Page 28 of Princess Takes Academy
Daire choked back a laugh. If I didn’t have an expensive china teacup in my hand, I’d have been tempted to bash him on the head with it.
Whatever he’d said in his bond to our queen must have been even worse than strangled laughter, because her eyes twinkled, and her lips quirked with amusement. “I don’t know that a young, gorgeous queen—”
“Ripe for the picking,” Daire added, winking at me.
“At an academy for young Blood would be the smartest choice.”
I had an itemized list of reasons it was the perfect place for me, though, and none of them had to do with Keras. “Outside of our nests, wouldn’t it be the safest place for me? Surrounded by dozens of fine young warriors. Isn’t that what you said, Mama? And it’s still a nest protected by a blood circle. So it’s like a court.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Queen Shara said, “But the young Aima at the academy aren’t sworn to the queen holding the nest, right? They’re there to learn fighting skills but they’re not bonded yet.”
“Right,” Mama replied. “Some of the Aima may go on to be fostered at court too, but it’s my understanding that the academy provides a place for young people to go and prove themselves as warriors, even if they don’t have connections that might secure them a fostering at a well-known nest. They concentrate on blade skills and fighting techniques instead of court etiquette or politics.”
“I taught at the academy several times over the years.” Since Guillaume de Payne was the last living Templar knight, nobody was surprised that he was a blade master. “It’s actually a very well-disciplined environment. Though…”
He hesitated and didn’t complete the sentence.
He didn’t have to, because Mama was all too eager to do it for him.
“If there’s trouble to be found, Xochitl will be at the heart of it.”
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, fighting down a retort. I couldn’t help that bad stuff always seemed to follow me around. Trouble was hardwired inside me as surely as my heritage as an Aima queen.
Once I’d dreamed of unicorns and galloping across the sky, but trouble had damaged those dreams. Now all I wanted was my best friend and Blood. Nothing else mattered.
And if I had to break a few rules to get back to Keras, then by goddess—
“Yes,” Queen Shara said as Winston walked back in with a bacon mountain on a silver platter.
I thought she was excited about the food, especially when she immediately picked up the tongs and started layering crisp bacon onto slices of French bread. She munched on the bacon sandwich and sighed with bliss as she leaned back against me.
“Well?” She said around another mouthful. “I thought you’d be more excited.”
I blinked, tearing my gaze up from the insane bacon sandwich to her sparkling eyes. “What? Really? I can go?”
“On one condition.”
I sighed and braced myself. Here it came. I was prepared to lie, cheat, and steal to get Keras back. I’d do anything she asked. Swear my blood to her. Promise to never use the magical ways in the trees. Accept some kind of geas that would tear me into a million pieces if I tried to leave the academy’s grounds.
Anything.
Queen Shara cupped my cheek in her free hand and lightly pressed her forehead to mine. “You’re going to have dozens of young wannabe Blood panting at your heels, sweetheart. Promise me that you won’t accept any of them unless you love them as much as you love Keras.”
Relieved, I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back a fresh wave of tears. She understood. She knew I was so desperate I’d do anything she asked, but all she wanted was a promise that I’d do exactly as I wanted in the first place.
I’d never love another Blood as much as I loved Keras, so it was easy to say, “I promise, Your Majesty.”
My skin tingled as if I’d been quickly dunked in a pool of sparkling arctic water. I shivered at the reminder, both of her power and mine. Something inside me responded to my queen’s power. It wanted to be used. It had heard my words and took it as a solemn oath that was now etched into my bones.
I would never take a Blood that I didn’t love as much as Keras. That was an oath I was more than willing to live with, even if I never figured out how to unlock my stunted power.
She kissed my forehead. “And I make a solemn promise to you. You’ll always be an Isador heir, Xochitl. No matter how much trouble finds you, or how many babies I carry.”
Wait a minute. My mind raced as she devoured the rest of the sandwich.
Was she saying…
I looked at Mama and before I could form the question in our bond, she nodded.
