Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
The door clicked shut, leaving only Kieran behind, sitting in an armchair with his feet propped up on a cedar chest. I started to pull free of Casteel. I didn’t make it very far.
His arms tightened. “How was your talk with Alastir?”
“It was okay,” I said, immediately thinking of the woman Casteel had been engaged to. Shea. I wanted to ask about her. I wanted to know what’d happened. I wanted to know why he’d never mentioned her, even though I understood there had been no reason for him to bring her up with me. We’d once been friends. Or at least I’d believed so. Though that was also when I’d thought we could be more. But that was before I learned the truth. And even though we’d entered into this arrangement, I wasn’t…well, I wasn’t important to him in the way where he would share secrets.
But is that true? A voice whispered in the back of my mind. Casteel had shared with me what had been done to him while he’d been the Ascended’s prisoner. He hadn’t opened up with Alastir, the father of his once fiancée. What, if anything, did that mean? Either way, discussing the woman he’d once planned to marry for no other reason but that he loved her felt too…intimate. Like it was something true lovers would do.
And that was not us.
Alastir would have to pin his hopes on someone else.
“Just okay?” One dark brow rose.
An inexplicable heaviness settled in my chest as I nodded.
“He should be more detailed in his questioning,” Kieran commented. “Should we be worried that Alastir is going to attempt to whisk you off?”
I shot him an arch look. “Why would you think that?”
“Because we both know what kind of man Alastir is,” Casteel said, drawing my attention back to him. “He’s probably worried that you’re being forced into this marriage and likely offered you his aid in escape.”
“You offered me a choice last night. If I didn’t agree to the marriage, you wouldn’t force me. We came to an agreement,” I reminded him. “If I accepted Alastir’s offer, would I be sitting here?”
“I suppose not.” He watched me through half-lowered lashes. “Or, you could be waiting for when I least expect it. Though just so you know, I always expect you to do the unexpected.”
My brows knitted. “You sound paranoid.”
“As if I don’t have a reason?”
“I’m offended that you think I’d go back on my word. I agreed, Your Highness.” I smiled when I saw his jaw flex. “Alastir did offer his aid. I turned it down.”
A moment passed. “Then I apologize for being paranoid, Princess.”
I snorted. “Sure, you do.”
“Now I’m offended that you doubt my sincerity.”
I rolled my eyes. “I do have questions for you. Ones more important than what Alastir and I discussed.”
“You have questions?” Mock surprise filled Kieran’s tone. “I’m utterly shocked.”
“I’m an open book,” Casteel replied. “What would you like to know?”
An open book? Unlikely. “What plans does your father have?”
Casteel leaned into the cream-hued settee, looking impossibly at ease. “My father has many plans, Poppy.” His gaze drifted over my face. In the back of my mind, I realized that he hadn’t once called me Poppy while in front of Alastir. “But if they include you, those plans will swiftly become nothing but figments of the imagination.”
“It sounded like I was what made your activities fruitful.”
“Don’t worry about my father,” Casteel said, lifting his hand from my hip. He drew his thumb across my lower lip, causing an unwanted flutter in my chest. “He has bigger concerns right now than you.”
My eyes narrowed as I caught his wrist. “Like the lack of land issue?” I pulled his hand away.
His eyes deepened to a warm amber. “I’m sure that is taking up much of his time, but he won’t risk damaging his relationship with me to take any action against you.”
I wanted to believe that. Getting back to Ian depended on me staying alive and in one piece. Being a part of the King’s plan probably wouldn’t bode well for me remaining whole and hearty.
Especially given that the scheme probably included sending me back to the capital of Solis in pieces.
“I think you forgot to tell me something,” I told him.
His brows rose. “I’m going to need more detail than that.”
“Why? Because there’s a lot of things you haven’t told me?”
“A man must have his secrets. Isn’t that part of the allure?”
Struggling for patience, I tried to count to ten. I made it to three. “Your secrets are the exact opposite of alluring. If there was an anti-allure potion, it would be exactly that.”
“Damn,” he murmured, eyes gleaming.
“Are you expected to become King upon your return?” I demanded. “Is that what’s expected of you?”
The amusement faded from his eyes. “One of them. A King and Queen can only rule Atlantia for four hundred years. It’s designed that way so change can occur. If a child of theirs doesn’t assume the throne, then anyone can come forward and challenge for it. My parents’ reign has extended beyond the timeframe. And because they don’t believe Malik will return, they feel it is time for me to take on the role.”