Great. “He said that he doesn’t want to be here and that this ‘contest’ is being forced upon all of the princes.”
Elle rolls her eyes. “He’s an idiot. That’s not even true. All the princes were invited to participate. Nobody is being forced to be here, and he knows that. That’s odd, though. He was the one who warned Marik that something was wrong. They were both arguing with William to let them up here to help.”
I furrow my brow. “That makes no sense,” I say. “He didn’t just leave after dinner?”
“No, as far as I’m aware, all of the princes are still here,” Elle says. “No one else knows what’s going on. We’ve told them that we’ll let them know the plans for the remainder of the week shortly. We were waiting on you to wake up and see how you were doing before we gave them anything definitive.”
“What about Asmo and Marik? Do you think they’ll tell anyone?” I ask.
“Not if they want to be here anymore. I feel confident that they won’t tell the others. But even if they did, nobody would hold it against you.”
“What do you want to do, Mae?” Cally asks.
I hate the question. I don’t know what I want to do. Well, on second thought, all I want to do is go back to Bound and bury my head in a book. I want to go back to being ignorant of my lineage and spend the rest of my life among the pages of other peoples’ lives.
I turn the sink on and splash my face with cold water before finally saying, “Honestly, I just want to go for a run and clear my head. Can I give you guys an answer after that?”
Elle nods. “Of course.”
They mutter something about going to grab coffee. Once they leave, I change into my running gear and bound out the door. Running has always been the thing that has kept me sane. Sometimes, I run to escape my thoughts, but I did enough of that last night. It’s time to face them, so I use this run to think through everything instead.
I overestimated people’s grace and compassion. Naively, I assumed that everyone would welcome me as the queen because of who my father was. But clearly, I was seriously mistaken.
Even if the citizens of the kingdom have welcomed me, which seems to have been helped by the presence of the stag yesterday, the High Houses clearly have not. It seems I’ll be proving myself to the princes as much as they’re trying to prove themselves to me. If they can report back to their Houses that I’m worthy of the crown, then maybe that will help. I have no idea, though. Politics has never been my strong suit.
I enjoy black and white, and it seems like the game we’re all playing is gray.
I need to spend individual time with each prince to get to know them. I amnotinterested in doing any more group activities, at least not for the time being.
Because Marik saved me last night, my gut is saying he should be the first prince I spend time with. He seemed so uninterested in me at dinner last night, at least in comparison to the other princes. He barely spoke other than to berate August and Koa.
Asmo said that he was friends with Etta. Just how friendly were they? Is it possible that he’s truly not interested in getting to know me because he was courting Etta? Is that why Asmo spoke out like that last night, speaking for his brother, not himself?
And how did Asmo know that something was wrong with me last night? Is it possible that he developed a conscious and felt guilty for the way he spoke to me last night and asked Marik to come check on me?
When I finish my run, I head to Ivan’s office. I knock on the door and hear a muffled “Come in!” The door creaks open. Ivan sits at his desk, gray hair neatly styled and gleaming in the morning light.
“What can I do for you, Your Highness?” he asks, glancing up from the report he’s reading. He gently places it on his desk and gestures for me to sit.
“No more group activities for the rest of this week,” I say, not wasting any time, “and I’d like to have dinner with Prince Marik first.”
He nods, agreeing to both requests. “I know just the place. There’s a small balcony on the second floor in the east wing. It overlooks the forest. We’ll make it work.”
I smile and thank him. “That sounds lovely. Would it be possible to do this tonight?”
“Certainly. Let’s say seven o’clock. We’ll set the meeting point at the front doors, and then William will escort you.”
“Is William the only person who works here? Can’t you give him a break now and then?” I ask with a chuckle.
“I wish he would take one. He loves to work, and he’s very happy to be serving you.”
That surprises me, but I make a note to thank him the next time I see him. “As far as the rest of the week goes, I’d like to arrange individual dates with the remaining princes. Please set Asmo for last,” I say.
“Any ideas for what you’d like to do during your dates?” he asks. I shake my head, utterly clueless, and he says, “I have some ideas. Leave it to me.”
I exhale a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Ivan.”
“Don’t mention it, Your Highness,” he says with a genuine smile.
