Page 32 of To Wake a Kingdom

“Are you sure about this, Highness?” he asked, uncertainty in his voice.

My arms wrapped around his neck, I drew up on my tiptoes so our mouths were inches apart. “I won’t tell. No one will care, anyway. I will be gone soon. They won’t remember me.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’llremember you, Princess.” He kissed me then, softly at first and then with more heat.

Pressed against a tree, the rough bark scraped my skin through the thin silk of my dress. Even now, I remembered the warmth of his hands and his lips. How much I wanted him to touch every part of me and make me his. Our breath came heavy and frantic in the moonlight, and I never wanted it to stop. A thumb swept across my breast while another slipped between the folds of my skirt, caressing the softness of my thighs, and I moaned as he pressed himself into me, our bodies grinding against each other.

It was Cybil, a Fae with spiked brown hair and an orange gown, who found us.

“Thorne!” she hissed. “What are you doing? This is no way for a princess to behave! What will the king say about this?” A delicate hand flew to her slender neck as she took in Adrian. “And with one of the king’s guards? They will throw him in the dungeons.”

I begged her not to say anything. Told her it had been my idea. I swore on every god ever named that it would never happen again if only she’d keep quiet. It had taken a fair amount of convincing, but she’d relented eventually, threatening all manner of consequences if we were to transgress again.

After that, Adrian and I didn’t stop spending time together, but we were more careful about it. He’d figured out how to climb into my bedroom via the balcony, and there were plenty of hidden corners in the castle where prying eyes never found us.

I touched my bottom lip, remembering his kisses. It had been over a hundred years, but I still remembered how his attention had made me feel. He’d been the one person who hadn’t been uncomfortable with my presence, just waiting for me to be gone.

There was a shuffle of footsteps, and Ronan stood at the door. “Supper is almost ready.” He came to stand next to me at the piano. “Do you play?”

“No, not really.” I shook my head, my voice hollow. “That was an old princess. One trained in politics and manners and activities suitable to a proper lady, who bore the divine gifts of eleven misguided Fae.” Ronan watched me carefully. “I don’t think that’s who I am anymore.”

Chapter Fourteen

24 days left

“Thatwasn’tsobad,was it?” Ronan asked, his strides matching mine as we headed back to the castle after dinner, stuffed full.

Gideon had cleared out the dining room while Noah and Em helped shove the rotted furniture away, leaving a cleared space on the floor. Gideon had laid blankets, and Kianna had lit the fireplace where he’d warmed the bean and tarragon soup. We’d eaten tender grilled chicken glazed with the sauce he’d been preparing that afternoon and then finished with pear tarts encased in delicate lattices of golden pastry.

Kianna and Em had sat next to one another, and I hadn’t missed the looks they were exchanging. Nor the way their hands and shoulders had touched, pretending it wasn’t intentional.

After I broke this curse, maybe Kianna could move on. She deserved a happy ending, too. Despite the years of resentment I held for the Fae, I wanted that for her.

“I suppose it was tolerable,” I said to Ronan. Though I refused to admit it out loud, I was more relaxed than I’d been in days. The sun was setting, washing the sky in ribbons of blue and gray. A basket dangled from my arm, stuffed with sprigs of navitas and tentative hope. Maybe this would work.

“It was nice to see the chateau. It’s a shame it’s fallen into such a state. Maybe I’ll get it fixed up once I find a way to—” I regarded Ronan from the corner of my eye.

“Find a way to what?”

“Nothing.” I walked faster to shake him off, but he wasn’t deterred.

“Nice try.” He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, the warmth of his body melting into the cold air that surrounded me. “What were you going to say?”

For a moment, all I could focus on was the way my heart stumbled, as if it had been tossed down the side of a mountain. I became painfully aware of the way he leaned into me, tempting as the forbidden fruit in a garden.

But I needed to stop forgetting my singular purpose. There was an entire castle of people counting on me, and this was only a distraction. I pulled my arm away. I couldn’t think properly when he was touching me.

“Fine.” I lowered my voice. “I need to break the curse. That’s what I needed this for.” I held up my basket of herbs.

“I figured that,” he said dryly, and I resisted the temptation to kick him in the shin.

“I’m sorry my problems are so trifling to you.” I tried to stalk away, but he followed close behind.

“That’s not what I meant. Of course, you’re trying to break it, but why are you being so secretive?”

I stopped and gave him my most withering glare. “Because breaking a curse is a rather big deal. A big, strong warrior might not have experience in this matter, but it’s not like you can go, ‘poof—curse broken’.” To illustrate my point, I snapped my fingers in his face.

Arms crossed over his chest, he tilted his head. “But what else aren’t you saying?”

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