Page 51 of To Wake a Kingdom

“It was supposed to be mine. For when I became queen. My parents had it made when my mother was pregnant. She was so sure I’d be a girl. It ended up here once we understood I would never wear it.”

I rotated the crown in my hands, examining it from every side.

“Try it on,” he said, his eyes soft and warm. He was so close I only needed to lean back a hair to be touching him. I shook my head.

“It wouldn’t feel right. I haven’t earned it yet. First, I need to save my people and get my kingdom back.”From your family.The unspoken words stretched between us.

He placed a hand on the small of my back. It warmed me from head to toe like curls of steam wafting off freshly baked bread. Every tiny part of me wanted more. Wanted to let go and tell him how I felt. As much as I’d tried to convince myself I didn’t want him, that was patently untrue and I was fooling no one, least of all myself. But that future was impossible.

“You will earn it,” he said. “You will wear it one day. If there’s anything I’ve learned about you in the time I’ve known you, it’s that nothing will stop you.”

The weight of those words was heavier than he understood. He meant them—the truth reflected in his face.

But he couldn’t have known it was the first time anyone had ever believed in me.

Suddenly conscious of being alone in the vault, I moved, but he closed the tiny scrap of space between us. His hand was still on my back, and his fingers flexed against my skin, sending whips of fire wrapping around my hips and through my stomach. I gripped the crown in my hand and forced myself to look away. Placing it back in its case, I picked it up, holding it close.

“We’ll see about that.”

Instead of storing the crown with the rest of the castle’s treasures, I put it in my room. Here, it would serve as a constant reminder of what else I had to lose. Once it was safely stowed, I helped haul up crate after crate until the room was finally empty.

It was past midnight when I called a stop to the work. Swaying on tired feet, everyone dispersed back to their rooms. I was wandering back to my own room when I heard my name.

Ronan approached from the end of the hall, and I checked both directions, seeking an escape route. There was nowhere for me to run or hide. Ducking into a bedroom not only seemed childish, but he’d already seen me. Instead, I kept walking, picking up my pace, but he caught my wrist and tugged me back.

“Stop avoiding me,” he growled.

I flipped my hair over my shoulder.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He stepped closer, and I backed up, coming up against the stone wall. A hand placed on either side of my head, he leaned over me, caging me in. My breath hitched at his body hovering so close that I could feel whispers of him against my clothing.

“Why are you avoiding me? Ever since Valentus…I thought we were coming to understand each other.”

I drew myself up, straightening my spine, attempting to maintain some semblance of dominance as I was forced to look up at him.

“I thought so too, but you seemed preoccupied when I came back from the draw.”

“I—what?” Confusion crossed his face.

“And besides, you wouldn’t want to disappoint Lady Elsenmoor back in Estria, would you?”

He shook his head. “Who told you about Lady Elsenmoor?”

“So, you don’t deny it?”

“Deny what? That there is a Lady Elsenmoor living in Estria?”

“I heard you talking with Noah and Em in the kitchen.”

Ronan closed his eyes, definitely seeking patience, before peering back at me.“That’swhy you won’t talk to me?”

I bristled at his tone. “I think it’s a perfectly good reason. I have no interest in becoming another notch on your bedpost. What kind of woman do you take me for? I ama princess.”

My anger blazed white-hot at this line of questioning, but he was also so beautiful that it was taking all of my willpower not to yank on his collar and devour his mouth. Not to drag my fingernails under his shirt and over the planes of his stomach.

“Well,Princess, if you’d continued your eavesdropping, you would know Lady Elsenmoor means less than nothing to me. She has chased me for years, but I have never once returned her feelings. Em and Noah were being immature pricks. They know she’s not who I want.”

“Oh.” My voice escaped in a squeak while my cheeks grew warm.

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