Page 30 of A Blaze of Fire
“What? No!” Kazimir shouted, taken aback.
I held up my hands. “There’s nothing wrong with liking men. My first kiss was a girl,” I chuckled and shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
Kazimir glared at me and pointed a long, slender finger in my direction as he swiveled his gaze back to the King. “I cannot take …thiswith me on the road. We’ll be busy enough trying to keep thieves from looting us. Who will keep her alive?”
I was mildly offended, which showed as I clutched my make-believe pearls and looked aghast. “I’ll have you know I survived Tina Bigsby in the seventh grade. After that, anything else is a cakewalk.”
“This isn’t middle school, little girl,” Kazimir growled. “Your human scuffles aren’t the same as ours. Here, you can actually get killed. Are you prepared for that? Today you got lucky. I’m not so sure how well you’ll fare on the road.”
Just then, Alec strode into the throne room and immediately picked up on the tenseness that thrummed between us. He came to my side and glanced at Kazimir with a raised brow. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, there is,” Kazmir stated flatly. “The King wants Lady Violet to go on the road with me to collect taxes.”
I peered at Alec to see his widened eyes. Apparently, he didn’t think it was a grand idea, either. Neither did I, for that matter, but I wanted to prove a point to Kazimir that I could take care of myself. So, for that reason and that reason alone, I had to go on this trip.
“Your Highness, would you possibly reconsider?” Alec attempted. “She is still very new to our customs and—”
“Come on the road with us, then,” I blurted.
“That sounds like a marvelous idea!” the King said, the fanatical gleam back in his eyes. “Kazimir, you were worried about her protection, but bringing Alec along will take care of that.”
I bit my lip and peered up at Alec nervously. He glared down at me in annoyance. Yeah, he was pissed.
Kazimir snorted. “Fine. The boy can come along, too, but I won’t be held responsible if something happens to either of them.” With that, he stormed out of the throne room.
I raised my hand nervously and waited until the King nodded in my direction, giving me the opportunity to speak. “Um … may I suggest letting Rook come along as well?” I grinned timidly.
The King beamed. “Sounds like a wonderful plan, Lady Violet.”
* * *
Alecand I left the throne room in awkward silence until we’d been escorted safely back to my room by Rook and Rosemary. Once behind closed doors, Alec whirled on me and snapped.
“Are you out of your mind?” he shouted. “Is the castle not dangerous enough for you?”
I pondered on that for a moment. “No … not really. I mean, on a scale of one to ten, getting pushed off a cliff was like a twenty!” I yelled back. “Trust me, I know the dangers. But you can’t keep me isolated here forever.”
“What about Ansel?” he countered. “If you go on this little expedition, you’ll be away from your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I grumbled and looked away sheepishly. I didn’t know what we were.Boyfriend and girlfriendseemed like such mundane labels. Everything had happened so fast after the one night we spent together, we never had the opportunity to talk about … us.
“Whatever.” Alec rolled his eyes. “My brother won’t like the idea of you going on the road.”
“Okay, since when did Ansel become my guardian?” I raised a brow. “Last I heard, I make my own decisions.”
He chuckled. “Of course you do. No matter how stupid they may be.”
I pointed a finger at him. “Exactly!”
“You’re hopeless,” he mumbled.
“Aw, come on, Alec! It’ll be an adventure!”
He whirled on me. “Haven’t we been going on adventures every week when we sneak off into the village? Why do you need more excitement than that?”
I sighed. “Look, I honestly need to go just to prove to Kazimir I can do it. Are you going to help me or not?”
“Do you know what you’re in for?” Alec asked carefully.
