“How do you know of it?”
She lifted her gaze to find his lips pressed together, a muscle flickering at the edge of his jawline. Despite herself, she let her lips give way into the smallest of smiles. The valiant prince, with his noble charm, is determined to vanquish dragons both seen and unseen. So was his naivety, but there was a beauty in it that she couldn’t bring herself to resent it.
“I grew up there for the first five years of my life. My mother worked for The Velvet Apple, and it was enough to keep us off the street, but then she died. I was on my own for two weeks. I found holes to hide in and scavenged food from trash. When Mrs. Blakesley found me, I was trying to steal the coins in herpurse. She told me she had a job for me with a warm bed at the end of the day if I could follow directions.”
Maybe it was the food or the sincerity behind his eyes that forced the words from her, but once they were gone from her, she didn’t regret them. Both Brielle and he forgot too often where she came from and what she was made for. More than that, he should know what his sparkling kingdom hid in its shadows. It was easy to be a king who didn’t see, but she hoped more for the prince sitting across from her.
He swallowed hard, but didn’t hide from the truth.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She nodded.
“I’m not,” she said. “I’d do it all again just to find Brielle.”
He nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair.
“I’m going to change things,” he promised.
Luci didn’t know a lot of things, but she knew that if anyone could do it, she would have put her faith in him every time.
“How?” she asked.
Even though it was he who asked the question only moments ago, he’d learned something that hadn’t been there before.
His lip curved to the side, dimple on display as he tapped a finger against the table.
A flutter lit within her chest, and it might have been indigestion from too much food, but it felt a terrible lot like hope.
Chapter twenty-three
Of Bargains and Wicked Witches
Hansel and Gretel were unfortunate enough, as some children are, to be born to a father unworthy of the name. What they did have, however, were two things: courage and each other.
-Tales from Meridea, Volume II
The sun draped over her skin, spraying warmth over her arms and caressing her hair. She’d slept in several comfortable beds over the course of her life, but this was the best. Silk draped over her and cocooned her in a perfect nest that smelt of sweet cinnamon mixed with fresh lavender. The whitecotton comforter pulled up to her chin. It’d be easy to stay there all day. All she needed was a good book and–
It was an ice storm over her body as her mind jolted awake. Brielle. She only needed a good book and Brielle, but this was not her bed, and Brielle was miles away in another bed, dying.
Heart pumping erratically in her chest, Luci sat up much like a startled animal. Her eyes darted to the oversized chair next to the fireplace that was still burning with well-nourished intensity. There was no prince sleeping in it like there was when she’d fallen asleep. They’d gone to bed in relatively good moods.
It hadn’t even been awkward when he insisted she take the bed and he the chair. She might have argued with him, but she was tired and slightly drunk. It felt like a good solution, even if she was just a servant and he a prince. Though last night it hadn’t felt like that at all.
Spoiled, entitled, and more clueless than he should have been– he’d listened to her. Together, they brainstormed plans while each took turns poking holes in the integrity of each one. What they’d been left with was actually a good plan. A fair distribution of resources with a renewed sense of community for an entire kingdom.
It was a good plan.
Something that could change everything for countless people not reliant on fairytales and hidden magic. It was something real.
It was hard to erase his crooked smile and disheveled hair when he’d leaned back in his chair across from her and run his hand over his face. The wonder in his voice when he said it was a solid plan. Exhaustion crept at the corners of his eyes, but when he lifted them to hers–
She forced a breath out and rubbed at her chest.
Brielle. She needed to get ready, and they needed to leave. The sun was high enough that it’d probably risen over an hour ago. That was time lost. What if they were thirty minutes too late?
Within moments, she was dressed in a new riding dress of dark navy, her black hair braided and pinned to the back of her head. Checking her reflection in a round, gold-rimmed mirror near the door, she realized she missed her blond hair. She’d never been attached to her hair one way or another, but the dark-haired woman who stared back at her wasn’t the woman she’d always known.