Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,4
from him with exaggerated nonchalance. “You’re fine?”
“Yes, perfectly. I kept calling, but you didn’t answer. I found my way out finally”
He never held back from telling her anything. Her thoughts were vital to his decisions and he always wanted to hear what her mind came up with. But somehow this meeting, with Rosamund and the fairy godmother, somehow this was for him alone. He didn’t think there was a part of him that Kira didn’t inhabit, but there it was, and it was telling him that right now he needed to keep this meeting secret, that Kira just wouldn’t understand. “I fell and I think I blacked out for a moment. I’m not quite sure what happened.”
Once he finished speaking, Seth didn’t look at her face. Seeing the disbelief he knew was there would have him telling her the whole truth in moments. Instead, he began to retrace the path they’d taken to arrive here.
As he drew abreast of Kira, Seth began to reach for her hand as he always did, but Rosamund’s face appeared in his mind’s eye as she was those last moments before she fell asleep, her eyes deadened and her voice defeated, and his vow blazed through his heart. His hand faltered and then withdrew from Kira’s, even as his fingers curled in protest over the loss.
Chapter Two
Seth ducked lower, scrunching his body behind the tree as the chattering of the women grew louder on the other side of the trunk.
“I thought I saw him in this area,” said the first. He recognized the voice, Lady Isa – no, Ire – well, it began with an “I”. Nice enough, but her family was so desperate for a match that they pushed her to act beyond the bounds of propriety.
“He has to be around here somewhere,” said the second. Now her, he didn’t like. Lady Deva treated servants like dirt underneath her shoes. Father said he had to be nice to her since she came from a very important merchant family, so he gritted his teeth and smiled at her at formal functions. That didn’t mean he had to put up with her at any other time.
“Ladies, what are you doing standing around the garden?” And this voice was the dearest to him in the world and welcome any time he heard it.
“Kira, how nice to see you. We thought we saw His Highness and wanted to ask him if there was something special he desired for his twenty-fifth birthday. Now I’m sure he is here somewhere, since you wouldn’t be far from his side, would you? You always were so close to the prince. He’s lucky that you see to his every need.” The tone was subtle vileness, but before he could stand and make his way to the women, Kira’s arm snaked around the trunk of the tree, the forefinger pointing at him, the demand of Stay where you are undeniable.
He was busted. Might as well sit back and enjoy the show.
“Lady Deva, my charge is and always will be His Highness and His Highness alone. I am not as fortunate as you in the ability to spread myself and my favors to anyone who desires it.”
And the tension was palpable even back here. Seth cocked his head in anticipation of the next volley, but the winner was Kira as Deva backed down, saying, “We will find His Highness later. Please inform him we were looking for him.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Kira responded in her driest tone. There was rustling, footsteps fading, and then Kira’s voice sounded again. “It’s safe, Your Cowardness.”
He poked his head around. “They’re all gone?”
“The scary girls are no more.”
“Are you mocking me?” He looked up, up, and up. She was probably the tallest woman in the kingdom, and thank heavens he was taller than her by a couple inches or he might have had some inadequacy issues being her best friend. “How’d you get so tall? Your dad is short.”
“It’s because of how you dragged me behind you when we were kids. My legs had to stretch to keep up.” The wind picked up then, the strong wind ruffling Kira’s ponytail and whipping the red strands around her face. She smoothed them back, using the movement to cover the fact her eyes were taking in their surroundings, assessing for any possible risks or potential enemies.
She should never have been made his bodyguard. His father had been wrong to make that decision.
To keep his mind from going down that