Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Her Majesty wishes to see you in the drawing room,” Ambrose said, not to me but Odette.
She lifted her head and snickered bitterly before nodding. “Of course, please, by all means, lead me to the drawing room.”
“We shall go together,” I said to her, but she ignored me, inhaling deeply and standing further upright.
“Her Majesty requests that you prepare for dinner, sir,” Ambrose replied to me.
I cracked my jaw to the side. “I shall tell her personally that her request was impossible to fulfill at this time. Odette, shall we go receive our punishment together?”
It was my sad attempt to find humor here, and it failed miserably. The look of anger on her face as she finally met my gaze was proof enough of that.
“I did nothing wrong, Galahad, so why would I be punished?” she asked, and I had no answer, nor did she wait for one, walking forward without either Ambrose or me to accompany her.
However, she did not seem worried, and she was right not to be. Because out from behind, Wolfgang appeared, rushing to her side. Over and over again, we were surrounded by a wall of people, which kept us from ever speaking to each other.
Galahad? Is that what she was going to call me from now on?
Annoyed, I marched ahead of them both, grabbing her wrist.
Her head whipped back at me. “Gale—”
“Don’t you mean Galahad?” I snapped. “We need to talk.”
“Your mother is waiting for me. Let go!”
“No!” I hollered back, pulling her into the nearest room, slamming the door behind us. “We need to talk, Odette!”
“No, you need to talk!” she yelled back, ripping her hands from mine. “And because you need to talk, I have no other choice but to hear it!”
“You have choices!”
“Really? Since when? Since I got here, my only choice has been to do as I was told by everyone else! And over and over again, I do, without argument. Now I am not even allowed to be silent! I have to talk to you, or you are going to drag me into rooms like I am some kind of child!”
“I-I’m sorry—”
“Royals do not apologize!”
“For the love of God, Odette, spare me the damn rules. I am just trying to speak to you! You! Who I have not had a private or meaningful conversation with for weeks now! Or have you not noticed between all your tutors—”
“Are you blaming me for having tutors now? Did I ask for them! Did I want them?”
“God—ugh! Dammit, will you just listen to me?”
“No! I am sick and fucking tired of listening! To you, to your mother, to this person and that person! I am tired of listening! Who listens to me? When is anyone going to hear me?”
“Me! Now! I’m trying to listen to you and talking to you right now, but you are not giving me a fucking chance!”
“Maybe that should be your hint,” she said, and I froze, staring at the tears in her eyes. “I do not want to hear you explain. I do not want to hear you talk because each time you do, you convince me that it is going to be okay. You make me forget that I am hurting, and that sounds great, but it is not. Pain is our brain’s way of telling us to stop. Pain is a warning light, and mine has been going off every day. Then you come along and kiss me or hug me or tell me you love me, and I am stuck. I told you my very first day here that I couldn’t do this—”
“But you took my hand and followed me here anyway, Odette. You knew it would not be easy, that it would hurt, and you took my hand anyway—”
“Would you have let me make any other choice?”
“No! Because I love you!” I wanted to reach out and touch her, but she stepped back, looking away. “And when you love someone, you do not just let them walk away without a fight.”
“And what happens after you’ve fought and lost?”
“Odette, how have we lost? Are we not still here? Are we not still together?”
She reached up, rubbing her temples. “Do you really think I can be your queen? I did everything right today. I did everything that was asked of me. And from beginning to end, did you see how everyone looked at me out there? Did you not see how the prime minister would barely—”
“I do not give a damn! Those people are not this whole nation—”
“They are the ones who count!”
“I am the one who counts!” I could not take it any longer. I pulled her into my arms. She did not back away this time, but she did not welcome me, either. She avoided meeting my eyes. “Even if every last person in this country was foolish enough, blind enough not see how great you are, not to see how much I love you, how you will be an amazing queen, I would still marry you a thousand times. And they will learn to deal with it.”