Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
She flattens her lips, the way she does when she’s debating what to say. Finally, she offers, “Nico doesn’t just have the hearts of the people. He has your father’s ear.”
“And father wishes for him to be next in line,” I fill in the blanks. Of course, he does. My father has never made a secret of his disdain for me and my mother. Never hidden how much he’s hated the both of us.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get Rafael here.” My words may be confident but the knot in my stomach grows. I’ve promised I will live in this gilded cage forever.
“It’s important no one knows about this,” she whispers. “If word gets back to Nico…”
He’ll use it against me. Look at the princess, shirking her duties while her father is ill. How can such a young, foolish girl be trusted to run the country?
My mind spins with a thousand different ways to explain my absence. Still, I stand and gather myself. “If questioned, you’ll say I’ve been at the girls’ home.”
Her chin trembles. Only twice I have seen this woman cry. Both times it was for my mother. “You have to travel alone, as a regular citizen. You will announce Rafael publicly before the king and Nico can thwart the marriage.”
I give her shoulders a squeeze. She’s spent her life reassuring me and today, we’re switching roles. I am no longer the child she needs to calm. Now I am the future queen, and it is my job to soothe her. “I’ll return within a week with my groom.”
2
RAFE
“What’s wrong with you?” A sullen voice asks over my shoulder.
My skin is too tight. It’s too itchy, and I’m trapped on this metal tube that I can’t escape for another two hours. I try to remind myself that this will be over soon, but that does nothing to ease the tightness in my chest.
I don’t look at the young girl who’s spent the last hour kicking the back of my cramped plane seat. Still, when I speak, I manage to keep the irritation from my voice. She’s a kid. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”
“Your hand is freaky,” she announces in a loud tone.
The other passengers pretend not to be listening, but I see the subtle glances my way. They were there when I boarded the plane too. When you’re different, people look at you with a mixture of pity—glad that they aren’t afflicted with the same problem and curiosity—insatiable for exactly why you’re different.
The cabin is getting smaller. Smaller and hotter. It was this way as a kid too. When the orange glow would get to be too much, my lungs wouldn’t hold any air.
“I’m different,” I wheeze. I don’t usually explain that cerebral palsy makes my arm twist in dystonic postures. But the questions from kids are the ones I try to answer. They need to be shown that people with disabilities are just people. People like them.
Still, I glance back at the kid’s mom and silently will her to shush her daughter. To stop putting me on display in front of all these people, like I’m a lion at the zoo. They’re tapping at the glass, demanding I perform.
The woman doesn’t even meet my gaze. Instead, she idly swipes her tablet screen, ignoring her daughter’s behavior the way she has for most of the morning.
“Why are you different? Is it cont—conta—catching?” She settles on the word after failing to pronounce contagious. “Mommy says some things aren’t catching. Like when she bleeds from her lady parts. Do you bleed?”
The discussion snags her mom’s attention, and she quiets her daughter as some of the other passengers snicker. Just like that, I’m relieved to no longer be the center of attention.
Three hours later, the fingers of my good hand drum an impatient rhythm against the steering wheel. I relax when I cross over into Courage County. I roll down the window, breathing in the pine scent. This tiny town is my new beginning. I’ve found friends here. I even spent the last few days in Vegas, celebrating a friend’s wedding.
I’m glad for Blade. I’m glad he’s claimed his forever with Gwen. He deserves every bit of happiness, but something about seeing them together only amplified this feeling. It’s a hollow ache deep in my chest. It got even louder on the plane back home. Louder again when I was at the airport, surrounded by the crowd.
My truck dashboard lights up with a call from an unknown number, interrupting my thoughts. Except it’s not an unknown number. I know exactly who’s calling me.
It’s her, a scammer who claims to be a princess in a foreign country I’ve never heard of. I don’t answer the calls, but I do listen to the messages she leaves.
She says she needs to speak to me urgently. I’m sure it’s a con game. She probably means to make me think I’ve won some money if I’ll pay her a small processing fee of a few hundred dollars.