Page 14 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
My amusement faded as Franny murmured something and set her own fork down. She clasped the imposter’s hand, taking the fork from them. Then proceeded to carefully feed them. It should have looked childish—like a mother feeding her baby—but Franny’s smile lacked condescension.
The more she cooperated with this farce, the bigger of an ass I felt. If she would just complain, cry, anything to let me know I’d done the right thing. Every damn smile she gave her fake future husband stabbed a little needle of regret into me that sharpened into annoyance.
“So, Brendan,” I said, loud enough to be heard across the table, “tell us about yourself.”
“Brendon,” Francesca corrected, sending me a chiding look.
I considered calling out the name ‘Kit’ but didn’t have any excuse for the knowledge.
“Not much to tell,” the imposter said rather than be caught in a trap.
I wondered if they knew about the letters Brendon had written to Francesca. Did she read any of them? Would she be able to catch them in a lie? He’d said she’d never written back, but that didn’t mean they’d gone unopened.
“What do you do when you aren’t clomping around in armor and charming women?”
“Frederick,” Mother hissed. “Don’t be inappropriate at the dinner table.”
The imposter replied simply, “I read.”
Dammit, I couldn’t even call them out on that because I’d walked in on Brendon reading earlier that day.
“What do you read?” Franny asked with genuine interest.
I pursed my lips. She was doing her best to make this engagement work, but how long could she keep it up? Was she going to pretend to be happy every day for the rest of her life? What would she do if Brendon—the real one—didn’t put in the same effort? If it was just one wedding day and a marriage on paper, it would be easier, but part of the condition was that they had tolivetogether as a married couple, so the kingdoms could bejoined.
“Novels, mostly. There’s one fairly popular one in Bane right now, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it in Woe, but it’s about a woman left at the altar. It’s called—”
“The Bride’s Revenge,” the imposter and Francesca said at the same time.
“Of course, I’ve heard of it! It’s one of my favorites,” Franny gushed. “I’ve already re-read it twice. The author does an amazing job of foreshadowing—”
And they were off, talking about some book that sounded like a mix between a killing spree and a tawdry romance. Mother had to clear her throat a few times before either of them looked at her and she dryly stated, “Please continue your colorful discussion after dinner.”
Even after being rebuked, Franny’s face glowed with excitement. As soon as the feast concluded, she dragged the imposter off to compare their libraries and favorite titles.
Fuck, now I had a totally different problem on my hands. If Franny genuinely liked the imposter, what would happen once Brendon returned?
“Where are you going, Fred?”
I jumped and almost dropped the plate in my hand. I turned toface my mother who eyed that plate suspiciously. I’d barely touched my own food, but I’d asked for the servers to wrap up leftovers for me to take, claiming I might want to eat it later.
“Uh, just, to … my room?”
“Which is in the opposite direction.”
“Oh, is it?” I looked around the hall as if I hadn’t lived here my whole life.
“Are you alright?”
“Perfectly fine.” I edged around her, then kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight!”
“Fred—”
I escaped around the corner before she finished speaking. Getting to the stables to saddle Chester would be more difficult with her hanging out near the front hall, but the tower was only a half-hour walk away. I climbed out the nearest window, careful not to dump my plate, and snuck around until I found the right path.
Moonlight illuminated the road before me, and the quiet sounds of the forest provided a scenic backdrop for a pleasant walk. Totally wasted on someone quickly descending into villainhood, no matter how unintentionally.
I arrived at the tower and slowly approached the door. Now that Brandan knew I was the only one who could open it, I expected him to be on the other side, waiting to bludgeon me with one of the books and make his daring escape. I pushed it open a few inches and braced myself.
