Page 20 of War of Her Heart

Breakfast went on forever. I had lost my appetite the moment Calum and Nathara walked into the room, but I couldn’t leave. It was rude to leave a meal before your Sovereign. Bronwen began talking about the dinner party she was planning for tonight. I guess Adar wasn’t exaggerating when he said she threw parties all the time.

Bronwen said she was an Advisor, but she seemed more like she ran everything in the castle. She planned parties, she greeted guests, and she was in charge of the servants and made sure they completed their tasks. These were all tasks the lady of the house would do. I would have expected Lilian to manage these since Sebastian wasn’t married. She technically still was the lady of the house. Celine didn’t skip a beat with her duties when her husband died. It made me wonder if Sebastian and Bronwen were together. It would make sense. They were both extraordinarily beautiful.

“What do you think, Violet?” Bronwen snapped me back into reality with her question as she looked at me waiting for my answer. I had no idea what she asked me.

“About what?” I asked.

“I asked if you would like to go into the city with me to pick up a few things for tonight.”

“Oh I . . .” I paused as I glanced at my father. I’d never even left our castle. Now I was in the most dangerous realm, and Bronwen wanted me to leave the protection of the castle. My father had a very concerned look on my face, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that Calum didn’t seem happy about it either.

“I asked you, Violet, not your father. You’re grown, and I’m pretty sure you can make your own decisions,” Bronwen said without even glancing my father’s way.

“She’s a female from the Mountain Realm, she’snot allowedto make her own decisions,” Nathara snarked.

“Nathara, you’re about to be a female in the Mountain Realm. Don’t forget that,” Bronwen quickly shot back. She looked like she took too much pleasure in saying that. Bronwen’s response took the smug look right off of Nathara’s face.

“Anyways, Violet, you’re in the Night Realm, and our rules are different here. It is your decision.” Bronwen stared at me as she waited for an answer.

Nathara’s little remark and the disapproving way Calum was looking at me while he had his arm around Nathara angered me so much that I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “Let’s go.”

Bronwen jumped up and said, “Great, I will have a carriage brought to the front for us.”

“Violet, I don’t—” my father began to speak, but Bronwen cut him off.

“Don’t worry,Daddy. She will be safe with me.” My eyes widened at Bronwen words, while she looked my father slowly up and down before prancing out of the room.

“Come on, Violet!” she yelled from the hall.

I stood up and went after her without making eye contact with my father or Calum. I could deal with them later. I didn’t want to miss the chance of seeing a city before I was stuck in the Mountain Realm’s castle again.

After I made it out of the room, I heard Adar say to my father, “I will go with them. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

It was probably for the sake of my father, a fellow Commander, but that was the first time Adar seemed like he maybe, just maybe, was more than a heartless dick.

8

Chapter 8

Violet

I had never been allowed to do anything but stay within the castle walls, read, and learn new things. My father didn’t let me leave, which never felt like a bad thing because there were plenty of places to explore within the walls. He was too scared that any little thing could cause too much excitement and cause my heart to stop.

He was also particular about the things I did within the castle walls. If he caught me running around or playing tag as a faeling, I had to stop immediately. I couldn’t do anything that would get my heart rate up, which left lying outside staring at the clouds, gardening (which was hard because I seemed to kill every plant I touched), reading, and working my mind.

Don’t ask me to play any type of sport but if you need a history lesson or want to learn a new language, I’m your girl.

It’s funny when I thought about it, though. My father forbade anything that could elevate my heart rate, but he couldn’t stop me and Calum. Calum could get me going with just one look.

Bronwen told me that I needed to change before we left because I would stand out with my Mountain Realm fashion, and she didn’t want to cause any unwanted attention. She told me I could borrow some of her clothes so we went to her chambers. I’d only ever worn dresses due to the Mountain Realm’s strict rules for females, and they were always simple, modest, and only in earth tones. Based on what I’d seen Bronwen wear so far, I was a little nervous about what she would pick out for me. She seemed to have no issue showing as much skin as possible.

“I’m not going to ask you to wear pants, even though that would be best. But we have to get you out of that awful brown dress,” she said as she started looking through the clothes in her obscenely large closet.

“What’s wrong with this dress?” I said as I looked down at my dress trying to smooth it out. “It’s one of my favorites.”

She immediately stopped moving hangers and turned around to look at me. She looked as if she was repulsed by what I said. “I know you’re from the Mountain Realm, but what was the vision? Dirt?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her remark. She never had an issue saying exactly what she was thinking. I needed to learn from her, but I knew it wouldn’t matter once we got back home. Even though I’d only been here for a few days, I’d gotten so comfortable around Bronwen.

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