Page 106 of The Mad King and the False Queen

“Good boy,” Magda responded before shutting the door behind her pet.

Magda decided against retying her corset as an undergarment, for she wanted to be comfortable. Quickly, Magda put on the oversized shirt, and attempted to put on the pants. But they were not her size, and they kept slipping to the floor. Hanging the pants on a hook, she decided to use the shirt as a dress, although it barely covered her. She wrapped her hair up in the towel before exiting the bathroom.

She stopped short. Ravi stood in the doorway, his hand braced up against the doorframe while he leaned against it, as if he had been waiting to use the room. He was already stripped out of his dirty clothes, completely shirtless and wearing only his underwear. It was clear he had already washed the blood from the front of his chest, for it was glistening with droplets of water.

“All clean now?” he asked. His eyes glanced down to recognize that she was pantless.

“Yes…,” Magda stammered at the sight of him.

“Good, otherwise you wouldn’t be allowed in my bed,” he said matter-of-factly.

“In your bed?” Magda scoffed.

“You really enjoyed sleeping on the floor?”

Magda hesitated, biting her lip.

“That’s what I thought.”

Fire surged up Magda’s legs and through her body, and she backed up as to not act upon the magnetism between them. As she did so, she tripped against Odie, falling back into the bathroom. Odie let out a whimper, darting out of the way.

Ravi leaned forward, catching her around her lower back and breaking her fall. Their faces were close to each other, his lips inches from hers and his hot breath on her cheeks; his hand had grasped around her waist, snatching the shirt so that it now laid higher than it should, and his legs were pressed against hers. He held her for a moment while he reached up to the towel, pulling it off her head and letting her long, wet hair fall down, splashing wet droplets against the thin, white shirt.

“I’ll need this,” Ravi said, indicating the towel. “I only have one.”

Magda’s heart pounded against her chest as he released her, and she caught herself against the sink to steady herself.

Odie was beside Magda, tracing around her bare legs once more.

Ravi bent down to drain the bath, and refill it. As he did so, he said, “Just tell me, cause I need to know,” he paused for a minute, as if he was unsure if he should ask the question or not. “Do you actually have a secret?”

Magda grew confused. “What do you mean?”

“Vex said you have a secret the Mad King will pay a lot of money for.”

Magda’s heart beat again, but this time it wasn’t due to Ravi’s proximity. “Do you believe him?” she asked.

Ravi sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think. You were right the other night when you said we don’t know anything about each other.”

“Then ask me what you want to know.”

He stood up and faced her. “What do you do in Azurem that makes people think you have information?”

Magda answered as Dagmara would, “I live at the Azuremi palace, and I work for the princess.”

He absorbed the information.“Then why are you really in Flaustra?” he asked.

“I can’t tell you that.”

Ravi’s eyes flicked back and forth, as if he was thinking of another question. “Are you planning on staying here? Or going back to Azurem?”

Magda stopped short. It was another question she couldn’t answer. How could she tell him that she was a princess, destined to go back to Azurem and rule? Destined to marry a royal or a member of the court? Her mother would never accept her falling for a boy from Flaustra, no matter how she felt.

Ravi stepped closer to her, and took her hands. His fingers brushed over her skin, caressing her hands in his.

“I see so much in your eyes. Pain, fire, something haunting you from the past. I just wish you trusted me enough to let me in. To let me share any of the thoughts that are going on in your head.”

“I do trust you,” said Magda, “I just…,” she struggled to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

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