Page 122 of Stolen Princess

A family.

One I’m part of now.

“This is our favorite,” Phaedra explains as she sinks into the space beside me. Sabrina climbs on my lap, and Zayer is all over Bellamy. Sebastian and Rowan play with the twins and let me hold them a little. It’s a cartoon movie with a green ogre, and I laugh through the entire thing.

It’s not long before I’m falling asleep, though. I say goodnight to everyone, and Ferrin and I head across the palace together, both of us quiet, lost in thought, and utterly exhausted.

“Tomorrow we can wake up and simply have breakfast and coffee,” I muse.

“Princess, I was thinking…”

“Yeah?” I twist to him as we meander through long, dark halls with endless doors. This palace is ridiculous, and it’ll take me the rest of my life to figure it out.

“The king and prince have bodyguards. And Marcella and Jaqueline are the children’s nannies.”

“Yes,” I prompt when he ends it there.

“What if I were your bodyguard?”

I stop him in the hall. “What do you mean?”

“I need a job. Something real I suppose, and I have no skills other than thievery. But I’m smart and crafty and know how to read people. I’d protect you with my life. What do you think?”

I wrap my arms around his waist and step into him. “I love that idea.”

“You’re sure?”

I smile and kiss his chin. “Absolutely. It means you’ll stay. And there’s no one else I want by my side or keeping me safe should the need arise. Which honestly, let’s hope it doesn’t. You could end up very bored.”

“With you, princess, I don’t think I’ll ever be bored.”

“Then you’re hired.”

He leans in and kisses me, and I sigh against his lips. “I think we may need to sleep tonight.”

I snicker. “I’m so relieved you said that.”

He laughs against my lips. “I had plans for you tonight. They’ll have to wait for morning.”

“Sounds great.”

I rest my head against his good arm, and we go into our bedroom. He’s staying. And better than that, he’s going to be my bodyguard. My protector. I’ll make him teach me how to fight and how to shoot and do all the things I need to know.

There are a million dancing pieces to this puzzle, and none of them seem to fit together. What’s the dowager queen’s involvement in all of this? I understand it’s Rowan and Sebastian’s mother, but I’m not her daughter. And how could she not tell them that their other baby sister is dead?

They obviously know her well—she is their mother—but none of that is making sense to me. It feels as though she’s hiding a lot more secrets than she’d ever want anyone to know. But why? And how do those secrets impact us?

We get undressed and crawl into bed. I’m uncomfortable, but I have to imagine Ferrin is in a good amount of pain. He falls asleep quickly, and despite how tired I am, my mind won’t stop working. No matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything after the festival. Was I unconscious the entire time? Will I ever see Antonia again? Is that even what I want?

40

DESTA

Today is the last day the pool at the palace will be open. Not only are we heading toward autumn, but they’re planning a massive renovation of the entire area. Evidently, Rowan and the children felt the pool was boring, so they’ve designed waterslides, a waterfall with a grotto, and a thermal spa area. It sounds heavenly.

But I can’t swim.

It was something that shocked the children. None of them could understand how such a thing is even possible. I didn’t go into specifics with them. So today they’re teaching me how to swim. I have a large plastic bag covering my cast that I’m itching to get off, and the girls, Jaqueline, Phaedra, and Sabrina have taken to being my teachers.