Page 61 of The Rat King
I crushed the leaf in my hand and tossed it into the wastebasket. The steaming water stung for a moment as I lowered my most sensitive area into it. I leaned back, dipping my hair. Dutifully, Gran Jane poured some shampoo in her hands and began working it through my waves. She paused momentarily, and I glanced up at the mirror sitting on the vanity so I could see her. She looked lost in her thoughts for a moment, as if she had something she wanted to say, but was unsure.
“Just say it,Jane. I’m exhausted, and I don’t have the energy to play pretend with you. If you have something to say to me, just say it,” I said, leaving of the Gran intentionally.
Her lips pressed into a disapproving line, and she continued lathering my hair. “I see that our queen is upset with our king and—”
I spun around her to look at her face. Water and suds sloshed to the tiled floor. “Are you kidding me right now? If you are about to stand up for him, just save it. But why would I expect anything different from any of you since you’re all his accomplices?”
Before I knew it was happening, the old woman had my cheeks and her hands, and she had brought me face to face with her. “I will never have a day where I am not grateful to you for finding a place in your heart for that man. Tomorrow, whenever you leave, I will get to see my grandson play with his toys in broad daylight as a little boy because of your big heart. So yes, if you want to hate me and any of the rest of us for following our king’s lead and trusting him to do what is best for his people, then I can’t stop you. But you are queen now, and instead you are acting like an entitled brat.”
“But—” I tried to interject.
“No buts. That man may not be perfect, and you may feel betrayed right now, but he loves you. I have never seen him so transformed. Look at him next time you see him. After eighteen years of women, perfectly flawless women, looking at him with such horror, do you not think he would believe it’s true? That he was utterly unlovable. And right now, the woman he has found such a rare gift with, who loves him back, is doing the exact same thing.”
“You knew him before the curse?” I asked, speaking my suspicion to life.
Gran Jane nodded, gesturing for me to dip my head back so she could rinse the soap from my hair. A contemplative expression crossed her face and she nodded as she rubbed conditioner through my locks and then pinned it into a bun at the top of my head so it could soak in.
“I did. I worked at this palace my whole life. I was here when that which killed their father, and here to deal with the aftermath of that. The curse affected everyone, but sometimes I think it affected His Majesty the most.”
A knot built in my throat, and I tried to swallow it down, but it stuck. “I guess that’s a lot of pressure,” I said.
“Damn right it is. I can imagine what you’re going through isn’t easy either, the shock that you must be feeling, but you will come around. You two need each other,” she said, eyeing me with that old wise woman expression I was coming to expect from her.
“Hold on, you said we would leave tomorrow?” I asked, only then sifting that out of everything she had said.
“Yes, now that the curse has been removed, there is much work to do. His Majesty wishes to return to the capital as soon as possible to begin setting our world to rights.” Gran Jane squeezed a sponge over my shoulders for the final time and reached for a towel, gesturing for me to stand. I stepped out into it and let her wrap me in a fluffy cocoon.
“Okay,” I said, taking over toweling myself off. I wrapped my hair up with a towel and then threw on a robe so I could apply a minimal amount of makeup.
“Will you be taking breakfast with your husband this morning, Your Majesty?” She asked, reverting to a more formal tone. I guess she was done lecturing me. Technically, as queen, I probably shouldn’t have tolerated being spoken to that way, but I actually found her frankness refreshing, even if I disagreed. I wasn’t being a brat. I was hurt.
“I will,” I said. I refused to back down from a challenge, and I would not hide. I would keep my chin high, dine with my husband today, figure out where that bitch of a mother of his lived and then when the time was right during the journey, I would sneak away and find her to let her know exactly what I thought of her blue pill. Then I would force her to send me home.
Dressed, and with a plan of action, I felt determined as I strode from the room.
Chapter 44
Nighval
Ittoreatmysoul that I had hurt her, but that scream had gutted me. Of every scar, every injury I had ever experienced, nothing split me in two the way the judgment, the horror in her eyes had. When she’d asked me to send her home, to her plane, the words ripped through my heart like debris from a cyclone.
Still, I thought if she could just see how earnest I was, how honestly and truly I loved her, I could make her see, but that was of no use. She didn’t care to hear it. Exactly as my mother had planned. As the memories flooded back and she saw what I had done, her heart had iced over. I knew it would take time for it to thaw, and I was determined to wait it out, but that didn’t mean I didn’t resent it. Did she think I wanted it to happen as it had? The pill was a last resort. And hadn’t I suffered too? Not that my suffering had ever mattered.
If we didn’t need to leave within the next day, I would spend the night hunting down the foul things in this world just for the release it would give me.
Avery stomped into the room and before I could stand to hold out a chair for her, she dragged it a few feet back, plopped into it, and scooted forward, glaring at me all the while. I tried to keep a grin from my face, but I could hardly do it. I knew she was angry, and hurt, but she hadn’t sent me away last night, which was a triumph, and as my arms had wrapped around her, her tears had waned.
“Good morning, my Wounded Heart. How did you sleep?” I asked.
Her glare darkened into a scowl. “I got a lovely scolding from Gran Jane. Aside from that, I’m fine. Not that you need to be concerned with my state of being.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Jane had worked at the palace for as long as I could remember. The old woman was the closest thing to family I had now. Well, besides my new wife.
I reached over under the corner of the table, hooked my fingers under the lip of her chair and pulled it, so she was closer. As I wrapped my fingers around her wrist, she tried to tug it away, but I held firm. Whenever she finally relented, I used my thumb to rub soothing circles over her pulse point.
“Did any of Jane’s wisdom happen to sink in?” I asked her, knowing my taunts would get under her skin. Her eyes narrowed in my direction, and her fingertips edged toward the knife sitting by her plate. We both knew the exact intention of the gesture.
Bringing her wrist to my lips, I kissed it. “We both know you aren’t going to do anything with that, sweetheart, so let’s not pretend.” I kissed her wrist again, this time letting my tongue trace over her throbbing vein. “You are so beautiful when you’re angry. And I admire your tenacity.” I brought her pointer finger to my lips and placed it between them. She tried to pull away, but I held tight and sucked on the tip of her finger. “We could skip breakfast if you like, and I could fuck you on this table instead.” I raised an eyebrow at her.
