Prince Player(49)

The look on her face nearly fucking broke me.

It was pure fear and anger, like she was terrified of what they were saying about her, but angry at me for putting her in the position to be talked about. And I can’t blame her. She’s not from this world, so this sudden media spotlight is probably pretty terrifying for her.

Besides, being called a spy and a traitor is a big deal. She’s right that I brought her out here to keep her safe, but I hated admitting that to her. I don’t trust the loyalty of the guards back at the castle, and I definitely don’t trust most of the stewards. So for now, I’m the best protection she has, at least until I establish more control in the castle.

And I’m working on that. I’ve been making calls to influential lords outside of the castle, trying to win them over to my side. I’ve also been sending out bribes to prominent stewards within the castle, hoping to turn them against Julian. So far, I can’t tell what’s working and what isn’t, but I need to keep going.

I leave Hazel alone for the rest of the day. I spend my time back in my little office, making calls, shoring up my alliances, and starting to build my power base. I’m going to need allies when I finally make my move against Julian, and this is the start of all that. I know the younger nobles support me, but they aren’t enough, though they’re a great start.

The day slips by and the sun slowly starts to sink over the landscape. I stretch in my chair and get up. I haven’t heard from Hazel in a few hours, so I decide to go upstairs and check on her. I knock on the bedroom door before slowly pushing it open.

She looks up at me and smiles a little bit. She’s sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed looking through an old photo album.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey, yourself.” I step toward her, smiling a little. “What’s that?”

“Pictures of you and your family,” she says. “I found this under the bed.”

I laugh and sit down next to her. “I don’t remember this at all,” I admit.

“It’s pretty good. You had some really bad haircuts.” She points to a particularly awful picture of me when I was six.

“I was as handsome then as I am now,” I say to her.

“You weren’t my type back then.”

“Why, not into bad hair?”

“No, not into six-year-old kids.”

I grin and nudge her. “I’ve always been an old soul.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be gross.”

We lapse into silence for a couple of minutes as she continues to page through the book. I don’t so much look at the pictures as watch her reactions to them. She seems really interested in each one, and I have to admit that I like watching her smile and get interested in our history. We may be unconventional, but I do still have some good memories from when I was a kid.

I glance at the window and note that the sun is about to set. An idea comes to my suddenly, and I stand up.

“Come on,” I say. “Leave the book. We’ll look at it later.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. I think you’ll like it, though.”

She hesitates. “I think I’ve had enough surprises today.”

I crouch down in front of her and take the book away. I close it and toss it onto the bed before taking her hand between mine. “Trust me, princess,” I say. “You’re going to like this.”

She watches me for a second then sighs. “Fine,” she says. “Let’s go.”

I grin and stand, tugging her along. She reluctantly follows as I hurry us back through the house. We head out the back door and down a path that leads toward the lake.

Still tied up to the little dock is the rowboat I built four years ago. I painted it red and white, the colors of the royal crest, and I named it the Royal Dingy. Hazel laughs when she sees it.

“You’re not getting me in that thing,” she says.

“Oh, come on, we’re running out of time.”

She steps onto the dock as I climb into the rowboat. It’s actually very steady and in good shape considering I pretty much don’t take care of it at all. She sighs and bites her lip.

“Come on, don’t be scared,” I say to her, holding out my hands.

She takes them and I help her onto the boat. It rocks a little bit but I stabilize it. She sits as I untie the ropes and use an oar to push off into the lake.

I look up at the sun and I know I don’t have much time. I don’t bother talking as I get the oars into position and start to row as fast as I can. I have maybe two or three minutes to get into position and I have a good amount of distance to cover.