The Rejected King: A YA Dystopian Romance by Kortney Keisel

Author:Kortney Keisel [Keisel, Kortney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

15

Emree

That night, after the Promenade dinner, Emree walked down the hall in the servants’ quarters, making her way to her bedroom. Most of the rooms she passed were dark and quiet as tired workers slept from their long day of labor. She remembered back through her own workday, the fun she’d had watching the king learn to cook. Then there was the moment at the hospital when the king had cheered up the sick little girl by doing shadow puppets on the wall. But the thing that tugged on Emree’s heart the most was the time she had spent with King Davin in the library. It wasn’t just the fact that he had donated so many books to her cause that had made her heart skip a beat; it was every little interaction in between. Every word, every joke, every look.

Those moments confused her heart.

She pushed the door to her room open, ready to let her confused heart and mind rest. Portlend sat on her bed, thumbing through the book King Davin had given to her earlier that day.

“Hey,” he said, standing. “I had some free time, so I came to say hi.”

Emree’s heart swelled. “I’m glad you came.”

She didn’t know just how much she had been longing for Portlend to think about her or come visit her until he finally did and a rush of relief smacked her in the face. For so long, their relationship had been one-sided . . . her side. But maybe Emree had made up his lack of enthusiasm in her head.

He looked down at the book in his hands. “The Greatest Salesman in the World?” His eyes shot to hers. “Are you thinking about becoming a salesman, Em?”

Emree snatched the book out of his hands. “No, the king recommended I read it. Supposedly, it’s very inspirational.”

“Oh.” Portlend shrugged. “Maybe I’ll read it when you’re done.”

Emree shoved the book in her drawer, knowing that Portlend would never read a book. He always said things like that, but he didn’t really like to read. He enjoyed physical things, learning a new skill with a weapon, or how to survive on the land. Books and education didn’t excite him like they did Emree.

He sat back down on the bed, and she took the seat beside him.

“How’s the Promenade going?” he asked.

“I think it’s going well. The one-on-one activities started today, but I don’t think the king made a connection with any of the women.”

“The headlines this morning said that High Ruler Kenson’s daughter, Patrice, stole the show last night at the Promenade dinner.”

More like her assets stole the show.

“From what I’ve seen,” Emree said, “I would guess the king will choose Patrice Kenson.” A stream of jealousy rolled through her.

“Figures,” Portlend said. “Only the daughter of a high ruler would be good enough for King Davin.”

Emree dropped her shoulders. She didn’t want to talk about Patrice or the king. Portlend was here, in her room. There was so much the two of them needed to talk about.

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.