A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

Author:Mara Rutherford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2023-06-08T19:12:07+00:00

* * *

Seraphina woke early to weak sunlight filtering through her window. She lay there for a moment, not wanting the day to begin yet. Maybe if she waited long enough, everything would go away.

Eventually, she crawled out of bed and splashed cold water on her face. She released her hair from its braid and let it fall over her shoulders. It was becoming annoyingly long, and the henna was fading, with more and more of her natural blond showing through. They would need to reapply the dye soon. She trailed her finger along the scar on her jaw. She knew the prince had seen it that first night. His eyes kept returning to it unconsciously.

She imagined telling Prince Martin the story of how she got it. It might strike some chivalrous chord in him, making him want to protect her. But she was tired of relying on men to do what she wished she could do herself. If she were bigger, stronger, if she hadn’t been raised her entire life to be docile and restrained, if she had been born a man...if she weren’t a...

She cut off her thoughts with another splash of frigid water. Wishing to be someone else was no more useful than wishing for someone to save her.

Seraphina had managed to miss dinner last night, but she couldn’t hide in her tower forever. And though she knew the king’s fit yesterday had been serious, she was surprised to find that he was still in bed.

“He’s unwell,” was all Giselle would say, with a look that could kill a man where he stood. “No thanks to you.”

Prince Martin, oblivious to what had happened earlier, sat down next to Seraphina with a hesitant smile. “How are you feeling?” he asked as a servant placed a small pastry on her plate. Seraphina was about to reach for it when she noticed the flaky pastry crust was furred with gray mold. She grimaced, and the servant, who hadn’t yet stepped back, gave a horrified gasp and quickly removed the offending pastry.

But a moment later there was another gasp, followed by a grunt of displeasure, and suddenly the servants couldn’t keep up with all the moldy pastries. This was what they got for hoarding food for a stupid ball, when they could have made the flour last for months.

“Thank goodness the king isn’t here,” Seraphina murmured, more to herself than anyone.

“Is this really the first time you’ve had moldy food in nearly four years?” the prince asked.

Seraphina nodded and waited for the servant to put fruit on her plate. It was fresh, but the serving was almost laughably small.

“I think the chef is putting me on a diet,” he said as a single sausage was placed before him with a flourish.

“Is this the first time you’ve had a meager meal in four years?” she asked, unable to keep the acid out of her voice. She let her eyes linger on his, to see if he would catch her meaning, but he cleared his throat and picked up his utensils, unable or unwilling to meet her gaze.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.