Chapter 22
I toss and I turn.
“Grrr-1”
I can’t work it out in my mind! What did he mean? Forget it, there’s no way I can figure it out, so I’m not even going to try. It just means that sleep doesn’t come easy tonight.
I am so glad when the sun starts to stream in through my bedroom window. At least now I don’t have to pretend that I am asleep any longer.
I quickly get out of bed and almost sprint to the shower. Once I am clean, I spray a healthy dose of perfume on me and pull on some new clothes.
I am not at all sure if Ethan can smell the pregnancy hormones on me, but after last night, I am definitely not going to take a chance.
Just as put on the last of my clothes there is a knock on the door, and then it opens before I can even answer it.
My jaw drops as Cassandra walks into my room. I guess the security guards outside of my room will stop intruders. like Marcus, but probably can’t say no to their king’s stepsister.
She is the last person I would have guessed to pay me a personal visit.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her, folding my arms across my chest. Even if Ethan seems to trust her beyond reason, that doesn’t mean I do.
“I come to see you of course,” she answers as if it were the simplest thing in the world, draping herself over my armchair.
“So you just barged into my room at the c**k of dawn?” I counter, raising an eyebrow. “Not exactly the best way to get the morning started with a stranger.”
“I knocked!” She objects indignantly.
“Perhaps next time you can wait until someone says ‘come in,” I tell her, half-seriously, after what Ethan had told me about her last night and how truly spoiled she is, it is very possible that she truly has no idea what polite
means.
“Oh, okay,” she shrugs, a small look of realization on her face, but honestly I don’t know whether it actually sinks in with her or not. “Anyway, listen. I think you and I kind of got off on the wrong foot.”
That’s a bit of an understatement.”
Chapter 22
“Look,” she says, sounding exasperated with me. “I’m trying to be nice here. Can you at least just hear me out?”
than last night.
I frown, and then I remember my conversation with Ethan
“Did Ethan put you up to this?” I ask her.
“What?” She asks, confusion clear on her face. “Why would Ethan say anything to me?”
“After last night?” I prompt.
I see a look flash over her face so fast I can barely recognize it.
“What happened last night?” She asks, her voice colder. “Between you and Ethan?”
Um? Ethan didn’t talk to her? Then what on earth is she doing here?
“Nothing. We just talked, that’s all, and… You know what, nevermind. What did you want to say to me?” C**a is silent for a moment, before a look of resolve comes over her face. And her chirpy smile returns.
“Well,” she says, her voice sounding cheerful again. “I think we kind of got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to make amends. So I scheduled a day out for the both of us. We could do some shopping and have brunch at a nice little Cafe down in the town.”
I open my mouth to object. She hasn’t even asked me what I had planned for the day and she’s already deciding that I would just accompany her.
And this isn’t the best way to start a reconciliation attempt, in any case. A walk in the garden might be more fitting.
“Look, I get it’s a bit forward of me,” she starts, reaching out a hand in a calming gesture. “But let’s be real, if I were to ask you first, you would probably say no, and I couldn’t blame you. Honestly, I was almost too nervous to even ask. And even if we did make plans, I might chicken out. So, I just went for it.”
I don’t like it. There is a sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of the whole plan that I just can’t get rid of. It might be morning sickness-I hope it’s just morning sickness.
I’m still not keen on the idea of going out with her, but then I look at her, seated in the chair across my room. She made the effort to come to me. This could be an opportunity to find out more about what’s happening here, especially concerning her and Ethan.
I travelled all this distance under the impression I might be Ethan’s fiancée, only to find someone else making the same claim. I need answers. Since Ethan is not willing to tell me the truth. Perhaps it’s easier to get it out from **a.
“Okay,” I tell her. “I’ll go with you.”
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Chapter 22
A look of relief and almost something that looks like victory comes over her face.
“Yes, alright, great!” She exclaims, jumping in and clasping her hands together.
Then she gives me a critical once over.
“But you have to get changed,” she says, her excitement dying instantaneously. “There’s no way I want to be seen in public next to you dressed like that. You don’t even look like a lady, never mind a princess. I’ll send something of mine with one of my s**ts. Wear that, okay? Okay, see you in ten, meet me at the front entrance and don’t be late!”
My jaw drops open at her candour. But she is gone before I can say anything, flouncing out of the room just the way she had come.
“There isn’t anything wrong with…my clothes…” I try to get her attention, but she obviously didn’t hear that. “I guess I would just play along this one time,” I mutter to myself.
Her servant returns with the clothing, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the selection. It’s far from the grotesque attire I feared might be sent to mock me as an amateur masquerading as royalty. The dress is simple and elegant- while not my first choice, it complements me. It accentuates my figure nicely, and its color is a subdued shade of lemon.
Oh well, now I feel guilty. Maybe she truly is just trying to make it up to me, and here I am, second-guessing and doubting everything that she did.
I put on the dress, trying to bury the feelings of chastisement.
C**ra even sent along some jewellery to accompany it. An earring set, a necklace and a bracelet.
I put the bracelet on, but the earrings and the necklace are too fancy, so I just leave them.
Once I have the clothes in my hands, I change and then go to meet her at the front entrance, as she had instructed.
My guards follow closely behind me. They do give me my space, but in these hallways it is difficult. We will most likely attract attention in public, but going anywhere with C**a*a will *pretty sure that I’m making good time. C**a had asked me to be there in ten minutes, and I’m on time, perhaps even a couple minutes early.
“You know I support you in everything, Ethan,” I hear C**a’s voice before I round the corner. “Even if I don’t always agree with you, you know I’ll do whatever that makes you happy.”
Seriously?
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