The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series)

by Rachel Higginson

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  Doing nothing lasted all of four hours before I was completely lost. I wandered semi-aimlessly through the castle corridors in search of Jericho and something, anything to do. Jericho had been relatively silent today. I thought I would see him bright and early this morning since he was both a morning person and a worthless sleeper, but nothing.

  I tried to remember when he had left the dinner last night, but my memory was a jumble of stuck up aristocrats all vying for my attention. The last I remembered of Jericho, he was dancing with Amelia.

  And as if she were conjured by my own thoughts, I heard her laughter as it floated down the hallway in an excited rush of energy. I followed the sound, not sure what I would say to her, or really what she would say to me. She obviously wasn’t impressed by my crown or me for that matter. It seemed she could barely keep from rolling her eyes when I walked into the room.

  I had no idea what I did to her to make her dislike me so much, especially since I had never even really met her until she arrived at the castle yesterday. But then maybe that was it. Maybe it was simply the crown that her uncle used to wear.

  Or oh, God…. I did have a hand in killing her uncle. Maybe that was it. I knew from years of being in the Resistance, Lucan had favored her and somewhat sheltered her from the rest of the Kingdom. She probably loved her uncle and because she was so close with everyone else involved she couldn’t blame them.

  She didn’t know me.

  So what if she blamed me?

  Damn it. In fact, the more I thought about it, I was sure that had to be it. She blamed me for the death of Lucan. I debated with myself whether Amelia was the kind of girl worth pursuing…. worth apologizing for the death of her uncle? I could do that…. apologize. Right?

  Wrong. Amelia was beautiful and feisty and she didn’t really care about the crown, but she also didn’t like me. I would never apologize for Lucan’s death, especially to someone who blamed me like it was a bad thing. Amelia would just have to go on not liking me.

  I could live with that.

  I turned the corner, hoping to sneak by her without being seen but she was there, right in front of me. We ran right into each other as she turned the corner at the same time I did from the opposite way, a smile still curving her plump lips. She grabbed my biceps immediately to steady herself, and my hands slipped to her waist to catch her…. not completely on purpose. It was a gut reaction.

  “Careful there, Amelia,” I cautioned in a low voice. The amusement immediately drained from her face and her lips parted as if she wasn’t quite sure what to say or do.

  “Excuse me, Avalon,” she whispered in a throaty voice, her hands tightening against my bare arms as if she needed to get her bearings. “I was just on my way to…. uh, I needed to get…. um, Jericho is waiting for me.” She glanced over her shoulder, but her hands stayed on me.

  I cleared my throat, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. “Jericho?” I asked, trying to ignore the accusation in my tone. I wasn’t even sure who I was accusing and what I was accusing them of.

  “I just needed to get a sweater,” she explained, finally pulling away and stepping back to put a few feet between us.

  “Oh are you two going out for the day?” I inquired, mentally cementing my feet in place so they wouldn’t take the step towards her they were dying to take. I ignored the annoying voice of reason in my head that reprimanded me for being nosy.

  “Yes, we’re going to…. um, yes we are,” she stuttered in her soft accent. She put a hand to her neck, clasping it in her slender fingers as if she were protecting herself. “I’m sorry, you just startled me,” she breathed out quickly, and shook her head.

  “I apologize,” I smiled slowly, enjoying how flustered she seemed after running into me. “You shouldn’t keep Jericho waiting for much longer.”

  “Jericho,” she mumbled like she was just remembering him. “Right.”

  I moved out of her way and she walked by me in a flutter of nervous energy. Her magic crackled in the air around her, and I felt it brush against mine tentatively, almost curiously, before she reigned it back in quickly. She glanced over her shoulder one more time halfway down the hall and I offered her another smile. She shook her hair out as if she had to do a double take to make sure I was really there, but didn’t offer anything but a blank expression in return.

  It was the shorts that made up my mind. As she walked away, my eyes drifted to her long legs and the flawless skin between her shorts and her heeled boots and I made a decision that would probably come back to bite me in the ass.

  I turned around and found Jericho waiting patiently by the doors to the outside. I had to play this cool, especially if Jericho was interested in Amelia.

  Of course he was interested in her. Any sane guy would be. And she was actually nice to Jericho. He didn’t stand a chance. I was a terrible friend for even entertaining this idea, but there was something in the hallway just now. Something between us and I needed to chase it down and figure it out.

  “Hey man, I’ve been looking for you,” I called out as I approached.

  “Oh hey,” Jericho returned. “Sorry, Amelia and I walked up to the lake this morning. I forgot what it’s like here in autumn.”

  “Yeah, it’s something else,” I agreed while trying to figure out how to invite myself into their plans. “So what have you got going on today? I thought we could hang. I’ve got the day off and I’ve been wanting to…. uh, test some of the cars out on these mountain roads.” I threw out an idea off the top of my head. It was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

  “Oh that sounds fun,” Jericho started, and I could tell he didn’t really know what to think. “But uh, actually Amelia and I were going to go visit Ileana this afternoon, maybe stay for dinner.”

  “Oh that’s cool, I mean, we can do the car thing another time,” I knew the guilt I was about to lay was the kind of stuff that would one day send me to hell, but I couldn’t stop myself and I didn’t really want to anyway. “We’ll hang a different time. When are you leaving again? Tomorrow?”

  “You should come with us,” Jericho offered sincerely. I paused, trying to read through his laid back niceness.

  “I wouldn’t want to impose,” I mumbled, not meaning it at all. But I thought I should give my conscience one last effort.

  “No, you won’t be. It will be fun. Or maybe it won’t be…. are you down there all the time?” Jericho asked, and his concerned face legitimately seemed to be worried I would be bored and not that I would try to take the girl that he was interested in.

  “Actually, I haven’t been down there in over a year. I probably should go with you,” I laughed at the truth of it.

  “Alright, Jericho, I’m ready,” Amelia announced when she walked into the foyer. She hesitated when our eyes met as if she didn’t trust me. I smiled happily in return.

  “Mimi, you don’t mind if Avalon joins us, do you?” Jericho asked casually, holding open the door for her. He was certain she wouldn’t have a problem with it and I almost laughed out loud certain she would have a problem with it.

  “Not at all,” she lied, brushing by me as if I didn’t exist.

  “Good,” I mumbled under my breath and then found myself smiling when she gave me a sharp glance back. I hadn’t meant for her to hear me, but there was something thrilling about the fact that she had, like she was very aware of me.

  We walked out the castle doors and down the long stone staircase that led into the square. The sun was shining brightly overhead and warming the cobblestone streets. We were having somewhat of an Indian summer and there was only a hint of colder weather on the breeze.

  We had to take motorcycles to get to the gypsy village; they were parked underneath the castle in the garage. Three and a half years ago, when we took down Lucan, Eden had destroyed the prisons underground. She didn’t care at the time, but the crumbling of the dungeon caused severe structural damage on the entire Citadel; not to mention the giant cre
vice that practically swallowed the Earth whole. The first year of my rule I had the entire place restructured and made secure so that the castle itself wouldn’t fall into the depths of the Earth’s core.

  Through all of that, the garage had maintained minimal damage. Lucan had kept an entire fleet of expensive sports cars in top shape. They had to be some of the rarest and most expensive vehicles on the planet, since some of them were original models from all throughout the twentieth century. I supposed they were technically Kiran’s inheritance, but I couldn’t stop myself from drooling every time I got to take one out.

  The motorcycles in the garage were more practical and every day, but they were still some of the better models available.

  The three of us picked out helmets to match our head sizes and headed toward the section where the bikes were parked. Jericho picked out his bike and started walking it toward the garage entrance.

  “You don’t have to ride with him,” I jutted my chin in Jericho’s direction. “I’m a safer driver.” I turned on a little charm, hoping to catch her off guard like in the hallway.

  “That’s alright, Avalon,” she replied and I could swear she was laughing at me. “I don’t like safe.”

  I stared at her with a half open mouth as she picked out her own bike, wheeled it to the entrance, climbed on board and then kicked-started the red Ducati. She turned around and shot me a cocky smile before taking off through the open entrance while I was left staring at her taillights. Jericho picked up his jaw off the floor quicker than I could and took off after her. It took me seven full seconds before I managed to make myself move and in those seven seconds I decided something very important. Jericho and I had the kind of friendship that you didn’t risk over a girl.

  Except for Amelia.

  She was the kind of girl I needed to risk everything for.

  Chapter Six

  I stayed behind Amelia and Jericho on the trip to the gypsy village. I could handle a motorcycle easily, even without the help of my magic. But so could Amelia and I couldn’t help but love the sexy way she took the sharp bends of the mountain roads at a too fast speed, or how she played around with her speeds and bike when she got bored. She got bored a lot. Even though we didn’t have a long drive, it was like she could barely tolerate it. She fidgeted and wiggled constantly and more than once I had to tear my eyes from her curvy little figure perched on top of that and back to the road to avoid disaster.

  Eventually we turned down the narrow dirt road that led away from the main highway and to the small cluster of huts and shacks that made up Ileana’s kingdom. Amory and Ileana had been close over time; he had taken care of her and even sought out her advice. She was known for her gift of prophecy. Although she didn’t see everything in the future, she had enough visions that her opinion and guidance were highly favored.

  Amory had also exposed Kiran and Sebastian to the village their entire childhood. While I was off with Angelica hiding in various places all throughout the world, they spent their childhoods getting to know my grandfather and experiencing his methods of childrearing.

  Amory had done his best with Kiran in hopes of making him a great leader one day, in case all his other efforts with Lucan failed. Amory hated how Kiran turned out before Eden; despite all my grandfather’s efforts it seemed as if Kiran would be as awful as his father. Enter my sister, and the story changed.

  I supposed it turned out for the better, since even I had grown fond of the spoiled bastard.

  He, however, knew Ileana on such a deeper level than me; I hadn’t even met her until after Amory was dead. And not until we had secured the throne. Kiran, Eden and I had decided to keep an open, mutually beneficial relationship between our Kingdom and the gypsy village and Ileana genuinely seemed to like me. Granted she loved my sister like Eden was her own daughter, but I knew her affection for me would grow.

  It didn’t usually take females very long to fall in love with me, but Ileana was a bit unusual. And she had no intentions of marrying me, so that made it a little bit more difficult to flirt my way into her good graces.

  But I would wear her down.

  Eventually…. Especially since it did not bode well for me that I hadn’t been to visit her in over a year. I was going to catch hell for that.

  Just as long as there was a decent meal at the end of her long lecture, I could sit through just about anything. I was well trained at spacing out, especially if I was in trouble.

  Amelia slowed down and rolled her motorcycle next to a very old, very thick tree. She shook out her lush head of hair and didn’t even bother with a glance backwards before she was off into the village, immediately surrounded by a hoard of tiny, naked children. Jericho and I followed suit, stepping off our bikes and leaving our helmets balanced on the backs. I wiped the goofy smile off my face and straightened my spine, ready for Ileana’s attack. She was a wiry old thing.

  Whack.

  Ok, maybe not that ready.

  “Ow!” I hollered in response, rubbing the back of my tender head. Magic filled in the painful spot with a soothing burst of electricity. Still, my pride was hurt. How the hell did she always sneak up on me?

  “You’ve been away much too long,” Ileana chastised me in her Romanian-accented, craggily old lady voice that was filled with so much mischief it sounded like a child pretending to be an old person. “I have many things to tell you, but you stay away!”

  “I apologize,” I offered quickly, taking a slow step backwards and trying to turn around before she could-

  Whack.

  This time it was my shin and she darted away while I clutched at my ankle and hopped around on one foot.

  “Not good enough!” She barked.

  What did she keep hitting me with? A cane? A freaking branch? It hurt like hell!

  “Seriously, I’m very sorry!” I cried desperately, still hopping in place while my eyes darted around paranoid. I couldn’t feel Ileana’s magical current and therefore couldn’t anticipate where the next attack would come from. And nobody was apparently going to help me. Jericho was clutching at his sides while he laughed hysterically at my expense and I heard the children in an excited frenzy wherever Amelia was.

  “What is your excuse?” she asked from a bit of a distance.

  “I don’t have one,” I mumbled truthfully.

  “At least no lies,” she stepped in front of me with no weapon in sight. She could easily be mistaken for a beggar rather than a gypsy queen. Her clothes were mismatched rags layered on top of each other, her golden nose ring was large and tarnished, her thick white hair was partially hidden beneath a dirty red bandana and her bangles and oversized golden earrings clanked noisily with every movement. Why hadn’t I heard them while she was attacking me? “You’ve been gone for too long. Amory was never gone this long. Kiran was never gone this long. You,” she pointed a gnarled finger at me. “You are gone much too long.”

  “I know that. I said I was sorry,” I apologized again, feeling like a complete bastard. “It won’t happen again.”

  “It will happen again,” she snapped back, but her eyes softened and her tone became careful.

  That wasn’t an accusation. That was the future. She had seen something.

  “What have you seen?” I cut straight to the point. Jericho gave me a questioning look but I waved him off. He wandered further into the village in search of Amelia, but some of the children had pulled her into their hut. I shook my head, realizing I hadn’t been intentionally watching where she was going, but I knew exactly where she was all the same.

  “Do you know that most of your Kingdom doesn’t think it can be done,” Ileana mused, sparkly mischief returning to her voice. “They believe you will be single for centuries yet, ruling from your lonely castle alone. But I know better.” She winked at me.

  “Do you now?” I laughed, hoping more than anything she wasn’t using one of her visions to set me up with someone. “I hope this isn’t the prediction you want to discuss.”

  She laugh
ed at me, actually laughed, like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. Her mouth opened wide as she cackled with her head thrown back, revealing nearly bare gums and broken teeth. “I would not waste my gift on your unpredictable and fickle good graces. That would be asking for trouble.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, trying not to feel wounded.

  “It means that we have more important things to discuss, and you better use your time wisely, or I will take up most of it,” she answered cryptically and then led the way to a couple of beat up plastic lawn chairs that denoted her place of honor in the small community. I actually preferred her version of a throne to my pretentious, golden monstrosity. Plus, these were way more comfortable and I got to enjoy the outdoors.

  I took the seat to her right and stayed quiet, waiting for her to speak. She gestured first to the large bonfire set up in front of us. It wasn’t lit yet, but a large pile of freshly cut wood stood piled on top of each other, ready for the cooler evening. Using my magic, I lit the fire for her with a concentrated burst of electricity and settled into my chair while the small flames grew larger, licking the forest wood and sending heavenly scents of fall and smoke into the air.

  The children filtered out of their huts now that there was something to warm their naked little bodies. Some of them had been given handmade scarves and sweaters and pants, and some just slipped on wool socks and beat up too big loafers and stood closer to the fire. The older children were layered in mismatched, ill-fitting clothes and went around with arms full of clothes trying to coax the still naked ones into something that would save their important appendages.

  I laughed at a particularly stubborn little boy that would physically attack if anyone came near with a pair of pants. The boy liked his freedom. He stuck up his nose and lashed out with a swift kick if anyone got too close. That is until Amelia came out with a baby on her hip and her hair floating around her face in the early evening breeze. She took one look at the little boy, snatched up a pair of tweed pants and holey sweater and marched over to the little guy. He tried to ignore her, keeping his nose lifted in the air and turning his back on her. But with one soft hand on his shoulder and a whisper of something sweet in his ear, he fought a smile and slipped into the clothes she held out to him. Once he was fully clothed she mussed up his hair and gave him a quick kiss on the dirty cheek. He wasn’t able to keep the smile off his face any longer and ran off to brag to all his friends about Amelia’s kiss.