Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I let out a sound of frustration. If I try to find him, what will happen? He will disappear into the shadows. If he thinks I’m trying to force him to reveal himself, then he might vanish, never to be seen again.
Then he really would be a dream. Nothing but a fantasy I had one night. It would be as if I were alone in my bed, making it up in my head.
I could spend the rest of my life looking for someone who could measure up, but—
A sound behind me finally gets my attention.
“Princess!” I pull the reigns of my horse back and Galen comes to an abrupt stop, protesting with a shake of his head. One of the guards is calling. I think he must have called for me several times. I bring my horse up short and hold my hand up to him.
“Princess,” he shouts again, riding hard for me.
The guard arrives a few moments later.
“Princess,” he says, and swings off his horse to kneel. “Your father has alerted me. Your presence is required. He’d like to prepare you for several offers of marriage.”
“I’m sorry?” I question breathlessly. There was no one who showed interest. Surely there must be a mistake.
“The letters have only just arrived today. They will begin arriving within the week.”
My heart plummets and my hands go numb.
“Princess Cora.” The guard looks questioningly at me. “This is good news,” he assures me.
“Yes,” I answer him before swallowing thickly. “I’ll see to my father at once.”
Chapter 7
Cora
Alice and Blanche have never been more energized. They call several of the other maidens of the castle to form a team to assess all my available gowns, then they inform the palace seamstress that none of them will do. I must have at least three new gowns, and I must have them right away. The princes could begin arriving tomorrow.
All the while, I smile as I should. They read my nervousness as a fear of rejection. But my God, I don’t know what awaits me and I’m terrified of it all.
I only wish to be on my own now. And what…what will the man in the shadows think?
“When do they arrive again?” The question pulls me from my thoughts.
“The guard who brought me the news said they would be arriving within the week,” I answer from my place on a low pedestal in the seamstress’s studio. I’m still wearing a gown that was made just this spring. I think it suits me perfectly well, and I see no need to keep the seamstress up all night because a prince might arrive in the morning. “Surely, it isn’t so urgent?”
“Tomorrow would be within the week,” Blanche says with a sternness, her eyes wide and serious. “We must be prepared, Princess.”
“I see nothing wrong with this gown.”
Alice, Blanche, and the palace seamstress all gather at the pedestal to peer at me in the mirror. I have seen enough of myself in this gown and five others, so I examine their expressions. They’re all looking at me more critically than they did when we were preparing for the ball, and this time it feels personal, as if they are judging me instead of the gown.
I hate it all. I will choose no one. I’ve decided in this very moment. I shall be a queen of her own making.
As if hearing my thoughts, they all shake their heads in disapproval at the same time, and Alice takes my hand to help me down from the pedestal so that they can try new fabrics. My stomach sinks and I ring my fingers.
“I do not want anyone losing sleep over this,” I order, loud enough that none of them can claim not to have heard me. “It is only a prince,” I insist. “He will like me just as well in this gown as he will in any other.”
“Yes, Princess,” Alice says, but I sense that she is planning to disregard me—or at least push the limit of my instructions.
They all murmur their agreement, and that’s when I know they’re planning to ignore me. Even the palace seamstress, who always followed my mother’s instructions to the letter.
Within a minute, I’m back on the pedestal again. A quiet fury taking hold. But I do as I’m requested, for the sake of the crown and my father’s wishes.
Alice and Blanche—and the palace seamstress, who I know stays up all night to finish a new gown that is meant to look regal but not constricting, formal without being too formal, fit for tea or a walk in the garden—turn out to be right.
The first prince arrives the next morning. I’m not even finished eating breakfast. The biscuit was halfway in my mouth when the news came. How dare the bastard already interrupt my life.
He has to wait even longer after that for Alice and Blanche—and the palace seamstress, who comes to supervise them putting the gown on, though it’s far lighter and less complicated than the one I wore to the ball—to dress me and make sure my hair is perfect and my cheeks are demurely blushed and a light scent has been sprayed near me but not directly on my skin.