The Princess Trials: A young adult dystopian romance by Cordelia K Castel

Author:Cordelia K Castel [Castel, Cordelia K]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2020-05-13T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The girls around the table fall silent as Prince Kevon pulls back his chair and stands. Sabre casts a worried look at the head table, where the Amstraad ambassador tilts his head toward the queen but fixes his gaze on us.

A moment later, the entire dining room falls silent. A sea of faces—from the other contestants, the staff, and the camerawomen—turn in our direction. I’m certain that our bickering will feature heavily in tonight and tomorrow’s televised highlights of the Princess Trials.

As Prince Kevon walks toward me around the table, Lady Circi and Garrett rise from their seats, looking like they want to intervene.

Prince Kevon holds out a hand. “Stay. Enjoy your meal. I’m not going far.”

He offers me his hand. “Walk with me.”

Excitement skitters up my spine. Prunella warned us that the first trial was our last opportunity until the palace round to see Prince Kevon alone, yet he chose me for an impromptu one-to-one. With Lady Circi and Queen Damascena busy entertaining the ambassador, I might just get a chance to visit the palace.

Ryce’s words rattle through my skull, and my cheeks heat. How on earth is a girl who has never so much as kissed a boy supposed to coax a prince into an invitation to his home?

Inhaling a deep breath, I force down my blush. The Red Runners taught us basic combat, not advanced seduction.

My hand slips into his, and I let him guide me up from my seat. The action feels like something from another world, where the girls who guards use and discard like trash are considered ladies worthy of deference by princes.

We walk through the dining room with every head turning in our direction. No chatter or click of spoons on china muffles our footsteps, and my heart clatters faster than an escaping lizard.

One of the servers in burgundy vests opens the door with a deep bow, and we step out into the hallway.

“I’m sorry about those ladies,” he says.

My head tilts to the side. “You didn’t encourage them.”

“It’s my fault they turned so aggressive. If I had—”

The door behind us opens, and Garrett steps out, followed by two camerawomen. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Prince Kevon shakes his head. “Keep Briar company.”

Garrett pauses, as though wanting to argue. I glance at the camerawomen who stand at a respectful distance filming Garrett from the back. He shakes off whatever he was about to say and opens the dining room door again. “Enjoy the fresh air.”

He steps back into the room, but the women don’t follow. Prince Kevon huffs out a breath. “I will return Miss Calico before the end of the evening. For now, I wish to spend some time alone.”

They step inside the dining room without a word, and a layer of tension melts from my shoulders. It’s stupid that I’m more worried about what thousands of people I’ve never met think of me when the prince at my side might have the power to order my execution.

Now that we’re alone, I slide my hand away from his, making him frown.

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.