Page 58 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

I followed the path that headed right but took a detour halfway when I heard the repeated scrape of metal against a stone surface. Through the purple leaves of a tree draping above the path, I spotted Kai’s raven black hair. A quiet sigh lifted from me in relief.

He was sat in front of a rectangular raised bed with his side-profile to me. His large body was folded on a low wooden bench that could probably seat two but still looked a touch too small for him. His crisp suit had been replaced with dark green overalls and scuffed brown boots. And in his orange-gloved hands he held a grassy, potted plant while several more were dotted around him.

Instead of interrupting him, I watched him for a quiet minute, admiring the relaxed droop in his shoulders as he gently worked the plant out of its pot. He was oblivious to my presence, and as much as I wanted to be by his side, I didn’t want to disturb his peace and quiet.

Sometimes, a moment alone was just what someone needed, and I could appreciate that was probably what Kai had wanted. So, once I’d had my fill of him, I turned away.

“Esmeralda.”

My feet came to an instant stop. I guess he hadn’t been so oblivious after all.

I swivelled back around and fell straight into the muted darkness of his stare. “Sorry,” I muttered. “I didn’t know where you were and Prince Arsh said you were here, so I just wanted to see you.”

He shook his head. “Don’t apologise. I’m the one who disappeared without a word. I should have told you where I was going. I’m sorry.”

“Well,” I stretched the word teasingly. “You did lose it when I disappeared on you, so…” He gave me a weak smile and it felt like a small reward. “But you’re forgiven, Mr Perfect Prince. You needed time alone and I get that. I just wanted to see you were okay, so I’ll leave—”

“Stay.”

His quiet plea tugged at my heartstrings until I was being pulled to him. He took one orange glove off and held out his hand, helping me down onto the bench next to him.

“I have a condition to staying though.” I leaned over to pick up the small hand trowel pushed into the soil in front of us. “I want to help you plant.”

Without a word, he stood up and headed off to the left. He came back with another pair of orange gloves. “I couldn’t find a smaller size, but they’ll keep your hands clean.”

I thanked him and took them. “What do you need me to do?” I asked once I had them on.

“Could you make three holes about fifteen centimetres apart?”

A peaceful silence fell between us as I started digging with the small trowel and Kai prepared another plant. But me being me, I couldn’t keep quiet for long around him.

“You didn’t tell me you’re into gardening.”

Kai patted a handful on soil over the base of a twig-like plant. “I don’t know if I can claim to be into gardening, but I help out when I have time or when I need a break.”

I leaned into him. “You look sexy in dirty overalls.”

His mouth twitched but he frowned across his shoulder. “Behave, Babble.”

I chuckled, but the weight of Kai’s stare sobered the moment. “Aren’t you going to ask me about her?” he mumbled. “Why our engagement ended?”

“No,” I said softly. “I cannot say I’m not curious, but whatever happened, I can tell it wasn’t good. I’m not going to make you talk about it if you don’t want to.” I sat a little straighter. “But—I would like to say that I have never disliked someone as quickly as I did her. The way she patronised you made me want to throw a brick in her face.”

His dimple made a faint appearance. “You wouldn’t be the first to say that.”

“I don’t normally swear, but she was a B—I—T—C—H.”

“She’s a narcissist,” he said, distracting himself with the plant he’d already buried. “She was always nice until it didn’t suit her, and then she was…cruel and manipulative. And it took me too long to realise it was a form of abuse.”

Dread curled all over me, leaving an icy sensation on my skin. I sat immobile as Kai picked up the plant next to him and gently eased it out of the pot.

“The counsellor I saw after our engagement ended told me emotional abuse isn’t always obvious at first, because abusers have a way of making you believe it was a one-off or it was just all in your head. And you believe it, because the person you’re in a relationship is supposed to care about you. So why would they be trying to hurt you? That’s what you try to convince yourself…and that’s how it was for me too.”

“The first few months I was dating Meg were…great,” he explained, staring absently at the soil. “I was twenty-two and she was twenty-four. I had finished university, and I was trying to grasp my duty as a prince, and she was just starting out in a news station. But we were there for each other and whatever free time we had, we spent it together.

“But she started changing. She started verbally abusing me. Belittling the things I liked. Humiliating me in front of her friends as a joke. Making me feel like I was treating her badly. And I believed her, even if a part of me wasn’t sure it was true.” He turned his hollow gaze to me. “Because when someone is constantly telling you you’re a bad person you start thinking it too.”

A bitter prickling sensation crawled through the back of my nose. “Did anyone see what she was doing to you?”

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