Page 9 of The King's Maiden
Gia snorted. “Yeah, you might as well apply for The Quest first.”
She uncovered the pot on the stove and checked the pasta, laughing off the idea. I wanted to laugh with her, but something stopped me.
When she’d first told me about The Quest, the idea seemed ludicrous. But now, as medical bills piled up, I couldn’t brush it off as easily.
I toyed with the charms on my bracelet, wondering what my parents would’ve thought about me joining The Quest. They were probably rolling over in their graves.
Except they’d always said being a feminist was about empowering women to make their own choices. Not limiting their opportunities based on gender. They supported me in whatever I wanted to do with my life as long as it was my choice.
If I wanted to paint naked in the backyard under the light of the full moon? My mom bought me the art supplies while my dad hung up privacy curtains in our backyard.
And if I wanted to be a dancer, even though my chances for a secure future were harder to come by and my asthma posed a problem? So be it.
Mom made all of my sparkly costumes and did up my hair with an obscene array of ribbons and bows for each performance. Dad even learned to French braid. They’d driven me to every dance practice and cheered me on at every recital and competition.
Right up until the one before my twelfth birthday. The last one my mom got to see.
But she’d been proud of me. They both had been—not because I won and got my name and picture in the local newspaper—because I washappy.Doing something I chose and loved.
Wouldn’t the same apply to this?
Although, I planned to leave love out of it.
“What else do you know about The Quest?” I asked Gia, my sudden interest halting her wooden spoon mid-stir. “I mean, if I’m going to consider dropping a semester, I should probably weigh every option that doesn’t force me to, right?”
“I suppose…” She shut the burner on the stove off, carrying the pot of noodles to the strainer in the sink. “I don’t know much more than I told you. But some of the guys from Camelot Court are in one of my classes. They all huddle together in the back of the room, but I could sit a little closer next class. See what I can find out?”
“What do you know about them?”
Steam billowed up as she dumped the hot water and noodles. She scrunched her face and chuckled to herself. “Ironically, they’re all steamy hot. And they’re all from super rich legacy families. The D’Arthurs, obviously. But there’s also the Scotts, the Léons…Those two are in my class, but there are twelve guys total. Well, thirteen with Kingston D’Arthur. He’s pretty hard to get a read on, from what I hear. Then, Landon Scott is, like, his second or right hand or whatever—even though technically, Idon’t think they have ranks.” She shrugged. “Super broody, that one.”
“Who’s the other one?”
Her eyebrows rose, oh-so-innocently. “What?”
“You said three families, but only two guys.”
A deep blush colored her cheeks, warming her tanned skin. “Oh, um, right. That’s Tristan Léon.” She caught sight of my eyebrows, raised expectantly for her to go on, and sighed. “He’s like an excitable puppy. If puppies were hot as fuck. It’s ridiculous.”
She kept going on about him, as expected, since that blush was a dead giveaway she had a thing for the hot puppy.
I oohed and aahed at all the appropriate spots. But when she started describing his abs in detail, my mind circled back to one of the first things she’d said.
I slapped my hand on the table, making Gia jump.
“No freaking way.”
Diving for my bag, I snagged the strap and yanked it toward me. I searched through the spilled contents, finding the slip of paper still carefully folded in one of the pockets.
I flattened it on the table in front of me. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“What is it?”
Gia came up beside me, peering over my shoulder at the receipt I’d saved from the pharmacy. I figured I could use it to find the stranger who’d helped me and pay him back. Even if that wasn’t going to be possible any time soon, I didn’t throw it away.
Now, keeping it felt like a sign.
Gia gasped. “No freaking way.”
