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Against my better judgment, I took it from his hand, and inhaled sharply in surprise when I unfolded it. It was a carefully drawn copy of the map he’d snatched from my hand earlier. Smaller, less detailed—but certainly the same. I gaped at it for a moment before I remembered myself, and straightened back up. Yes, I would definitely be spending time reviewing this copy in my room. But that didn’t make his behavior any more acceptable.
“Thank you,” I said. “But I would appreciate it if you would refrain from bothering me further.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize I was bothering you,” the guard said. He looked so damn pleased with himself, with his eyes flashing gold.
“And I won’t be here in Efra long,” I said. “Better not to waste your time.”
“And why’s that?” he asked. “You just said you were here for the Choice.”
“The king won’t be choosing me,” I said. “I’m here to represent my court well, that’s all. A Lady of Daybreak would never fit in with such a barbaric court as this—with the guards harassing guests in the hall! I will be telling Lady Glennis about this.”
I lifted my chin and stepped around him. My irritation burned in my chest—it really was so rude of this man to be lurking around the ladies’ quarters, and it was even worse of my handmaidens to leave me alone with him! What kind of court was this? What if this guard had tried to force himself on me? I wouldn’t put it past him, not with the curious, interested way he was watching my every move.
“Besides,” I said, “I have someone waiting for me at home. Someone with manners.”
I strode toward my room, and for some reason, it took all my self-control to not look back over my shoulder to see if the guard was still looking at me. My wolf was still awake and whining, low to herself like she knew it wouldn’t do any good. She wanted to be close to this guard—his presence woke her up. That was a clear sign that this man was bad news. It was nice making friends with the girls, but if the men of the court were like this guard, I needed to get out of Efra sooner rather than later.
I turned the corner and hurried into my quarters, then locked the door behind me. Just in case.
Amity and Rue were inside, tending the fire and turning back the covers to my bed. Mostly, though, they’d seemed to be killing time, like they were waiting for me to return.
“Welcome back, milady,” Amity said with a smile as she smoothed out the comforter. “I trust the conversation went well?”
“What?” I asked. I stepped over to the small table and smoothed out the copy of the map the guard had given me. Had I packed a magnifying glass with me? Even though this copy was less detailed, I still wanted a closer look at the coasts. I turned to look through my trunk. “Why would that matter to me? That guard harassed me earlier in the library, I firmly suggested he leave me alone.”
“You what?” Amity said.
Rue dropped the fireplace poker with a clatter. “Milady!” She clapped a hand over her mouth, but I could still see the corners of her astonished smile.
“What?” I asked again. No magnifying glass. I straightened up. “He’s just a guard… Isn’t he? Or the cartographer? He was very protective of the maps in the library.”
“Help me, gods,” Amity said. She pressed her lips together, clearly holding back laughter. Her eyes sparkled with mirth. “What did you say to him?”
“What are you laughing at?” I asked. Anxiety began to creep through me. “Who is that guard?”
“He’s not a guard, milady,” Rue said. “That was the king.”
My heart dropped to the floor. I hadn’t just spoken like that to the king himself. That was impossible. Why would the King of Frasia be lurking around the library and the hallways?
“No, it couldn’t have been,” I said. “He had to have been just a guard.”
“Nope,” Amity said. “Definitely His Highness.”
“Oh, gods,” I said. My knees felt weak as my stomach churned. My wolf whined again—she’d known something was off about him. I should’ve heeded her instincts for once. I dropped into the chair at the small table and pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes. “Oh, this can’t be happening.”
“It seems like he was looking for you,” Amity said. “That’s quite interesting. You said you already ran into him once? What did you talk about?”
I hardly processed the questions she was asking. “I was so rude to him. He ought to have my head.”
“Now, that’s a bit dramatic,” Rue said. She resumed stoking the fire. “Our king can be ruthless, but he’s also fair.”
It’d be quite fair to have my head for the disrespectful way I’d spoken to him. And I’d told him I was only here to aid the reputation of my pack! My plan to boost Daybreak’s influence in Frasia had likely just backfired catastrophically. At least I’d almost certainly be eliminated first. The best-case scenario would be the king sending me back to my pack with my tail between my legs. Even that felt hopeful, though—I had a feeling my punishment would be much worse than simply losing the Choice.
5
I woke up so early that it was barely dawn. I had hardly slept the night before, tossing and turning in anxiety as I imagined how the king would deign to punish me for my disrespectful behavior. We were due to have our meet and greet this morning. Small blessings from the gods, though—at least I had found out that was the king before I saw him with the rest of the competitors. Surely I would’ve fainted where I stood otherwise.
The manor was quiet as I made my way to the nearby guest quarters. If I was going to get put in the stocks today, I should tell my escort about it. That was the right thing for a lady to do, wasn’t it?
