"Oh, the new girl? She's such a doll! Everyone loves her already. Right this way. I’ll take you to her."
I smiled with pride. "Gemma has a way of making herself, and everyone else, feel right at home no matter where she is."
The servant nodded appreciatively. "That's a good way to put it, miss. She certainly fits in like she's always been here."
A few doors down on the left, the servant led me into a room where a heated game of cards was going on.
I hadn't counted the doorways, so I couldn't be sure it was an odd number, but at least it was on the left and not the right. Left was basically odd as far as I was concerned, and right was even.
Come to think of it, all the rooms on my floor were on the right side due to the floor-to-ceiling windows taking up the entire left-hand side of the hall. I pursed my lips. Why the hell did I have to realize that just then? I was going to have to find a new set of stairs that would allow me to arrive on the other side...
Gemma sat at the card table wearing a pirate’s eyepatch with a cigar hanging from her lips. Her hair, like all the other ladies', was pinned up in curls with feather accents—red, in her case.
She moved a stack of coins into the middle of the table and waited. A couple of her competitors tossed their cards and left, but the rest followed suit and tossed more money into the middle.
It looked like she was having fun, but I was too desperate to talk to her to wait.
“Gemma?”
She spun around at the sound of my voice and lifted the eye patch, peeking up at me. "Alexis! Hey, girl! Come to join the party?"
I crossed my arms. "I didn't even know there was a party."
"I didn't either until an hour ago!" Gemma said with a dazzling smile. "Ooo! Do I get to practice handing you drinks?"
"Yes, please."
She bounced over to a table in the corner that was filled with beer, wine, and half-empty bottles of liquor. I watched as she grabbed a glass and began filling it with all sorts of different things. My lip curled a bit. This was bound to taste disgusting, but it didn't matter. I needed the alcohol if I intended to survive our stay at the palace. Those princes were enough to drive a saint to drink, let alone a brash young girl from the mines.
Gemma brought my glass over and not-so-subtly pointed at a burly man across the room.
"See that stable boy?" she asked as I took a sip.
Huh. Not bad actually. I took a bigger gulp.
The stable boy in question was tall and broad with a light blue button-up shirt that allowed some curly dark chest hair to poke through. Not a boy at all, really. Probably a man in his thirties.
Gemma bit her bottom lip. "He got those massive arms from shoveling shit and hauling hay all day. You know... I'll bet he's strong enough to make my pussy-eating fantasy come true."
I chuckled. "Seriously? He probably smells like manure. Who wants to smell that when a man’s face is buried in their hoo-ha?"
She whacked me, drawing a few gasps from the servants nearby. They quickly averted their eyes to act as if they weren't totally spying on us.
"I'm sure you didn't smell much better before you were dunked in a rose-petal bath, doused in expensive perfume, and decked out in a sparkly gown."
Touché.
I sighed and put on a genuine smile. "You're right, I'm being an ass."
Then I looked the man over again. He was definitely handsome, with a killer smile, whiter than any other servants' I'd seen.
I nodded. "He could definitely fulfill that fantasy. Is he single?"
She shrugged and took a long gulp on her mug. "No idea."
"Well, you better find out!" I playfully scolded her. "Don't want to be a home-wrecker, do you?"
She grinned, wide and devilish. "I make homes, Lex, not break homes. Now tell me, why are you actually here? Are the princes giving you trouble already?"
I nodded. "Good guess. Was it that obvious?"
She looked down when it was her turn again and studied her cards, deciding to draw a new one from the pile. "No. I just know you, that's all. Those boys are hot as sin, and you probably have no idea how to deal with them, right?"
I gave her a flat look. "I read the same romance novels as you, genius. I know how to deal with them. It's the fact that they want nothing to do with me that's the problem."
She pursed her lips and dropped her cards. "I'm out."
She then stood and led us from the room and into the hallway for a stroll. There were servants all over the place, laughing, drinking, smoking, and generally having a good time. We had to duck and squeeze sideways a few times in order to get past them all in the narrow corridor.
"So, tell me about them," Gemma said.
I rolled my eyes and took another couple gulps of the drink she'd made me. "They're assholes. All of them. Well, except Cal, but he's practically engaged to someone else. And Ben, he’s sweet but a little awkward. Plus he kind of acts like I'm a human germ that he doesn't really want to touch. And... okay, Dan isn't an asshole either, but he's a sexual fucking animal, and I have a feeling that if I ever let him catch me, he'd devour me then never bother touching me again."
Gemma smirked. "So, only one of them is actually an asshole?"
I scowled. "Trust me, Rob makes up for what his brothers lack in that department. He calls me Jewels, Gem. You know how much I hate jewels."
She raised a brow. "Oh no, being named after a valuable stone, whatever shall you do?"
I sighed. "Sorry, but you know what I mean. He's doing it just to spite me. He flat-out told me he hated me."
This time both of her eyebrows raised. "Seriously? Okay, well, fuck him then. His loss. You still have three other superhot princes to choose from. I think your life is far from over, miss."
I smiled at her teasing, but I still wasn’t convinced. She didn’t know the story my mother had told me, because I’d never found the right time to mention it. So, she didn’t realize my lifetime of suffering was indirectly tied to the hands of the princes and their father.
When we got to the end of the first hallway, she led us around the corner and up a different, less crowded but equally long hallway.
"Listen, Lex, time has a way of smoothing things out. What feels like a mountain at first is going to look like a molehill when you're standing at the top and looking back.”
I sighed. “You’re probably right.”
“I usually am,” she replied with a wink. “Now get some rest. I hear you’ve got a busy day ahead of you tomorrow.”
I put a hand on my hip. "You're not going to rest. You're going to send me to my room and go right back to partying."
She winked at me. "I need more practice handing people things."
"Ha! I know one person you're going to give a hand to."
She waggled her brows. "I can dream, right?"
When we reached a set of stairs at the end of the hall, we paused, and she pulled me into a hug.
"Seriously, Lex. Get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be busy."
"What's on the agenda, anyway?"
She sighed and started counting on her fingers. "Breakfast with the royal family at dawn, etiquette lessons immediately after, followed by midmorning tea in the gardens with the king's harem ladies, and a lesson in history and current political affairs just before noon. A picnic lunch with the princes via horseback—not in a sexual way, you animal, get your head out of the gutter—followed by an all-evening-long practice with your newfound powers, a quick bath and freshening up, and then finally dinner with the royal family and the ambassador from Timberlune."
I blinked, unsure if I was fully capable of taking in so much information at once.
"Dear gods, that’s a lot of shit," I muttered.
She nodded with a huge smile plastered on her face. "Sure is. So, as I was saying..."
I nodded and started up the stairs. "Yep, I'm going. I have no desire to face all of that on little to no sleep." Then I paused. "Actually, have you seen Speedy?"
"I think t
hey put him in the stables with the other animals."
My eyes went wide. "Oh, my gods! Do you know how easily he could be crushed by a hoof or impaled with a pitchfork? That suicidal sloth is probably choking on a wad of hay or drowning in a trough of water!"
Gemma laughed and opened a closet door of some sort. Brooms and mops and cleaning supplies filled the tiny space, perfuming the air with the tang of chemicals and lemon. And at the very top of the highest shelf sat Speedy, leaning toward the edge like the desperate moron he was.
"Speedy!" I cried, rushing over and scooping him up. "For fuck's sake, you could've fallen and broken your neck! We both know how clumsy you are." Then I turned back to Gemma. "Thank you for rescuing him from the stables and keeping him safe for me."
She winked. "No problem. Now get to bed.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I have a long day ahead of me."
Chapter 6
The next morning, I awoke in a clammy sweat.
It was still dark, but the gentleness of the black meant the sun would soon be rising.
I swallowed hard. I was not cut out to be a princess. I was going to fail epically at every item on today’s agenda, making a fool of myself and the royal family in the process. It was going to be a disaster.
I was going to puke.
In a panic, I rushed to my window and looked down at the front lawn where the massive fountain of the Greek gods stood spewing water. Holy shit, we were at least three stories up. In a draining sort of rush, my nausea retreated, leaving me instead with a hollow sensation of dread.
I backed away from the window and squeezed my head between my hands.
Come on, Alexis, you can do this. You survived years of grueling work in the jewel mines, and you can damn well survive a comfortable day with the princes and a few stuffy teachers.
Besides, it wasn’t like I’d be executed if I failed... right?
A knock sounded at the door before it burst open.
“Rise and shine!” Gemma sang as she shut and locked the door behind her. She immediately bustled over to my extensive wardrobe and began shuffling through the gowns. “Breakfast with the royal family deserves a special sort of dress, don’t you think? Something light and airy, but also sophisticated. You want it to speak for you. Like, listen here, fuckers, I might be from the mines, but damn it, I can hold my ground and be a prissy princess too. Or something like that.”
I chuckled despite the creeping of nervousness slinking through my bones.
“This one.” She held out a rich, silk, violet gown lined in lace.
I quirked a brow. “It’s gorgeous, but it is not ‘light and airy.’”
She pursed her lips and thought. “No, I suppose it’s not. It’ll be tonight’s dinner gown, then.” She shuffled through a few more dresses coming up with a buttercream number that was almost all lace—but not the scratchy, unmovable kind; the stretchy, supersoft kind that hugged your body like a second skin. The neckline was cut into a wide V that would dip well below my cleavage line.
“It’s sexy,” she said, admiring her choice, “yet sophisticated. Beautiful yet ballsy. It’s perfect, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, smiling as I slipped into it. I spun in a circle, admiring the flawless fit and the way the delicate fabric floated on the breeze. It really did make me look like a princess, which was slightly terrifying. I knew my feats would never live up to my façade.
She grabbed me a pair of sandals lined in topaz jewels and began fussing with my hair.
“This will be your outfit for the entire morning, so please, for the love of the gods, don’t mess it up.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try. What’s for breakfast?”
“Blackberry dumplings.”
“Oh, berries that will literally stain everything they come into contact with. No worries, then.”
This time she rolled her eyes. “You’ll have to change into something more suitable for your magic lessons, and then once more before dinner.”
“Three wardrobe changes in one day?” I asked, peering into the closet. No wonder it was so full. Back home, I was lucky to change from my mining dress long enough to clean it.
“Four,” she corrected, “if you count your nightie too. Now, hurry up. You don’t want to be late for your very first breakfast with the royal family.”
“Don’t want to be late for my funeral, you mean,” I said, feeling my stomach twist even further into knots. A wave of prickling heat washed over my skin, making me nauseous yet again.
She quirked a brow. “You’d rather die in the pits of the earth, swinging an ax, than eating sweets in a beautiful gown?”
“Touché.” I pursed my lips, but I had to admit, she was right. If I had to die, I’d much rather go down eating goodies.
We rushed downstairs, and she shooed me into the empty, private breakfast room before she returned to the servants’ quarters to do... gods knew what. Probably, give that stable boy a hand. Wink, wink. Maybe drink and gamble and spend the rest of her day in peaceful pleasure. Unlike me, a toad about to be fed to the vipers.
An ornate wooden table with ten lavish chairs took up a solid twenty feet of the space. It was already set with shining crystal goblets, porcelain plates and bowls, and fresh garden flowers in decorative vases carrying with them the sweet scent of spring. Windows lined the entire wall on the eastern edge, letting in just enough early morning sunlight to negate the need for candles.
I stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Did I seat myself? Did I wait for the princes or the king?
Eventually, Ben stepped into the room, looking about as awkward as I felt. He stood behind one of the tall chairs, his tanned hands fiddling with the back. So, apparently, we weren’t sitting yet.
“Morning, Alexis,” he said with a warm smile, the deep bass of his voice still catching me off guard.
“Morning, Ben.”
“Sleep well?”
“Surprisingly, yes. I think having Speedy with me helped. Made it feel more like home.”
His nose scrunched. “The sloth?”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, suddenly aware of how the movement pushed up my breasts. Ben noticed too, if the slight flushing of his cheeks was anything to go by.
“Of course, the sloth. Who the hell else would have a name like Speedy or be sleeping in my bed?”
“I can think of someone,” Dan replied, strolling into the room from a different door. “Not the speedy part—unless you count how fast I can give you multiple orgasms—but definitely the ‘in your bed’ part.”
Ben shook his head in amusement at his brother, then turned his attention back to me. “I hope you at least washed your hands after handling that thing. You ever hear of Swamp-ass Fever?”
I scoffed. “Of course, I washed my hands.”
Which, no, I totally hadn’t. And no, I’d never heard of Swamp-ass Fever, either. With a name like that, I had a feeling he was making it up, trying to poke fun at my naivety.
“Why don’t you just worry about your own ass?” I suggested curtly.
Ben just smiled and shook his head once more.
“Gods, you’re a fiery one, aren’t you?” Dan said through a wide grin. “I can’t wait to see how that translates in the bedroom.”
I turned to him, feeling feisty all of a sudden. “Yeah, well, you’re going to have to wait, because I don’t plan on putting out anytime soon. Or at all. Ever.”
This time, Ben laughed out loud at his brother’s crashing and burning.
But Dan’s playful gaze turned smoldering. “Is that a challenge, Sexy Lexi? You couldn’t know this about me, but I do so love a challenge.”
And I do so love your accent.
I swallowed hard as heat pooled in my core. “Consider it whatever you want, you cocky asshole, but you are not going to be mining my cave for jewels.”
“Gods, is jewels seriously the first word I have to hear this morning?” a voice grumbled from the hallway.
I didn’t need to s
ee his handsome face or tattooed arms to know it was Rob, douchebag extraordinaire. But still, he came around the corner a moment later and stood behind a chair of his own, rubbing his temples as if he had a headache. He probably did, after all the drinking he’d done the evening before.
I smirked. Good for him.
Finally, Cal and King Zacharias entered last, discussing politics of some kind. Probably shit involving Timberlune, considering their ambassador was arriving later that day. Cal dwarfed his father, standing at least a full head taller, with a chest almost twice as broad. He smiled at me briefly before turning back to their conversation.
When they were finished, the Storm King sat down at the head of the table, then gestured for the rest of us to sit too. As we lowered our asses to the fancy cushions, I did my best to not freak out. There I was, the only female and nonnoble in the entire room, and I had no clue what to expect. The king could order a royal orgy, and what choice would I have but to participate? He could command one of the princes to slit my throat, and who would be any the wiser? It was strange how alone and wary I felt.
But... then the food came, and all I cared about was eating.
A line of servants rushed over to the table, carrying trays of freshly baked dumplings overflowing with deep purple berry juice. They brought milk and sugar, whipped cream, and frozen vanilla ice cream. My eyes widened at the sight of so many sweets, and my stomach rumbled embarrassingly. I seriously hoped no one else had heard it.
The king filled his bowl, then nodded his head for the rest of us to do the same.
As I grabbed a dumpling and covered it in every topping available, the king eyed me curiously.
“How was your evening with my sons?” he asked.
It sounded innocent enough, like casual conversation, so I figured I’d be honest.
“It was... fine. The princes are very—” I wracked my brain for a word that wasn’t a total freaking lie. “—handsome.”
The Storm King’s eyes narrowed, as if he’d read between the lines and was not entirely pleased. With me or with his sons, I had no idea.
I tried to get out of the conversation by stuffing my mouth with a large spoonful of breakfast.
Taken by Storm (Storms of Blackwood Book 1) Page 6
