Page 47 of To Wake a Kingdom

Maida circled me with slow, measured steps as he assessed me from every angle. His tall leather boots clicked on the stones as he came to a stop in front of me, close enough that I had to crane my neck to see into his eyes.

“You have nothing I want,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion, and hope crumpled in my chest.

“I’m begging you. Gold, jewels, anything.”

He let out a derisive snort. “Be more original, Princess.” He cocked his head, the gesture animalistic. “Perhaps there’ssomethingthat interests me.”

He gave me an extended once-over that plummeted straight to the core of my soul. The heat in his look told me exactly what he was suggesting.

“Now who lacks originality?” Instead of the anger I expected at my retort, Maida expelled a burst of laughter that seemed to shock us both.

He then lifted a shoulder. “It was worth a try.”

“I’ll think of something to give you. You have my word. Just help me, please.”

He shook his head, pewter locks sparkling in the sun. “I can’t.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

He settled back into his seat and folded his hands behind his head. “Does it matter? It amounts to the same thing.”

Anger curled like rotting leaves in my stomach. “I should have known you wouldn’t help me.”

“Yes, you should have.” There was no hint of apology or remorse, just that haughty, smug expression.

“This was a waste of my time. I thought—”

“You thought what? You’d bat those pretty eyes at me, and I’d scramble to do your bidding? You may have the commander eating out of your hand, but I am harder to persuade.”He picked up his cup and took a sip, watching me over the rim.“If you’ll excuse me? You’ve already wasted enough of my morning.”

“You’re such a prick,” I said, no longer interested in holding back. No longer trying to stay on whatever sliver of a good side he possessed.

He smirked and drained his cup. “I’ve been called far worse.”

“Fuck you.” The vehemence of my response surprised me. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much I’d been counting on Maida to have an answer.

“You wish. Now go away.” He made a shooing motion with his hand.

With a furious huff, I spun on my heels and spilled back into the street, blindly turning corners as I tamped down my anger. I should have known he wouldn’t help me. This was another dead end. My salvation wouldn’t come from an over-confident Faerie with a mean streak as wide as the sea.

As I turned a corner, I ran straight into a large group speaking in excited tones that pulled my attention.

“The king is a tyrant,” a woman with a ruddy face was saying. “He can’t be allowed to torture the citizens of Ravalyn like this anymore.”

“They came and took my brother two days ago,” a man said. “Claimed he was hunting on the king’s private lands. Lies. My brother isn’t a poacher.”

“I heard those Fae of his chopped those men into pieces and then fed them to the Ritchers’ pigs,” said another woman, her eyes wide.

My heart sank. This was what my family’s absence had created. Lives terrorized by a king who didn’t deserve to rule them. As I listened to the litany of torments they’d suffered, I grew more determined than ever to break the curse so I could help my father reclaim what had been lost.

There were so many things riding on my success. So many people counting on it. It was better that things between me and Ronan weren’t going anywhere. It was clear we could only be enemies.

How I wished I could tell these citizens of Tenby it wouldn’t be this way forever. That I would do something about this, but I knew they wouldn’t believe me. They wouldn’t understand who I was. These people hadn’t even been born when my family had gone to sleep.

Heart heavy, I hurried past the central market, hoping I could purchase the ingredients for the anti-sleep tincture, along with a pair of horses. Through the stalls, I browsed, picking up the mullein and betony I needed.

I found a horse vendor and negotiated a price for a reddish mare and a gray gelding. On my way back to the inn, I saw the same group of people still sharing stories. More atrocities committed by the king. That tyrant. I wasn’t sorry I’d killed him. My only regrets came from worrying about my fate and what it would mean for Ronan. Despite everything, he deserved more than a father like that.

Kianna waited with my bag outside the Whitefeather as I passed the reins of the red mare to her.

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