Page 40 of Vicious Princess
Just in case.
“Yuck,” Roman says, clearly not ready to give up on the conversation. “Do you eat all creatures? Fish? Do you eat the meatraw? With blood and all?”
I roll my eyes. “We do cook our meat before we eat it, Roman. We’re not animals.”
Remembering that we do eat some meats and fish raw, I wince.
Roman smirks. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not!” I say. “Butsure, there are certain cuts of beef that can be eaten raw if one desires so. And some fish can be?—”
“Absolute savage. Do you eat meat from animals only or?—”
To shut him up before he suggests Wetrans are cannibals, I slap him across the face with my pillow. Laughing, he swats it away.
“Roman! You coming or nah?” A slender fae with beautiful silky black hair that reaches past her waist pauses next to our bunk. Marin is her name.I think.
Marin doesn’t even look my way.
Roman gets on his feet. “Yeah, coming. I’ll be right with you.”
Marin leaves, and so do a few other fae from our group. When I look around, nobody but me and Roman are left in the sleeping quarters.
Roman’s gaze is soft when he says, “Fern Silva hosts a Bloodiamond night every week at her parent’s estate in Yursus. She invited everyone in the group this week, except…”
“Except for me, the human.”
So the fae don’t care much for the rule that forbids leaving the castle grounds while attending the academy. I’m not even surprised.
Roman grimaces. “Sorry, princess. Her family’s friends with Kata’s family. And, uh, well…”
We both know how Kata feels about me.
I wave him off. “No worries. Have fun.”
Roman hesitates only for a second before he leaves, and then I’m all alone in the sleeping quarters.
At least with everyone gone, I can have a cold shower tonight in peace.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Despite the dread in my chest, I show up for physical training first the next day. I have no clue what took place during Bloodiamond night at Fern Silva’s last night, but from the looks of it, it’s a good thing I wasn’t invited.
Roman is so hungover, his face and lips are void of color except for a slight hue of green right before he excuses himself to use the bathroom.
Daegel doesn’t care about our feelings, of course.
“Twenty laps around the perimeter of the castle grounds,” he barks. When everyone stares at him, wondering whether he’s serious about it, he adds, “If you don’t start moving now, I’ll have you do twenty-five laps.”
One lap is around 1.5 miles… With a sigh, I start running without waiting for others to get moving.
I barely feel the first five laps. The pain in my hip and knee eased since yesterday, and it feels good to get some fresh morning air into my lungs.
The beautiful scenery helps, too. The grounds are like a massive park with a large pond, orchards, elaborate gardens, and low buildings scattered in between. It’s almost a city of its own.
A city within a city.
After the seventeenth lap, I sweat profusely. My lungs burn and my feet are aching. I’m thankful the sun is not harsh, and the salty breeze that floats from the harbor offers a cooling reprieve.
