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)
My chambers feel too warm, but I think it is not the temperature of the room but my resistance to speaking the truth aloud. The time for keeping it to myself is over. My father is here, reassuring me, and I have never known him to lie.
“I love them both,” I admit, my voice steady for the first time since I fled to my chambers with Isabel. “Both princes. Casen and Jasper.” Their names spoken more quietly. As if saying them too loud would spoil the feelings I have for them.
More of the truth threatens to spill out from my lips, but I close them firmly and do not utter another word. My father does not need to know all the details of what took place in my chambers and on the picnic with Jasper. I’m sure he will come to his own conclusions.
I brace myself for my father to pull away in shock, but he does not. There is only silence between us for a time. I am nervous, but the words have been spoken. I cannot go back to a time before my father knew my feelings.
“This is serious, Cora,” he says softly. “You are my only heir.”
“I know, Father,” I answer and swallow thickly. An anxiousness runs through my blood and I know not how I remain steady.
“Your husband—the king of the kingdom, whomever you choose—he must be more than a lover.”
“In what way?”
“He must rule more than your heart. And he must be prepared to”—my father’s eyes darken for a moment—“he must be prepared to stand and defend any hurt he has caused you. If either of those men have—”
“They have not,” I say quickly, gripping his hands. “Father, they have not. These men have shown me—” Again, I shy away from the details my father most certainly does not want to hear. “They have shown me what it is possible to have.”
“Whichever man you choose must also be prepared to rule over a kingdom,” my father says. “Do you understand what I’m telling you, Cora?”
I meet my father’s eyes. He is giving me the chance to reconsider. Perhaps he fears that I may choose between the princes that own my heart. Perhaps he fears I may choose Prince Casen, who rarely speaks aloud—though that does not make him less worthy of a crown.
But perhaps he simply misunderstands my meaning. Perhaps I did not understand my own meaning fully until I spoke those words. I surely understand my meaning now. I’m so confused and so on edge, but I know what I want. I know exactly what I wish for myself.
I take a deep breath and straighten my spine, looking directly into my father’s eyes.
“I understand,” I tell him. “But it is not a matter of choosing between a man that could rule my bed and a man that could rule my kingdom. I believe both princes are suited to both tasks. I don’t only love them both. I want them both.”
Chapter 20
Jasper
The king emerges from the upper floor of the palace after quite some time. He beckons me to walk beside him, and we enter the great hall together.
“Princess Cora will dine in her chamber tonight,” he announces to the gathered servants. It is only then that I realize the day has gone by and it’s time to eat.
I don’t wish to sit through the ritual of dining at the royal table, but there is little else I can do. It is clear to me that the king wishes to demonstrate to his household that all is well.
The servants and other members of the household who dine in the great hall don’t seem to think anything is amiss. I certainly feel as if it is. My walk in the garden and the brief conversation I had there with the king did not settle me. We hardly exchanged any words at all—he merely questioned as to whether I was leaving, and if I was well, and then said he would speak with the princess.
It’s rather quiet apart from the cutlery on the porcelain. Baked salted meat and potatoes and peas sit on my plate although I can barely eat. All I can think of is what my brother has done. And yet, I’ve done such acts as well.
The candles are lit above us, and not wanting to let on to what’s occurred, I sit politely and act as a royal guest should. Although flashes of what I’ve had with Cora race through my mind. Her absence is greatly missed.
The king says not a word about Princess Cora while we dine. He talks of hunting trips he went on in his youth that took him into the territories of my kingdom. I talk of my own youthful hunting trips. He asks me how I found the royal gardens. I tell him I found the gardens to be very lovely—fitting for a palace as beautiful as this one. I do not taste a single bite of the food put before me, but I compliment every dish.