Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“And where is this squirrel?”
“It scurried away after its attack.”
“How convenient.”
“Truly.”
He glared at me, and I glared back. When he turned around once more, I threw a second one at the center of his back, trying not to laugh.
Again, he paused, and when he turned to me I pointed up to the sky. “That time it was a bird. Apparently, the wildlife here does not like you, Your Highness!”
He just nodded to himself, slowly sinking down to pick up a few acorns himself. When he looked back at me, I immediately stepped back.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I shall,” he said, and threw one right at me. I tried to dodge, but he was unrelenting, chasing me around the tree.
“This is ungentlemanly behavior!” I yelled as I tried to hide from him.
“It shall match your unladylike behavior,” he retorted, coming around and forcing me to run again.
“It was not me.”
“You are clearly lying!”
I tried to make a run for the horses, but he caught my arm and held on to me. I closed my eyes, preparing to be hit by an acorn, but one never came. When I peeked, he was staring at me with an expression I did not understand. His blue eyes looked over my face; he was breathing heavily, as was I. So I just stood there in his arms taking in the air as we stared at each other.
“You are so very beautiful, it is unfair,” he whispered, the corners of his lips turned up. “How is anyone to argue with you?”
“You make do just fine.”
“Not fine at all…for I do not intend to argue but you confuse my thoughts.” I could not take my eyes off his lips as they came closer to mine. All of me felt as if I were growing warmer, and it did not help that he had not released me from his embrace. His fingers traced up and down my back.
“What do you intend to do then?”
He bit his lip and shook his head, his face strained…“Very bad things. Things much worse than a kiss.”
“Make love?”
“We ought not speak of this.” He suddenly let go of me.
“Isn’t—”
“There is a spider on your arm,” he blurted.
I screamed and jumped back, smacking my arms in horror as I tried to get it off me. “Is it gone?”
“Is what gone?”
“The spider!”
“Sorry, I meant squirrel. Or was it a bird?” he smiled slightly.
My nostrils flared. I dropped my hands as I glared back at him. “You were teasing me? All of that was just a—”
“Oh, I see the spider now—it’s in your hair!” I couldn’t help but jump again, moving to taking it out, when he laughed at me. “Your little sister is right. You truly are terrified of bugs.”
“Wilhelm!” I yelled at him, not at all liking this game. And apparently, Abena was to blame for it. I’d deal with her later. First, him.
“Wilhelm? Are we so close now, Hathor?” he asked, and I realized I had no idea how to deal with a man such as him. This was not at all how this morning was supposed to go.
“Can you not just apologize, and let me be on my way?”
“I see no point, since you will not accept it.”
“That is my choice!”
“As is mine to apologize.”
“Ugh!” I groaned, throwing up my hands. “You are…you are…”
I could not get the words out, because a sudden bolt of lightning ripped through the sky…only to be followed by an even more sudden downpour.
“Come!” he said, taking my hand and pulling me toward the stone pavilion. Only when I was under the dome did I look back and notice that Bernice still hadn’t reached us.
“Hopefully this will clear up quickly,” I muttered, mostly to myself.
“You fear for your reputation should you be found in my company?” he asked, brushing the rain off his hair.
“Any man’s company without a chaperone, but yes,” I said, wiping my eyes with my hand. He handed me his handkerchief. I looked at it for a moment, and then took out my own. “I’m fine, thank you. Who knows if it has another spider?”
He chuckled, drying his chin instead. “So far, your younger sister is quite accurate in her description of you.”
“When exactly did you speak to Abena?”
The amusement on his face did not bode well. “I believe she said, ‘Hathor is a ghastly monster, who snores like a wild boar.’ ”
“What? That is untrue.”
“You are aware that I myself have come upon you snoring?”
“It was normal snoring, not the boarish kind!”
He laughed at me. “How would you know?”
“What else did that little bug say?”
“That you were horrified of insects…even butterflies. Clearly, that is true as well. So, I wonder, was she also correct in saying that you are moody, and incapable of dressing in a timely manner every morning?”
“I am going to kill her!”
“As your brother feared.”