*Saoirse*
I could feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. That combined with the decadent scent of pine and earth was making more comfortable than I had felt since Conall had stepped foot in my village.
I was so comfortable. Sothing gnawed at the edge of my brain. There was sothing I should be doing. I needed to wake up.
My body bounced, jarring more into consciousness, and with it ca the thoughts my mind had been forcing down.
My eyes shot open.
"Lady Saoirse, are you okay?"
Deja vu hit . I turned my head to the alluringly smooth, deep voice that sounded from just above . Warm amber eyes flicked with specks of crimson stared down at , and it felt like my heart stopped.
"Did you hear ? Are you hurt?" he continued as I stared at him in frozen amazent.
"N-no, I’m fine," I said slowly, my words not wanting to form.
With another bump, his hand squeezed , holding secure. That’s when my brain finally comprehended what was going on. I was in a moving car. To be more exact, I was lying down in the back of a car, and my head appeared to be resting on Prince Rhys’ lap.
As the realization hit, I bolted upright.
"Where are we? When can I speak with the king?"
Rhys looked torn between wanting to smile and being concerned. "We are on the way to the castle now. You do not need to worry about the audience with my father right now. The first thing we need to do is get you checked out."
"I’m fine," I repeated my mantra. "I need to see the king. It’s the most important thing. I can’t wait."
"No, you can, Lady Saoirse. If nothing else, I watched you get slamd to the ground, and you have been unconscious for hours." Rhys’ voice was firr. My eyes looked into his, which were much more crimson than before. "Not to ntion the fact that you have burns on your wrists from restraints. So forgive , but I am not taking no for an answer. You will see the royal physician as soon as we arrive."
His voice rang with finality, and our eyes stayed locked. Even though his words ca out as a command, he was looking at for approval, which made my eyebrows raise in surprise.
"It’s just very important that we have the eting," I said slowly.
"By the ti we reach the castle, the etings will be done for the day, and the council will be gone until next week anyway. I promise. I will get you the first available eting."
"Next week!" I exclaid, my voice sounding loud in the enclosed vehicle. "That’s too long. I don’t have the money to stay in Egoren for days."
"You will not need money to stay," Rhys said as if it was obvious. "You were invited to the capitol for council. You will have a guest room at the castle during your stay."
"Are-are you sure?" For the first ti, I sounded uncertain.
"Of course," Rhys said with a slight nod. "It is customary."
I sat back and slid on the leather seat to position myself at the other window seat across from the prince. He dropped his hands as I moved. I didn’t want to admit how much the lack of touch actually affected .
My eyes turned to stare out the window. I wrapped my arms around my chest. I wouldn’t admit it to Rhys, but now that the surge of adrenaline was wearing off, I could feel aches creeping into my body. Fortunately, nothing seed too serious.
It could have been worse.
In fact, I couldn’t guarantee that it was over. If I knew Conall, he would not give up and would continue to follow in hopes of dragging back to his imagined life with . A shiver passed through .
"Are you cold?" Rhys asked, instantly moving to shrug out of his jacket.
"No, I–" I couldn’t get any other words out before he was wrapping the jacket around my front.
"I insist," he said in a low voice, a small smile on his handso face.
I looked away from his eyes again. I needed to stay focused.
Without looking at him, I could still feel the presence of the man beside . It was making anxious, mostly because I had to fight the desire to scoot close to him. The jacket with his scent strewn over wasn’t helping matters either.
I looked out the window. In the distance, I could see the outline of the capital, which looked like sothing out of a futuristic dream. Of course, I had seen pictures of the capital before, but seeing it in person was surreal.
It was also much more humbling.
I seed to zone out, unable to take it all in as we made our way to the castle itself. Before I knew it or rembered how I got there, I was sitting on a table waiting for the royal physician to see .
There was a light knock on the door. I looked up to see a woman walking in. I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise. Not that I didn’t think a woman could be a doctor, but I had never seen it myself.
"Hello, Miss Saoirse," she greeted. "I’m Dr. Fidelma. The prince has asked to evaluate you."
"I’m okay, really," I tried to tell her. I didn’t like the attention on .
"I’ll be the judge of that," she said, but she gave a warm smile as she stepped forward.
I didn’t know the woman, but sothing was soothing about her. I found myself relaxing slightly. She didn’t even bother as she made quick work of my examination. It was thorough, but even then, I wasn’t uncomfortable.
"And you are sure you aren’t in any pain?" Dr. Fidelma asked again. "It could be a sign of internal injuries."
"No, I’m fine." The word was going to start losing aning with how often I said it.
The doctor sighed and walked over to a cabinet to the side. "I believe you have been through a great deal. It’s possible that there is still adrenaline in your system, blocking the majority of your pain."
She walked back over and handed a small tub and a little bottle.
"I’m giving you so painkillers and so ointnt that should help with the restraint burns and the bruises, but I want you to promise that you will co back if you notice any other problems," she pleaded. "If you get a horrible headache, it could be a sign of severe trauma."
"I promise," I replied automatically. I was unsure if I would follow through with my words, but I just wanted to be done.
Maybe Rhys had been wrong. Maybe there was so way that I could find the king in ti to request an audience.
"Then you can leave," she said. "I’ll update Prince Rhys on your condition."
"Thank you," I said, fixing my simple clothes and hurrying toward the door.
As I opened the door to leave the doctor’s office, I found myself feeling disappointed. Instead of the alluring prince on the other side, it was the man who had been driving the car.
He gave a small bow as he saw , which made want to blush. I wondered what it was with all of these n.
"I didn’t introduce myself earlier," he said as he straightened up. "I’m Daxton, Prince Rhys’ Beta."
"It’s nice to et you," I said, producing a small curtsy of my own. "I’m Saoirse Strider, daughter of Alpha Strider of Hunter’s Glen."
"Did the doc give you the all-clear?" he asked. When I nodded, he continued, "That’s good. Prince Rhys will be happy to hear that. He wanted to give you his apologies that he isn’t here to show you around, but he went ahead to explain the situation and make arrangents with the king to reschedule the eting as soon as possible."
"He did? That’s great." I felt so of the disappointnt and anxiety ease.
"He would like to guide you to the room you will be staying in for your ti here.”
When I nodded, he proceeded to turn and begin walking. I easily fell into step beside him. It felt weird to be on my feet again. I faintly rembered the feeling of Rhys sweeping up out of the car and carrying to the doctor’s office.
My face ward. I looked around, trying to distract myself from the mories. I looked up just in ti to see two servants walking past, openly staring at . When they saw looking, they quickly turned to themselves in a rush of whispers.
I glanced down at myself, wondering what they were seeing. My clothes were a little rough from my kidnapping experience, but they weren’t in too bad of shape. In fact, besides a few places I would have to stitch or patch, I would probably be able to save the dress.
The real eye-opener was when I glanced at Daxton next to . My mouth parted slightly in surprise as I noticed his clothes. They were just as elegant and refined as what the prince had been wearing.
I would have fit in better with the servants walking in the opposite direction.
The thoughts twisted in my head. As much as I didn’t want them to affect , it beca more and more apparent the further we walked because more and more people stared. I was being treated as a guest by Daxton, but it was clear to the others that they didn’t understand why.
I began wondering the sa thing.
What was I thinking by coming to the castle? I knew that I wouldn’t fit in there. I should have stuck to my guns and insisted Rhys co to Hunter’s Glen instead.
The feelings grew the farther we walked until Daxton stopped in front of a large door. I realized he had been talking to the entire ti, and I hadn’t said anything. Now on top of looking out of place, I was being rude and disrespectful as well.
Daxton turned the doorknob and swung the door inward, standing back for . "This will be your room for as long as you need it. None of us are very far. If you need anything, just ask the first person you see and they can guide the way."
"Thank you," I said, my voice sounding flat even to .
"You must still be tired. You’ve been through a lot." Daxton gave a sympathetic smile. "We collected your bags from the train car and have already put them in the room for you. Make yourself comfortable. You are invited to co down for lunch and dinner as well."
"No," I said a little too quickly. I took a breath before smiling and continuing. "No, thank you. I’m afraid I don’t have anything fit for a royal al. And I stand out enough as it is. I’ll be fine on my own."
Daxton stared at for a mont but then seed to decide against arguing. With another small bow, he bid goodbye and left to it.
I spent the rest of the day in my room. My stomach made regret skipping als, but even the clothes in my bags were not up to any standard that I would feel comfortable sitting around all those fancy people.
Laying in bed, the truth hit like a ton of bricks. I didn’t belong here.
A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I jolted upright, pulling the silk sheets tight around . My heart began to hamr. Had Conall found already?
The door opened. Instead of the man I expected to see, a perky young lady smiled as she rolled a cart into the room. I barely had ti to notice the food piled on her cart before more maids followed after her pulling along rack after rack of clothes.
My mouth dropped open. None of them said anything as they placed the racks around the room. The first maid, the perky, young one, brought the food closer to and then handed a note.
I glanced down at it. I noticed my fingers shaking a little as I slid the card from the envelope to read it.
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