Page 20 of Three Scorched Kingdoms

The maid laughs. “It means she works in the kitchen,” she explains.

“Did she help make these rolls?”

“Possibly.”

“They’re so good,” I say.

“Aren’t they?” She sighs. “Sometimes, we’ll serve tiny cakes. She’s given me a few to eat after feasts are over.”

“You can have some whenever I’m around,” I offer.

Her smile dims. “My Lady… That’s not the way we do things around here.”

I frown. “When I’m queen, I’ll have some say, right?”

“Well, yes,” she says in that wary tone that reveals she knows this is a trap.

“Simple then.” I lean back and toss a stormberry into my mouth. Or try to. The blue-colored berry that tingles the mouthwhen you bite into it hits my chin and falls to the ground. I bend over and pick it up.

“I must admit, you are not what we expected…” Lucinda covers her mouth. “Forgive me?—”

“Why? You can speak your mind,” I assure her, straightening again. “I figured I’m not what anyone expected. Do you think others will mind?”

“Not once they get to know you. The people were so scared and worried when the prince was away, but he cares for you deeply, that’s plain to see, and I think the people will grow to care for you too.”

“Great. In that case, all we have to do now is stop an entire army of orcs.”

Lucinda pales.

Wrong topic to bring up.

I ask her more about her sister and her family, and she opens right back up again. She seems perfectly happy with her role in life, and when I detect a slight change in tone when she mentions a stable boy, I can’t help teasing her.

Eventually, Lucinda leaves to attend to other duties, but she gives me a bell that she tells me to ring in case I need anything.

“You know I won’t ring it,” I tell her.

“If you need anything?—”

“Fine. I’ll ring when I need a friend to talk to.”

Lucinda looks like a deer in headlights. “My Lady—we cannot be?—”

I wink. “We already are.”

“Maybe,” she whispers, and she hurries out of the room.

With a grin, I dip my spoon into a frost melon. According to Lucinda, the large pale-blue melons grow in icy caverns far to the north. The taste is a bit sweet with a cool, crisp aftertaste. It’s refreshing enough that, for a moment, I let myself pretend this is my life.

Eating exotic fruit for breakfast in a kingdom I call home.

But the daydream doesn’t last nearly long enough before reality edges its way in again. The truth is, this world isn’t any safer than the one we left behind. If I’m going to survive in either one, I’ll have to rely on more than just friendly maids and accidental alchemy.

6

ARIES

It wasn’t easy leaving Paige in my bed half-naked and gorgeous while she slept, but being back in the training ring with Leo is satisfying—albeit in a much different way. We’ve been at it long enough that my muscles scream in protest, but I don’t stop. I can’t. Not when there’s so much at stake.

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