Queen Sized - Jessa Kane Page 0,25
He really is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my life. Brave, protective, secretly damaged and even more secretly sweet. Egotistical when it counts. A man who will make a fine leader of his kingdom, though I won’t be there to see it.
My chest is so hollow, it takes me an effort to stand up and get dressed, my movements as silent as whispers. I’m going to collect my sisters and explain that we won’t be participating in the auction tonight. That we’ll be going home in the morning. Just the three of us. And I realize now that auctioning myself off would have gone against the example I wanted to set for them, anyway. So perhaps this was for the best.
It doesn’t feel that way, however, as I take one last look at Corbet and leave his tent.
It feels as if my insides are withering.
What has this man done to me?
I’ve always been able to take a hit and keep on going, but my steps feel sluggish and I’m carrying an awful, sharp weight in my middle. There is a pressure in my lungs that has never been there before, moisture refusing to stop blooming behind my eyes.
“Excuse me, Lady Gwen,” a voice says to my right.
I stop in my tracks, surprised to find the king of Lavere approaching, a bevy of guards at his sides. Before I can stop myself, I compare him to Corbet, a king who needs no protectors, save himself. Shaking the thought from my head, I drop into a curtsy, only then realizing the king called me by name. How does he know who I am? “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“You are walking in the opposite direction of the auction,” he points out, folding his gloved hands at his waist.
“So I am,” I respond with a tight smile. “I have decided not to participate.”
His brows draw together. “That is a terrible shame.” He pauses, studying me closely. “I’d hoped to outbid the others.”
Surely I didn’t hear him correctly. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty?”
“I’ve been an observer at the events, and though I didn’t expect to procure a queen in such an archaic manner, I witnessed you behave in a way that befits royalty. In my short time on the throne, I’ve found such qualities as compassion and selflessness very hard to find.” He flicks a glance back in the direction of Corbet’s tent. “Am I too late? Are you spoken for, Lady Gwen?”
Am I still asleep by Corbet’s side, having a wild dream? Or is the king of Lavere, my own homeland, asking me to be his queen?
I look around at the Joining and see the world behaving as usual. The wind dances upon my neck. I am definitely awake. The king of Lavere has a good reputation, even if he’s rumored to enjoy his wine a little too much. And I suppose he is handsome, though he is slight of frame and far from a warrior, like Corbet. This man is offering me stability. A title. A future for my sisters. I’ve only just decided to go it alone, to take on more work and find a solution that doesn’t include a man, but will I really turn down this offer to be queen? Who am I to turn up my nose at a position that could see my family flourish, instead of scrape by?
How can I deny my sisters this opportunity?
The king waits for my answer to his question. Is he too late?
In one way, he is. My heart belongs to another.
My hand does not. But I no longer have my virtue to offer a husband.
“If you fear yourself ruined, I promise you…” He chuckles. “I’ve done worse.”
A laugh carries out of me on a breath. And though my heart is wrenching sideways, visions of Corbet circling my mind, I say, “Then, no, Your Majesty. You are not too late.”
Corbet
When I wake up, my intuition is screaming that something is wrong.
For one, Gwen is not in my arms and that will never, ever be right.
But there’s more. There’s a sharp clarity to my thoughts. I’m wide awake and balanced on the edge of a cliff. Or maybe I’ve been there for a very long time, fighting the wind at my back that threatens to knock me off. There are jagged rocks below, waiting to shred my bones when I land. However, I’ve never actually looked down, have I? I’ve just assumed I will meet certain doom below.
Now, though, I look.
And it’s nothing but