Page 61 of King of Lies
“No, Miss,” he says. “He’s known that he would be leaving on this trip for some time.”
“And he didn’t think to warn me that he was throwing me to the wolves …” I mutter to myself.
“It appears not, Miss.”
“Argh. Fine then. I hear there’s a library here and I’d love to see it,” I say, changing the subject. Rhys is gone and that’s fine. I’ll just have to make the best of things while he’s away. His defection has nothing to do with Leo and I won’t blame him for being in the unfortunate position of being the messenger.
“Right this way, Miss,” he says as he leads me to the library, which looks exactly as it’s called.
I gasp when he pushes open the door to a huge room filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves. The kind that have a rolling ladder attached to them. It’s a lot like the one inBeauty and the Beastand I know that’s a cartoon but still … #LifeGoals.
“I’ll just leave you to it, then,” he says with a smile as he leaves the room. Leo shuts the door behind him with a quiet snick and I turn around in a slow circle to take it all in.
I wonder if someone would notice if I slid on the rolling ladder like in the movie. I’d better not.
I walk to the first shelf I see and take in every book on it. I let my fingers trail over the spines, one by one. Some are very old and some are brand new. I collect a stack and settle in on a beautiful velvet fainting couch. It has a lovely little table next to it and I carefully set my books there.
I pick up the first one, it’s an only slightly worn leather-bound copy ofRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I love this book. I remember when I was very little, and my mom would read it to me at night before bed. She had a copy similar to this one. It’s not only one of my favorites but it resonates even today. I’ve never felt like I fit in anywhere other than the bookstore or in this library.
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here but I am almost halfway through the book, so it has to have been a fair amount of time when the door swings open and the queen walks in. She swings her head around, looking for something and when she sees me, she stops dead in her tracks.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was just reading.”
“You do not have any right to be here,” she snaps. “This is my library and these are my books, and I do not give you permission to be here.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell her honestly. I don’t like her, but I don’t want to invade her personal space either. “Rhys had told me that I could be here; he must have misunderstood.”
“I’m sure he did,” she mutters.
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter. This castle is mine and everything in it as well,” she says. “So if I say you can’t go somewhere, you can’t.”
“Okay …” I say hesitantly.
“And while we’re on the subject,” she says, warming to her cause. “I don’t want you here. You’re not good enough for Rhys and you never will be. Furthermore, he will never be faithful to you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Because he might be fucking you, but he’s also fucking me and half the maids in service here,” she says.
I don’t want to believe her. Rhys has told me that he wasn’t a monk but he never dallied here. She’s just trying to scare me away.
“No,” I whisper. “I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to,” she says smugly. “You’ll never be queen.”
“And you think Suzanne will?”
“No,” she laughs. “Suzanne will be a terrible queen. Neither one of you have what it takes.”
I suddenly realize what she’s not saying. “And you do?”
“Of course,” she laughs. “I already am. Besides, Rhys and I are the same age.”
“But you were married to his dad.”
