The Realm by Leigh Walker

Author:Leigh Walker [Walker, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CMG Publishing, LLC

Hard Angle

“You said she was just a tourist,” Dae complained to Maya. “So why’s the king snogging her?”

“Why were you kissing His Highness, huh?” Maya watched me, her eyes more intense and focused than Mira’s laser pointer. She took in the sweater I was wearing, which was five sizes too big and clearly the king’s. “I thought you played by the rules, Tamara. Acting like you’re better than the rest of us, a member of the royal court, blah, blah, blah.”

“I didn’t break any rules.” I tossed my hair with a feigned confidence and wrapped the sweater tightly around me. I went to the tins on the counter, looking for some chocolate, any chocolate. I was frazzled, but I couldn’t let it show. “No one said I couldn’t meet with His Highness if he asked me for something. And no one said I had to rebuff his shows of affection, either.” I finally found a biscuit. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business, in any event.”

“In any event, it’s absolutely our business.” Maya’s cheeks were bright pink. “If you’ve got an unfair advantage because you’ve been in the North for so long and you’ve gotten intimately familiar with His Highness, we need to know about it. You should be taken off the show. It’s unfair.”

“That’s ridiculous.” I eyed another biscuit but vowed to adhere to my one-dessert-per-day rule. “There’s nothing untoward going on. If His Highness prefers me, it’s simply because he has good taste. There’s nothing unfair about it.”

“But you got one-on-one time with him, and the rest of us didn’t.” Joely’s voice was gentle. “And that isn’t fair, Tamara.”

“Fine,” I said. Unlike Maya, Joely wasn’t on a witch hunt. “I’ll simply ask His Highness to afford you each the same opportunity.”

“You don’t need to ask him,” Maya said immediately. “We’ll take this up with Mira. You don’t need any more direct contact with Rhys. It’s completely unfair, no matter what you say.”

“Do as you see fit.” I tossed my hair one last time for good measure on my way out. “See you in the morning.” But I lingered in the hall, listening to them.

“I can’t believe he’s already kissed her!”

“It’s probably not the first time.”

“What else do you think they were doing out there in the dark?”

“Just wait till I bend Mira’s ear about this! I won’t tolerate this type of behavior.”

Blah, blah, blah, I thought. But of course, had the tables been turned, I would have pitched a complete fit.

I wanted to rub the kiss in the other girls’ faces—or at least, in Maya’s face—and I also wanted to relive it over and over. But neither of these courses of actions suited my ultimate goal—to have the show be successful and to please the king in order to further my own standing within the royal court.

I knew better than to be out with Rhys in the dark without authorization. I had to be on my best behavior, and I was failing. But Tamara Layne never failed at anything, and I would find a way to make this right.

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