“Ashley!” Her brother’s voice shattered the moment, and she couldn’t but turn in the direction of the entrance to the labyrinth, her whole body turning in a single motion as she furrowed her brow and frowned, uncertain what was happening.
She forgot for a second that she was supposed to be a maid. And the moment that she remembered?
Ashley turned back in a flurry of motion, her breath catching in the back of her throat as she wondered whether or not Alexander had realized her mistake. But when her eyes moved to the spot where Alexander should have been, she saw that he wasn’t there at all. There was nothing but empty space. The man had vanished into thin air.
And no sooner had she realized that than her brother materialized. Val charged into the labyrinth to catch her wrist in his hand. He started to drag her behind him as he marched ahead of her.
“What are you doing out here? You shouldn’t have been able to leave the castle walls,” he demanded, shaking his head in fury as he made little to no effort to hide just how truly frustrated he was with her. “And wearing servants’ clothes, of all things. What if someone had seen you? What if one of the servants recognized you? And really, what did you think you were doing,” Val began to scold as he held his sister’s wrist in his hand, for once acting like a true older brother rather than just some stranger that Ashley had met the day before.
But just when Ashley thought that his scolding was over, he said something that caught her attention.
“You and I must never go near that labyrinth, not alone,” Val said, while wrinkling his nose at the very thought, shaking withfury as dragged his sister across the lawn and towards the castle she desperately wanted to escape. “Do you have any idea how many enemies we have watching us at any given moment who would risk their lives to find out what we’re hiding in there? To be led by one of us to our gem? Ashley, I know you weren’t raised here and that our ways seem strange to you but some part of you must know that we are currently in a war, or at the beginning of one, and whoever manages to capture every one of the house gemstones will become the dragon king of us all.”
Ashley couldn’t help the shudder that ran down her spine. Had Alexander’s kind gentleness been a ploy all along? Did he know who she was and what she was? Had he been luring her to her doom? The thought made her stomach churn and her heart sink. Just when she thought she’d found an ally she found out that person might have been the deadliest enemy of them all.
Chapter
Ten
Adragon kind of all the dragons? Ashley couldn’t stop thinking about it, even as the maids took her in hand to scrub her clean, taking the maid’s costume with them. Why would a single dragon king be so bad?
Because then Valys would lose control of his own kingdom. Ashley knew that was the truth of the matter. He was the king of this kingdom and possibly plotting to take over the Diamond Kingdom. He might even be plotting to be the one king of all of the Clans. He wouldn’t want another dragon Clan plotting the same thing.
Ashley held her breath as she came to that conclusion. Several maids were currently poking and prodding at her as they tried to get the right sizes for her wardrobe, forcing her to take a breath. Despite the annoying maids and their prodding, she decided that if there ever was a single dragon king, then she would be an even worse place to live. Especially if that single king was Val. She had to find a way to escape.
Ashley knew her brother too well, even though she’d only known him for a few hours. He wouldn’t be a kind king. She was supposed to love Valys. Supposed to. But she’d seen sparks of his cruelty, and she knew she couldn’t trust him.
That knowledge hurt deep down inside, and she didn’t want to admit to herself that she wasn’t exactly sure if she trusted her own brother, but she also couldn’t ignore the truth. He’d had her kidnapped, destroyed her home, had tried to imprison her in the castle, and he’d drug her away from the labyrinth. That made her even more determined to find her way back.
And once she had found her way back? Her thoughts went back to what Alexander had said, hinting that there was some sort of magical gemstone within the maze’s center.
While Ashley wanted to actually trust her brother, she couldn’t help but think that finding her way to the center of the maze and stealing the gem would be best. She could keep the gem safe from anyone who might be looking for it.
But that would have to be a task for another day. She was currently surrounded by maids, all of whom fussed over her. They were giving her a headache with their chatter, and she silently wondered how she’d ever managed to get away from them earlier. And if that was her brother’s plan now, to have them foil any future efforts to go outside. Or to escape.
Obviously, someone was supposed to have been watching her earlier that day, but by some miracle of miscommunication, they had failed. Ashley supposed this was good for her because she’d met Alexander, who’d shown her more of the castle than Val wanted her to see. But now? Well, now she had to go back to being Ashley, the Crown Princess, an idea that made her frown.
All her life, Ashley had been the poor girl. The one whose dad didn’t have much money, who didn’t wear fancy clothes and fancy accessories. She was lucky that she was smart and had several opportunities because of her hard work, but that was all she’d had, opportunities. She wasn’t one of those spoiled girls that she had grown up with. She had never been a debutante or had any social standing. Instead, she had been forced to stand on the sidelines and watch as they all lived their lives of luxury.
Only for it to turn out that she was secretly a princess. Ashley snorted every time she thought about it, unable to deny that she was just a little bit stunned.
But the time for confusion was over from the moment the maids finished measuring her. Ashley only vaguely remembered that her brother had mentioned that she was supposed to go to a banquet, where she was to meet the nobles and her mate. And the moment she remembered that she went still. She didn’t want to go but knew he’d come drag her if she didn’t go out of her own free will. It was now time to put on her big girl panties and act like she’d come to terms with her fate. Besides, every single member of the staff likely knew exactly what she’d been up to earlier that day and would be watching for another escape attempt. She had no choice but to play along with her brother’s plans.
When she walked out of her bedroom, she saw Ned standing there, as if on guard. And she knew that’s exactly what he was doing. Not guarding her from harm, but from escape. And that Val had ordered this. He was really pissed. But he was also stupid. Ned was the only who’d spent her whole life protecting her. He might not let her escape, but he wouldn’t hurt her either.
“Ashley,” Ned said with the slightest nod of his head, and even though she had no clue what the fuck would happen in the future, she found herself smiling at him, almost relieved by the fact that it was Ned of all people that she was facing.
“Dad,” Ashley said with the slightest of nods in return.
“Are you ready for this?” Ned asked, and all Ashley could do was nod, knowing that she didn’t have any other option.
The ballroomwhere the banquet was being held was large and ornate, much more ornate than the ones she’d seen earlier with Alexander. Not that the other ballrooms weren’t large and ornate, but this one proved that the Opal Castle was the most well-decorated place that Ashley had ever had the misfortune of being in.
Ashley couldn’t help but wonder where all this money was coming from, but then, she knew, didn’t she? Alexander told her this afternoon, and she didn’t doubt he’d been honest with her, even if she’d had a moment of doubt when her brother found her in the maze.
Her brother had no doubt benefited from the high taxes that the people of the Opal Clan were charged. A man with as much cunning and need for power had to know. He couldn’t claim ignorance, she was sure of that much. While Ashley hated the idea that someone else’s misfortune had paid for the very plate that she would be eating off of and the food she would be eating. Almost as much as she hated that the moment she entered the room, all eyes were on her, the nobles and servants looking far too happy.
Working as a waitress in the south, Ashley had often been told to act like the customers showing up were making her day. Which she was very good at. But it was strange to have other people look at her in the same way. She hated the way they all had a light in their eyes, showing that they were well aware of the fact that their livelihood lay in her hands. Ashley was reminded of when she was younger, as time and time again, she watched rich people enter the diner, forcing herself to smile widely at them as they sat down, primarily because she knew that her life was in their hands. A good tip from them could make her whole week. A part of her wondered if the servants in the household were expecting the same. Suppose a single good word from Ashley could somehow change their life?
