Princess of Peas: A Fairy Tale Retelling of the Princess and the Pea by Laura Greenwood

Author:Laura Greenwood [Greenwood, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798863192338
Amazon: B0CK9TF22M
Goodreads: 200498937
Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2023-10-01T23:00:00+00:00

Eleven

The rain finally eases off and I let out a loud sigh, leaning my head back against the wall behind me. I'm exhausted in every part of my body, but I know I need to get to my feet and continue doing what I can to get inside the castle.

I groan as I help myself up, stiff from the cold.

I head around the side of the castle, trying to work out if the guards have been changed and if that will increase my chances of getting inside without any more difficulties.

I'm too busy concentrating on their faces that I don't notice the person heading towards me and bump right into them. I need to stop doing that.

"Whoa." A warm hand comes out to steady my arm. "You're freezing."

Shock goes through me as I recognise the speaker. Efron strips off his cloak despite the fact it's still raining lightly and puts it around my shoulders. It smells of him, which is a surprise but only because I didn't realise that I associated a smell with him at all.

But I like it.

"Come on, let's get you inside to warm up," he says, steering me towards the front door. He nods to each of the guards, neither of whom pay any attention to me. "There's a fire in the kitchens, and I'm sure one of the maids there will have a spare dress you can borrow."

I have to admit that sounds perfect right now.

The warm air and the lack of rain are an instant relief once I've stepped inside. I let out a loud sigh and turn to him. "Thank you."

Surprise flashes across his face. "Cordelia?"

"You didn't know it was me?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I was distracted by how cold you are. Come on." He pulls me through a door and makes me sit in front of the fire while one of the cooks chunters about how annoying it is to have guests.

Efron disappears to the back of the room, but I don't watch where he goes, instead I'm focusing on the warmth the fire is giving off. I'm torn between holding my hands out to it and wrapping myself up more tightly in his cloak.

I can't believe that Efron didn't know who I was and was going to help me anyway. A surge of affection towards him goes through me as I realise the implications of that. He's a kind person, and while I'd been reasonably certain of that already, this confirmed it in a way that couldn't be otherwise.

He didn't know anyone was watching, and he didn't know it was me. He didn't care, he saw someone in need and decided to help.

All of which is distracting me from the other thing he's done. He knows who I am, which means that I only have to find two more people who recognise me and my prophecy will be broken.

A flicker of hope springs to life within me for the first time since the guards denied me entry into the castle.

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.