AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“For a second, I thought you were serious.” I laugh, leaning against her.
“I tried my best, I really did.” She giggles.
“Damn. Every time I think my crush is fading, he always appears.”
“How was he?” Katja clutches her cushion tighter, her eyes wide.
“He was… as handsome as ever. His hair is all fluffy on top of his head, and his beard has just the right amount of silver through it.” I sigh dreamily, then straighten immediately as an unwanted thought blasts through my mind. “You don’t think he’s here for the wedding, do you?” Getting married off was bad enough, but I don’t think I could do it in front of him. That would be torture.
“No.” Katja toys with some of the fringes on her cushion. “I overheard some of the other staff talking. He’s here to update about whatever he’s been doing in Russia.”
“Ahh, that’s why his accent was so thick and sexy.” Giggling to myself, I cross my legs and swivel to face Katja. “I wish everything weren’t so awful and busy so I could see him.”
“You just want another kiss,” Katja teases, and I giggle because it's true. She sees right through me, not that I’m trying to hide it from her.
“Maybe…”
“You want him to sweep in like your dreams and whisk you away from this cold palace and terrible wedding.” There’s a sing-song note to Katja’s words, and even as I smile, warmth beads my cheeks.
“That’s just a silly dream.” I sigh. “But maybe. So many times, I thought about running away, but I never thought Mara was serious about grounding me until the Wedding.”
“As punishments go, this is extreme,” Katja agrees. “Especially for telling the truth.”
“It’s so stupid.” I push at my cushion as annoyance swells. “It’s not like I can even go anywhere, anyway.”
“Your mother is…” Katja pauses, seeking out the right word, and I nudge her gently.
“A bitch? An asshole? A pizda?”
“Your words, not mine.” She laughs lightly, and I turn around, draping myself over her knee and settling into the cushion.
With Kristof on my mind, I clean forgot why we were even meeting here until I’m lying down, staring at the ceiling and wishing for freedom.
“Did your brother make good?”
Katja nods down at me with a wide smile. Then she pulls two cards from her pocket. Bolting upright, I snatch them from her and stare at the two fake IDs. It was a terrible risk, asking Katja’s brother for this, given that he works for my father. But unlike all the other trolls on his payroll, Alexei is young like us. He still has life in his veins.
“Oh, my God,” I breathe out slowly, skimming my fingertips over the picture of me next to a fake name and date of birth. “He actually did it.”
“Yup,” Katja declares proudly. “Everything is all set.”
For weeks, we’ve been planning this. One crazy night to ourselves where we can sneak out and do whatever we want, be whoever we want before the cell door of marriage clangs shut behind me and I spend the rest of eternity married to a psychopath.
It’ll be one night where we can be ourselves—or in my case, discover who that is—before everything changes.
“I’m so excited.” Katja giggles. Her life here is just as secluded as mine, and she bounces slightly where she sits. “Do you think we’ll meet anyone cool? I’d love to meet a cute boy.”
“Like you’re not all smitten with Petar,” I tease. Katja immediately shoves me, her cheeks flaring red.
“I’m not! And even if I was, he’s like… a proper man.”
“He’s a guard.”
“Exactly. He does things. He’s lived, and I’m just…” She pauses.
I lift my gaze from the IDs and nudge her knee gently. “Because you’re a virgin?”
“Exactly,” Katja says. “I want… Well, it would be cool if I could get some experience, y’know? So Petar doesn’t think I’m useless.”
