in my shoulders eased as he stared at me. Pressure on my chest lifted with his eyes locked on mine. Phrasing the question so simply, he soothed me completely. Before he even knew I needed it.

He tilted his head as he waited for my answer. And even though Elaine’s body shifted and straightened beside me, still, Landon never took his eyes off me.

“Yes, I’m ready.” Slipping my hand in his open palm, I said an absent minded goodbye to Elaine and let Landon pull me away.

Landon got my jacket from coat check, holding out the faded leather for me to slip my arms inside. He gently spun me aroundto zip it up. Bringing the zipper up underneath my chin, he tipped my head up with his thumb.

“Are you alright?” His eyes searched mine, the tilt of his head returning as he tried to figure out what I was thinking. “What happened earlier on the dance floor, I hope?—”

I grabbed onto the lapels of his jacket and pulled him into me. “I’m alright.”

Deciding to take a risk, I released his jacket and reached for his hand, giving him the option to take mine or not. Our hands brushed where they rested between us, and when Landon laced his fingers with mine, relief flowed through me.

He felt something here, too. He had to, didn’t he?

The answer to that question mattered more than I had expected it would, and what it meant for both our journeys through The Quest, I couldn’t say.

But I left my doubts and uncertainty on that bench behind me, letting Landon lead me by the hand back to our room, hoping—and ready—to find out what came next.

Kingston

He’s falling for her.”

Merle loved to point out things I was already aware of, as if I didn’t have eyes or a brain. He meant well, I was sure. The prior years’ kings might’ve needed help on a daily basis.

But I was a D’Arthur.

I’d been prepared for this. Merle knew that. How many evenings had he sat at our family home, talking with my grandfather and listening to the old coot drone on about my future?

Merle acting like I couldn’t relieve myself without his helping hand or pointing out the obvious—it just became so tiresome. Especially when he alerted me to problems I already knew were coming but wasn’t quite ready to address.

“And?”

Merle needed prompting. If I wanted to get his thoughts, rather than give him all of mine so he could store them away like acorns for winter, I had to lead him to speak.

---