Ashborne (The Ashborne Trilogy: Book 1) (11 page)

Emoren turned his stormy-blue eyes
toward me and gave me a look, as if I had just said the most absurd
thing in the world.

“
How did you even get in
here?” I asked.

“
That Penelope cares about
you a great deal, you know?” he replied.

“
Penelope brought you
here?”

“
She wanted to, but I
wasn't going to let her endanger herself on my account. Although,
she may have helped point out which chamber was yours. This place
is a lot bigger than it looks.”

“
You risked your life just
to hide in my room? You really are an idiot, you know that?” And I
loved it.

“
Perhaps,” he smiled
coyly.

I stared up at him. God, how my eyes
had missed looking upon his beautiful face. Running my fingers
through his hair, I ached to give my longing lips what they've
wanted since the moment I laid eyes on this gorgeous man. Finally,
Emoren leaned in to kiss me, his eyes never leaving my own, and it
felt as if I might burst at any moment.

My breaths were shallow and
uncontrollable from anticipation, and as his moist lips pressed
against mine, my body exploded. He must have known my knees were
going to go soft the instant his lips met mine, because as he
kissed me, he effortlessly supported the weight my weak knees could
no longer hold. With his lips against mine, our breath mixed as
one, I became enveloped in him.

In this moment, we were the only two
people in our world - a world I never wanted to leave. I knew that
from this moment forward, I would be powerless against the whims of
this man. He had complete control over my heart, and I would do
anything he asked of me. Whether he knew it or not, my life, my
heart, and my soul, now belonged to him. And throughout my entire
life, I had never wanted anything more.

“
Highness? Everything all
right? I thought I heard voices,” a royal guard said as he banged
on my chamber door.

Emoren and I looked at each other with
wide eyes. I knew I was going to have to answer the door. The guard
would let himself in if I didn’t respond. I signaled Emoren to hide
as I ran over to grab the plate of food Penelope had left for me.
With food in hand, I quickly raced over to the door, put a
pissed-off look on my face, and flung it open.

“
This meat is spoiled!” I
yelled at the guard. “I train all day and I can't even get fresh
food!?”

The guard just stood there in complete
surprise.

“
How dare my handmaiden
bring such garbage for my supper!” I shoved the plate into the
guards chest for good measure, forcing him to hold it. “Find
Penelope and send her to my room at once!”

“
But- Your Highness- I'm
under orders from your father not to leave the royal
wing.”

“
Then find someone else
and tell them to send her! How incompetent are you!” I yelled,
slamming the door in his face.

I quickly put my ear to the door,
listening to the guard walk away and call me a bitch, before racing
back over to Emoren.

“
You can't be here,
Emoren. It's too dangerous.”

He didn’t look happy when I said that,
but he knew I was right.

“
Hurry! You have to sneak
out while he's gone,” I urged, pulling Emoren over to the door. I
opened the door and checked to make sure the corridor was clear
before tugging on Emoren’s arm.

As Emoren began walking out, he turned
to me. “I have to see you tomorrow. Meet me in the courtyard. I'll
tell anyone who asks that you're being gracious enough to give me a
tour of Ashborne.”

“
Emoren, go! You have to
hurry!”

“
I'm not leaving until you
say you’ll meet me,”

“
What!? Fine! Just go!
Hurry!” I blurted out.

I followed Emoren to one of the large,
glassless windows of the outer corridor just opposite of my chamber
door. I watched longingly as he leapt down into the bushes below
and then disappeared into the night. Once back inside my room, I
closed the door behind me, leaned against it, and slowly drifted
down to the floor. I was so relieved that Emoren wasn't discovered.
Our secret was still safe.

Instantly reliving everything that had
just happened, my heart did cartwheels inside me, and I couldn't
contain the smile on my face. As I sat there thinking about how
much he had risked just to see me, it proved that he really did
care about me, even if he was out of his mind for doing
it.

I couldn’t help but giggle
to myself as I thought about it, almost unable to believe that
someone had done something like that for me.
Emoren…
y
ou
idiot, I love you.

Chapter Nine

The following morning couldn't have
come fast enough. After I woke, I didn't even wait for Penelope to
bring me my breakfast before I started getting ready to leave. I
bounded around my room, absolutely beaming at the thought of
spending the day with Emoren. I must have pulled out ten different
gowns before finally deciding on the one that was teal, sleeveless,
and a little revealing. I quickly got ready and raced expectantly
down to the courtyard.

The sun was shining, the breeze was
gentle, and the outside world seemed to be just as happy as I was.
As I entered the courtyard, I could see Emoren seated on the edge
of the fountain, reading the same old, brown book he always was. I
began casually walking toward him as he looked up from his book and
smiled.

“
Good Morning,
Emoren.”

“
Good Morning, Your
Highness,” he said, bowing before me. “I thank Your Highness for
taking the time to give me a tour of your fine home. You're much
too generous.”

I smiled at his facade. Even though it
didn't seem like anyone was around, Emoren was showing me that he
was going to play his part to perfection.

“
Shall we?” I
said.

“
Yes, M'lady. Please, lead
the way.”

We strolled casually down to the
Trader's Square where many of the prominent shops and traders of
Ashborne did their daily business. I pointed out the various shops
and merchants that I had grown up with over the years; from the
baker's shop where I would purchase warm bread during breaks from
training, to Penelope's father's shop where my first sword was
made.

Even though we were both wearing our
masks amongst the bustling streets and crowds of Ashborne, Emoren
seemed to enjoy and love learning everything about me and where I
came from. It felt like I was showing him little pieces of myself
and my world. And the more he seemed to embrace everything he was
learning about me, the more I wanted to show him.

Time seemed to go by too quickly
alongside Emoren. Regardless of how slow I walked, how much I
yammered on, or how much I stalled, time just kept hurrying by. It
wasn't long before we were back near the guest chambers and
strolling along the stone walkway that surrounded the castle and
courtyard. With each person that passed us, I would do my best
tour-guide impersonation and we would laugh quietly to ourselves,
sharing the secret only we knew.

As we continued along the walkway, I
saw Alexander coming out from one of the guest chambers. He saw us
instantly and began walking toward us. I wasn't sure what he was
still doing here, but I had no desire to speak with him.

“
Well, look who it is,”
Alexander said as he stopped in front us.

“
Nice to see you,
Alexander. I thought you and your father would have already left
for Benethil,” I said, trying my best to not be rude.

“
Yes, well, after we heard
about the attack, we had to remain here until this morning as we
waited for additional escort from Benethil to arrive,” he said
before putting on a devilish smile. “I see you’re no worse for wear
because of it.”

His shameless eyes were going over
every inch of my bare skin and making me feel dirty in the gown I
had worn just for Emoren. If he wasn't a guest of my father's, I
would have certainly made him pay for looking at me with such
violating eyes. But instead of getting myself in trouble, I decided
to try and get back to spending the day with Emoren.

“
Well, I wish you and your
father a safe journey. Emoren, shall we?”

“
You know...” Alexander
interrupted as we began to leave. “I'm very glad you made it back
safely, especially with the arrangement your father and I made
while you were away.”

I spun around angrily. “What the hell
are you talking about, Alexander?”

“
Oh? He didn't tell
you?”

He took a few steps forward and stood
much closer to me than I cared for. He reached out his hand and
began gliding it along the thin, shoulder strap of my
gown.

“
Don't you dare touch me!”
I shouted, knocking his arm away with one hand and putting my other
out to steady an angry Emoren.

Alexander acted as if Emoren was
beneath him and not even worth acknowledging as he continued
looking at me and smiling unscrupulously. “Oh, how I love girls
with so much… spirit. It makes things so much more fun,” he said as
he grabbed a handful of my hip and ass and pulled me toward
him.

What the hell?!

Before I could even react, Emoren
pushed Alexander away from me with one hand while using his other
to land a fierce right-hook that sent Alexander crashing to the
ground.

“
Emoren, don't!” I urged,
but it was already too late. The calm demeanor he always seemed to
have was gone. He was pissed. I held his arm back tightly, trying
to keep him from making this any worse than it already was going to
be.

“
You filth! How dare you!”
Alexander said as made his way to his feet and used the back of his
hand to wipe the crimson from his bleeding lip. He unsheathed the
sword that was dangling from his waist and brandished it at Emoren,
who was now standing between us and shielding me with his
body.

“
You dare strike a prince,
you fool? You just signed your own death warrant, you little
peasant!”

I kept trying to make my way around
Emoren, tying to get in between the two of them so the sweet,
unarmed idiot wouldn’t get himself killed, but he just kept holding
me back. And as he did, I started to panic as I saw Alexander raise
his sword, preparing to strike Emoren down.

“
Stop!
” Gillien's voice boomed as he walked out of the same chamber
door that Alexander had come from. “Alexander… Go and meet the
escort!”

“
But, Father! This
mongrel-”

“
Now! We're leaving! One
more word and you'll be enjoying a cell in our dungeons!” Gillien
yelled. I had no idea what was wrong with Gillien, but he seemed
way too upset for this situation.

Alexander reluctantly sheathed his
sword, eying Emoren angrily. He shot me an uncomfortable smirk,
like he knew something I didn't, before turning and storming
off.

“
My apologies,
Princess...” Gillien said as he bowed his head in respect. He
raised up slightly, his eyes looking at me apologetically as he
finished his sentence. “...for everything.”

I could tell he wasn't just
apologizing for what had just happened, it was something else,
something far more serious. “Your Majesty... Gillien, what's going
on?”

He said nothing as he turned and
walked away. What the hell was going on? Nervous and anxious, I
turned to Emoren.

“
I'm sorry,” He
said.

“
No- That’s not it. Just-
Wait here. Somethings wrong. I have to see what's going on,” I said
before leaving Emoren in the courtyard and hurrying off to the
throne room.

I flung open the throne room doors and
marched angrily toward my father. He was sitting there, looking
completely unimpressed by my display.

“
What did you do!?” I
asked.

“
I was wondering when I
would be seeing you,” he said as he began to stand.

“
What have you
done!?”

He walked casually toward the windows
overlooking the courtyard and stared out the window. “There's
something you're going to do for me.”

“
Another one of your
suicide missions? I refuse!” If the look I was shooting him didn’t
make it clear that I was pissed, the contempt in my voice certainly
did.

“
No...” he said, turning
to me and flashing a cruel smile. “You've already reclaimed the
only kingdoms I care about. The rest are tainted trash that I have
no interest in any longer. No, as a soldier, you're no longer
useful to me.”

I stood there quietly as he spoke,
trying to figure out what the hell else he could possibly want from
me. Something about this whole thing was just off. Like the calm
before a storm, it felt as though something ominous was
approaching, like something awful was about to happen.

“
However, there are other
ways you can serve me, and you
will
serve me,” he said, signaling me over to come
stand alongside him in front of the window.