Page 49 of Enchanted Kingdom
I sighed. “Great.” I didn’t want a reminder of the king’s hands on me at all.
Done checking me over, Owen ran a hand down his face. “I hate him too, Jorah. That wasn’t okay. Please understand that I hate him too.”
I nodded and tried to swallow down the next batch of tears sitting in my eyes.
“Do you need a kitchen again?” he asked. “Do you want me to go get Keir?”
I shook my head without having to even consider it. Never mind the fact that I didn’t want to be alone unguarded for even a moment after what the king just pulled. “No. I’m exhausted. I’m pretty sure Aiyana told the king I was teaching the other women to play cards just to get the king off her back for using magic on me.”
His green eyes met mine. “That thought occurred to me as well.”
“I’m so frustrated and over this day. Is castle life always this messy?”
He shook his head. “Yes. Up until we have a new king, yes.”
CHAPTER17
“Jorah.”
Owen called my name because I stood on a pathway in the forest, gawking up at how the sun looked through all the leaves.
I took another deep breath. It smelled of wood and rain, a fragrance that was already competing with a fresh rain off the sea for my favorite scent of all time. It was damp and earthy in here under the trees, a little cold, but it was lovely. I only wished I could hear birds chirping. As such, there were no noises at all, just Owen and I and our footsteps plodding on the path.
“We’ll be late for our ride if you keep stopping,” he reminded me.
“Oh right,” I said and began walking again.
Apparently two times a week, there were carriages sent to Nerede for supplies and brought back to Kavan Keep. We were taking the forest pathway over to the large barn and storage building and hopping in one such carriage this morning.
For as difficult as Keir made smuggling me out of the castle seem, the process was actually quite simple as long as I had Owen with me. A walk along the front of the forest on a pathway, catching a carriage ride, and then we’d have two hours once finally in Nerede to see my mother.
“Do I need to lay low and act naïve like I did with the king last night?” I asked Owen while trying not to rub my sore wrist.
He shook his head. “No. Sneaking around will only make you look suspicious. Plus I’m here. We have orders from Keir that you can do this. No one that stops us will be able to do a thing.” He held up a scroll stamped with the royal seal in royal blue wax. “Particularly not with this in hand.”
I took a deep breath of the forest smells again and realized this was really happening. I was going home. No, not to stay, but at least for a few hours.
Once loaded in the carriage, I settled in my seat. Owen sat across from me in another seat. There was a small cabin in the front of this large vehicle we found ourselves in, and then an open back under a tarp for picking up whatever supplies we were supposed to be taking back to the castle. Our driver was doing a last-minute check of the harnesses on the horses, and then we’d be off.
Things with Owen were a little more strained than usual this morning. I understood that he hadn’t been able to intervene on my behalf the night before, but I was still shaken up about it.
Yes, it had been quick, and the king had ahold of me for only a short matter of time, but the fact was that he still hurt me. He had wanted to hurt me and had known that he could. And that was something I was not going to get over quickly.
For a brief moment, with how nice everyone had been to me since arriving at the castle, I had started to wonder if I was wrong in choosing to hate all Enchanted. If maybe the king himself might be different also, like Keir and Renna and Molly were. But the king had proved once and for all last night that he was exactly who I thought he was, our Cruel King.
I reached for the blanket in the carriage before realizing it was cold to the touch and immediately put it back down.
“Cold?” Owen asked.
I nodded. “A little. I hate being cold.”
He gestured with his head toward the blanket. “Well allow me.” Without another thought, his green magic wrapped around the blanket, staying like that for a full minute. When he was done, he finally said, “Now try.”
My eyes went wide as I touched it again, moving it across my lap. “It’s warm.”
Owen smirked. “Magic can work on your surroundings. Just not actively on you.” He paused. “So. Once we arrive, I will try to give you as much space as I can with your family today. But I am to not let you out of my sight either.”
I took a deep breath. That meant every conversation I had with my mother, Owen was going to be present for. “Fine.” It was what it was. It was still better than nothing. Better than another day of overthinking my every step within the castle walls.
