“I would be completely responsible if I were allowed to control but a single task!”Riven bellowed and locked his eyes on hers.“You allow me no latitude to fill my role here.Whenever I broach the subject, Father tells me to wait my turn, though I am not next in line, Mother, am I?No, Father’s firstborn son is.My head fills with ideas, yet I am forbidden to act upon them.”
“You are not the head of this castle.”
“And at this rate, I never will be.So does that mean I am expected to sit in a corner with my nose in a book collecting dust until Father and Luc are both dead?I have more determination and imagination than that.”
“You could find much useful employment within these gates.Lead the guard.Study the stars in the heavens.Tutor more of your father’s squires.”
“To what end?I wish to build something to outlast me, but Father forbids me from spending royal coinage or getting dirt on my fingers.So instead, I play.I do no harm and bring nothing but happiness to our people.Is that not an admirable trait for nobility?”Considering how his father ruled and how cruel Luc was to everyone around him, Riven thought it a vast improvement.Adding in the fact his parents spent their days at each other’s throats, a pursuit of inner peace and happiness was all that mattered to Riven.
The queen’s eyes narrowed.“Admirableis being ready for guests, expected or not.Admirableis finding a suitable wife from the dozens you have met this season.Admirableis showing this kingdom that you fully intend to honor your princely duties.”
“I will marry a suitable woman when I meet her, one who favors me for who I am and not for the position to which I can elevate her.”
His mother scoffed.“One marriage is the same as any other.”
“Only someone truly miserable in their arrangement would declare that.”
Now his mother’s eyes shot fire.“I shall inform the enchantress you will be down in precisely two minutes.Donotmake a liar out of me.”She held his eyes another few seconds before departing his chambers.
He would not.Riven finished hastily, ensuring himself well decorated before he exited his chamber.
If only he knew which enchantress awaited him.
Chapter 3
With six pastries andrejuvenating tea warming her belly, Bella felt ready to tackle the next challenge.While she was semi-certain she could have pleaded her way free of the beast’s tower, she was happy to findthisone more likely to provide for her.A second turn about the tower revealed no hidden doors, leading Bella back to the windows.Only one was large enough to accommodate the comings and goings of a human, and the worn spots on the ledge and frame told Bella that many a hand and foot had come through this portal.She sat on the edge and looked around.Above her head, under the eaves, was a giant hook.
She could work with that.After finding no rope, though, Bella frowned and stared at the overhead piece of forged iron.What would someone possibly toss around the hook if not rope?And how would that persongetthe rope up to the window from the ground?
It made no sense.
But Bella was done with towers and imprisonment, so she chose the next best thing: bedsheets, bedcurtains, and two old drapes.Twining and knotting them every few feet, Bella managed a rope of sorts that she hoped was long enough to reach the ground.As she sat on the floor, tugging each knot as tightly as possible, a bird landed on the windowsill.
‘Twas a magpie.It studied her, so she said, “Hello.”
“Hello.”
