Chapter 25
Gwen
My stomach rumbled as I made my way to the dining room.
The walking stick made the process feel achingly slow, especially because I was also carrying a book with me. I wanted to return it to the library after dinner and didn’t want to hobble back all the way to my rooms to retrieve it, doubling the distance I would have to walk.
According to the physician, it was for only one more week that I needed to keep off the ankle.
I missed my morning rides. But the winter mornings were now so cold, it probably wouldn’t have been very pleasant anyway.
The palace was awfully quiet and there was a constant feeling of emptiness. Apart from the odd servant here and there, I hardly spoke to or saw anyone. I wondered how the others were faring. They would have reached Norrandale by now. Would be close to Mistwood.
I didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about what likely lay ahead for them. Though I hated the discomfort of my injury, some days I was thankful that it prevented me from going with them.
I knew I couldn’t avoid it for ever and that I would have to return home sometime. But I didn’t know if I was ready to face my brother, who was a traitor to the Crown and would likely be executed for treason. Even less did I want to consider what might happen if Elara and Cai did not succeed.
I entered the dining room and found Prince Lance lounging in a chair, at the head of the table, with a cup in his hands. There was some food on the table in front of him, but it didn’t look like he’d eaten much yet. The wine jug, on the other hand, was almost empty.
“Lady Gwen.” He didn’t look surprised to see me, but in the state he was in, I doubted anything would surprise him.
“Your Highness.” I wouldn’t outright admit that I’d been avoiding him, but I’d mostly kept to my rooms or sometimes the library during the hours I knew he wasn’t likely to frequent it.
Lance hardly ever came to eat dinner in the dining hall, much less at this early hour. Though I was more than used to seeing him with a cup in his hands, I had a feeling that something had driven him to drown himself in wine.
“I was just on my way to the library,” I blurted out.
“Did you get lost, then?”
“Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
“As you can see—” he gestured to the room — “this is not the library.”
I felt my face heat a little. Damn his arrogance.
“I know that.” I glared at him from across the room. “I just wanted to grab something to snack on while I read.” It was, of course, a blatant lie. I was starving.
“But I shan’t disturb you,” I continued, making to turn, which was a lot slower than I would have liked with the walking stick.
“Won’t you join me?”
“What?” I looked over my shoulder.
Lance used his leg to push out the chair next to him. “Won’t you join me for dinner, Lady Gwen?”
My stomach let out another rumble and I hoped he couldn’t hear it.
“I’m actually really not that hungry.” I continued to lie, hoping I could ask one of the servants to bring me some dinner in the library.
“Enjoy your evening, then.” I gave him the politest nod I could offer before slowly making my way to the library with much annoyance and having no one to blame but myself.
Thankfully there was a fire lit in the library, warming up the room to a comfortable temperature.
I returned the book to the shelf where I’d found it before scanning for something I’d yet to read.
If my circumstances did not change soon, I would be through the entire royal collection before spring.
I was growing tired of having nothing better to do than read, but with the weather and my injury being what they were, it did not appear that I had many other options.
After a few more minutes of hunting through the shelves, I managed to find something that looked somewhat interesting, and I decided to scan through the first few pages to see if it was worth reading.
The fire crackled as I took in the words, slowly becoming more invested after every line.
“There you are.”
It was an effort not to jump at the sudden sound of a voice at the door.
“Of course I’m here.” I didn’t look at Lance and instead kept my eyes glued to the book in front of me, half leaning against a shelf to keep my balance. “It’s where I said I would be, isn’t it?”
When Lance didn’t respond, I looked up to where he stood halfway in the door of the library. He was smirking, his eyes a little lazy.
“If you came to check on my well-being, I can assure you I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say to break the silence.
“That’s not why I’m here.”
I swallowed, the book still in my hands, urging me to turn my attention back to it.
Lance stepped into the library, carrying a plate. “I brought you something to eat.”
He placed it on a small table next to one of the reading chairs. The plate was filled with bread and cheeses and dark purple grapes, a particular favourite of mine. My stomach rumbled at the sight of it.
“That’s uncommonly kind of you,” I responded with some hesitance.
“You think me incapable of kindness?” he asked, his expression suggesting it was a serious question.
I continued to look longingly at the food, contemplating.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
In his other hand, Lance held a cup of wine from which he took a big swig.
“Maybe not,” he said after a moment. Was it only my imagination or did he look a little hurt? But then I reminded myself that my opinion could never matter to someone like him.
“Thank you for the food.” I turned the page in my book. “Have a good evening, Your Highness.”
Lance didn’t move. I lost the sentence I’d last read and frowned.
“Why are you avoiding me, Lady Gwen?”
I gave a shrug, still scanning the page. “I’m not avoiding you.”
“Yes, you are.” In my peripheral vision, I saw him taking a step closer. “You think I haven’t noticed that you do everything in your power to avoid us running into each other in the palace?”
How did he know?
Lance took another step and another, slowly closing the distance to the shelf I stood by.
“Am I truly such a terrible host, then?”
“No, you’re not.” It was getting more difficult to pretend I was reading. Especially as the Prince of Everness came to a standstill in front of me while I was against the shelf, with no ability to back away from him.
“Then what is it?” His eyes were so blue, as I remembered them being from the first time we’d met in Norrandale. There was an iciness to them that unnerved me.
My book was now forgotten but I took hold of my walking stick.
“Nothing,” I insisted. I would never allow him to know the truth. There would be no point in it.
“I think you’re lying.” He didn’t appear upset now but rather intrigued. It only managed to annoy me more.
“I’m just not a very sociable person.” I continued to look up at him, not wanting to appear intimidated in any way.
“Now I know you’re lying.” In hindsight, it might not have been my best choice of words.
“Is it because you find me so attractive that every time you lay your eyes on me, you are at a complete loss for words?”
It was an effort not to bark out a laugh. “You wish.” I gave his chest a light smack with my book and then realised it could be seen as an act of flirtation.
“I think that’s exactly what it is. You’re simply besotted with me.” He had to be much more drunk than I’d initially thought. Although he’d always come across as rather arrogant, he’d never spoken to me like this before.
“I am not besotted with you, Prince Lance. In fact, I might just despise you.”
“Oh, despise me?” he said with raised eyebrows. “Is that what you tell yourself when you go to bed at night and dream of me?”
“You’re ridiculous.” I refrained from rolling my eyes at him.
“Kiss me,” he said, still looking down at me.
“What?” I blurted out.
“You heard me.” There was a challenge in his voice. “Kiss me.”
“I am not going to kiss you,” I responded quickly, looking at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Why?” His twinkling eyes accompanied a devilish smile. “Afraid you’ll like it?”
I was at a loss for words, completely dumbfounded.
“No,” I said in an attempt to gather myself. “Because you’re drunk, Lance.”
His expression changed suddenly, as if he was taken aback.
“Because you’re always drunk.”
With the book uncomfortably lodged under my arm, I stepped away from him.
“And because I’m not some kind of concubine or courtesan for you to play with because you’re bored.”
“I never said—”
“You treat me as if I’m here for your personal amusement. But I can assure you, had it not been for my injury, I would have left with the others without hesitation.” It wasn’t completely true, but I was angry with him. I wanted to hurt him.
Lance pressed his lips into a line and nodded slowly. “Right,” he said, blowing out a breath. “Right, of course.” He started to retreat towards the door. “I apologise for having offended you, miss.”
He pulled the library door shut behind him and I fell down into the reading chair.
I grabbed a roll from the plate next to me and bit into it angrily.
He was the one who had barged in here, completely under the influence of wine and making inappropriate conversation. I would not feel guilty for what I’d said.
And yet . . .
The look on his face as he’d left. It would keep me up for the rest of the night, wrestling with my sheets.