Chapter 6
Chapter Six
O nce our midday activities finally caught up to him, Max dozed off.
I slipped from the bed and went in search of answers.
Rereading scenes from The Princess Bride hadn’t soothed me the way it normally did.
The parts about Buttercup and her impending marriage to Humperdinck brought up other nuptials.
My thoughts inevitably went to Kingston, his father, and the expectations on his shoulders.
An arranged marriage.
It was ridiculous. Preposterous. Antiquated.
Yeah, I said it. Downright medieval.
A tradition so long standing at Camelot Court that no one batted an eye. I couldn’t understand it. Why everyone here seemed content to go with the flow and accepted the outdated things their parents wanted for them.
I mean, I understood the value in having money, being that I was currently continuing The Quest after being attacked, rejected, lied to…drugged...
When I listed it out, it sounded really bad.
But as alluring as the thought of one hundred thousand dollars sounded, I had the choice to leave at any time.
The more I learned, the less sure I became they had the same option. Pieces of things I’d been told since I got here played in my head on a loop. Hints about the Maidens, about the pressure the guys had on their shoulders, I couldn’t piece it all together.
Or understand why they didn’t just riot and leave.
And the person I needed to talk to about that was Kingston.
Landon hadn’t returned from his run, but I didn’t wait to find out if they’d had a chance to talk. I walked across the hall and knocked softly on Kingston’s door, rocking back and forth on my heels as I waited for him to answer.
When he didn’t open it, I tried the handle.
My bracelet, dangling on my wrist, swung against it. Clearly announcing my intention to break in, I cringed thinking Kingston might be on the other side of the door.
A soft click confirmed the door was unlocked.
I planned to look quickly and leave, but when I peeked inside but didn’t see him anywhere, I couldn’t help but survey Kingston’s space.
His room was as big as mine and Max’s put together, with an en suite bathroom off to the left where Landon’s room was on our side of the hall.
Navy blue curtains on the wall opposite the door, heavy enough to block the world out, had been pulled back to expose a large window. Letting light into the space, they brightened the dark furniture.
Overlooking the lake, a large, four-poster bed against the left wall had been haphazardly made. With wrinkled covers and bedsheets still visible up by his pillow, it appeared as if Kingston hadn’t had the time to do it properly, but kept up the ritual of making it each morning.
It surprised me.
I assumed someone else made his bed, but the longer I studied it, the more private his room felt.
That didn’t discourage my snooping. I just noticed it as I scanned the bookshelves and a drawing table before my gaze fell on an armchair. It faced the end of the bed, next to an easel, and my attention snagged on the canvases behind it.
A sheet thrown over them hid the paintings underneath.
That day in the cabin, it had been paint on his arm.
I’d been so suspicious I hadn’t believed him, but the evidence sat right in front of me. Kingston was an artist.
And I wanted to find out what those canvases held. To see the pieces of himself that he hid from the world.
Given his deep commitment to propriety when it came to entering my room, I didn’t snoop through his paintings like I wanted. It’d be worth the wait for him to share those parts of himself with me when he was ready.
First, though, I had to find him.
And, luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for that.
When I went downstairs, each step I took felt careful.Although Drake D’Arthur wasn’t there, the mere thought of him showing up left a bad taste in my mouth.
But it cleared as I stepped past the kitchens.
Hit by a rush of citrus and spices, a wave of dizziness washed over me. My head didn’t clear until I moved farther down the hallway, and I brushed off the spell, convinced the scent had reminded me of an old recipe my mom used to make.
Some savory yellow rice and chicken dish I always avoided after?—
That had to be the reason for it.
I forced it from my thoughts as I approached the office.
With his head bent over papers on his desk, Kingston worked tirelessly. His soft brown curls invited me in, tempting me to brush them back and ease the stress lining his features.
But I held back and knocked on the doorframe.
His eyes lifted to mine, and his smile warmed my cheeks.
“Hi.” I waved, like a total dork, and shuffled my feet. “Am I disturbing you by coming by?”
“Never.” He rose from the desk to greet me as he gestured for me to enter. “I was just finishing up some things for the final challenge. But taking a break with you holds far more appeal.”
He met me in the center of the room, and when he leaned down to kiss my cheek, he lingered for a moment. His quiet inhale and slow exhale ruffled my hair and sent a rush of tingles down my spine.
But when he pulled back, sadness lingered in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
His lips twitched like he wanted to smile. Slip back on the mask and assure me everything was fine. Except he reached for my hand and asked me a different question.
“Would you go somewhere with me?”
I tilted my head in question.
“I have an appointment today, and I thought you might need to pick up your inhalers. I…don’t want to go to this alone, so I’d hoped we might kill two birds with one stone.”
“Appointment?”
He rubbed at the spot on his chest. “Yes, nothing to worry about. Just something I couldn’t take care of until now.”
“I’d love to go with you.” I stepped closer to his desk, eyes trained on the spot he was rubbing. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Kingston nodded but dropped his eyes. “I will be.”
He reached for the phone on his desk, forcing a smile as he dialed and waited for the other line to pick up. It was the pharmacy, and Kingston requested the refills for my inhalers. A new rescue inhaler, which Dr. Barrow prescribed during the second challenge, and my long-acting one.
“That way you have an extra, just in case…”
He didn’t say it, and I was glad. Despite Elaine’s family accepting his father’s deal, she could throw a wrench in things at any time, if no one challenged her. If she invoked the statute, The Quest was over.
Which meant he had to know.
“Kingston, I?—”
“Landon told me earlier.” He tried to smile. “I apologize. I should’ve led with that, but I wanted us to get away first, if possible. To enjoy a little time with you.”
My heart clenched. “I’m so sorry. I know that’s a weird thing to say because we didn’t do anything wrong, but if I’d known…”
“You didn’t know because I didn’t tell you. Or ask that of him, either. Once I saw he’d begun falling for you, I could’ve asked him then, but…”
He shook his head, glancing at the papers on his desk before holding my gaze.
“He joined the Knights because I asked. It wasn’t his choice, and he hated what I’d asked him to do.
Bringing you into this, after what happened last year with the Maiden dying, asking him to train you, letting him believe I wanted you for myself.
” He huffed a soft laugh. “You should’ve seen how he tore into my office that night. Largely, in defense of you.”
“Considering the way he left the Round Tableau, that surprises me.”
“Knowing the virginity clause my father had offered as an alternative, he thought—” His brow furrowed, struggling to share after so long keeping secrets.
“Quinn, I put you at risk, by having him select you instead of keeping you away from Camelot Court. I did do it to get around my father, but not for the reasons he believed that night. Not because of that.” He nudged the corner of a file on his desk, aligning it with the rest. “But I couldn’t tell him then, and I still can’t tell him everything now.
So, he felt like he didn’t have a choice, and…
” He shrugged. “I wanted him to have one, too.”
I didn’t know if it would’ve changed things, not for sure. But if Landon and I had known all that, I believed we would’ve waited. I just didn’t know how to make Kingston see that.
“I hate that you’ve been dealing with all this alone.”
His eyes lifted to mine.
Sympathy tugged my lips into a sad smile. “I’m sure it hasn’t been easy, deciding when and how to share things, but you do see the problems these secrets have created, too, right?”
“I do.”
“So…”
“I wish I could tell you I’d put everything out in the open, but there are some things I can’t tell anyone.”
I frowned, wishing I understood. “Why?”
“Don’t kill me for saying this, but you’ll see.
At the doctor’s.” He nodded to the door.
“I am trying to share anything I can, but I’d like to be careful with things that might impact your ability to win.
At least, until we know it’s over for good.
And then, if it doesn’t go our way, I can tell you everything. ”
Somehow, that single statement disintegrated the desire for his secrets to ash. If having answers meant all this was over, I’d stay in the dark as long as possible.
I never thought I’d say that.
And Kingston, at least, had been more open, more forthcoming in a lot of ways since we’d come to Pendragon. I did believe he had good reasons for keeping certain secrets.
Especially since the ones he’d shared so far sucked ass.
“Okay.” I laced our fingers together. “I can live with that.”
He led me toward the door, only to shut it and guide me to a bookshelf on the far back wall. It sat to the left of his desk, and I ran a hand across the titles of his books when we reached it.
One jumped out at me. A worn, leather-bound edition of The Princess Bride . “You have a copy, too!”
When he pulled it off his shelf, I expected a trap door to open up a secret passageway to a hidden room. But it didn’t.
He handed the book to me, and I hugged it to my chest. “Have you read it?”
“Not fully.” His expression grew sadder. “I started it a long time ago, but I was never able to finish it.”
I squeezed his hand in an attempt to ease whatever had just crossed his mind. “Maybe one day, we can read it together. It was my dad’s favorite.”
“I know.” He smiled before answering the question in my eyes. “Landon mentioned it shortly after you got here. It’s been one of his favorites since we were young.”
With a smile on my face, I handed it back to him.
He slid it back into place on his shelf and pulled a different book out.
Opening it to the back, he retrieved a small bronze key taped to the inside cover.
He tucked it into his pocket, glanced around the office as if to make sure everything was in place, and then reached for my hand to leave the room.
“What does that open?”
His soft laugh told me my answer, so I said it for him.
“Oh, I know, I know. You’ll see .”
“Yes, but you’ll see in just a moment, if you follow me.”
I took his hand.
“Go on then, King D’Arthur,” I teased. “Lead from the front.”
With Kingston a step ahead, we walked across the curved row of windows decorated with red ferns to leave Pendragon behind.
Farther off to the right, there was a garage with a shed beside it. It opened with the key he’d pulled from the book.
Growing more curious and more impatient, I bounced on the balls of my feet as he removed the padlock and slid open the shed doors. Metal wheels groaned. The slow creak of rusted iron over forgotten tracks rang out against a rustle of leaves.
Bathed in pitch-black darkness, it took a minute for light to filter into the shed.
My eyes widened. “ You own a motorcycle?”
His bemused smile mirrored mine. “Is that judgment in your tone, Lady Everly?”
I put my hands up. “No way. No judgment here. Just…I’m surprised.”
“What?” He tugged two helmets off the wall inside the shed, placing one on the back of the bike and bringing the other over to me. “I don’t seem like the type?”
As gently as possible, he placed the helmet on my head and brushed the trapped strands of my hair away from my face. Tucking them behind my ears, he looped the straps under my chin and secured it.
Bobbing my head from side to side, I admitted the truth, “Honestly, no. Of the three of you, I would’ve pegged Max as the one with a bike. At least, initially. But you…It does fit in that it’s the opposite of what I expected. I like it.”
“Well, then…” He tipped my face up and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m full of surprises.”
My heart raced at the mischievous gleam in his eyes, the possibility of learning good secrets about Kingston intriguing me more than I’d thought possible.
But I eyed the bike warily as he swung his leg over it and climbed on. When he turned to me and offered his hand, I didn’t move to get on the bike.
Sensing my hesitation, Kingston understood what I needed before I even voiced my concern. “Hmm…if Max was the one with the bike, what might he say right now?”
I snorted. “Probably something about how he’d take it slow for our first ride.”
Kingston chuckled, giving me one of Max’s trademark smirks. “But would it work?”
I bit my lip. “Yeah, probably.”
“And what about Landon?”
A laugh escaped me. “He’d make me tell him why I didn’t want to get on the bike. Even though he’d already know why.”
His broad smile lit up his features. “I can’t argue with that.”
I stepped closer to him, taking his hand even as I kept my feet on the ground. “And you?”
He brushed his thumb over my cheek, locking his gaze on mine.
“I’d tell you…that you’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met, Quinn Everly.
Strong enough to fight through any fear you might face, and meant for so much more than a life playing it safe.
And if you have the courage to face this with me, I’ll do everything in my power to get you to the other side. ”
My breathing hitched.
Kingston cleared his throat as I got control of my lungs. “How was that?”
“Unexpected, too. But...exactly what I needed.”
He swallowed, the look in his eyes promising he spoke of more than just the ride on his bike.
So, I swung my leg over, the temptation of all he offered too great to resist.
“Fuck it. Let’s do this.”
“Together,” he assured me. “I’m right here. I’m with you.”
As I wrapped my arms around his waist, my heart raced.
Butterflies fluttered to life in my belly as he started the engine, but I held onto him tightly and closed my eyes.
I focused on the soft cotton of his shirt under my cheek, the rise and fall of his abs beneath my fingertips, and the length of his thighs pressing against mine.
Slowly, he pulled away from Pendragon Estate.
And I waited to see where my leap of faith might lead.