Page 33 of Princess Takes Academy
And stared.
Actually, they gaped like I was a three-headed dragon that had just fallen from the sky and declared I was going to roast each of them for dinner.
“Sochee?” Keras. He’d always pronounced my name slightly different, as if he couldn’t quite say the ancient Nahual sounds. I loved it. I loved him. I’d ached to hear my name whispered by him again.
Tears blinded me. “Keras!” I stumbled forward, frantically searching for his face as the others crowded closer.
Because all the warriors immediately moved toward me. I tried to shove my way through them. None of these people were him. Someone tugged on my hand and I whirled, hope swelling in my heart until I thought it would explode.
“My queen!” A blond-haired man dropped to his knees, fervently gripping my hand. “I’ll swear to you now. This very moment. Take my blood, my queen. Make me yours.”
I tugged my hand free, only to have another person seize it. A woman this time, tall and lean with shining silver eyes. “Take me, my queen.”
Goddess. They surrounded me. Panic clawed at my throat. I shoved at the wall of muscle blocking my way, but I couldn’t fight free. “Keras!”
Finally, I saw him. He’d changed so much, but I’d know him anywhere. Taller, his shoulders broader than I’d ever imagined. He held a curved blade in his hand. Shirtless, his upper body gleaming with sweat. His eyes blazed with emotion. His lips were a tight, harsh slant.
He didn’t look happy. At all.
In fact, he looked absolutely furious. No, worse than that. He glared at me like he hated me.
He slammed the blade into its sheath hanging at his waist, and then he turned and walked away.
He turned his back on me.
Abandoning me to this crazy throng of people I didn’t know and didn’t want without a single look back over his shoulder.
My Keras was gone.
8
Xochitl
“Enough!” Meredith roared in a frightfully large voice given her small stature. “Get back to drill! None of you are fit to wipe a queen’s boots, let alone swear as Blood. Not yet.”
Tears dripped down my cheeks, but I didn’t make a sound. I swallowed down my sobs. My screams. My rage. If I said another word, I’d blister the world with fire and destroy this courtyard until it matched the illusion of a ruined castle that I’d seen outside.
The warriors scurried away, more terrified of Meredith than desperate to swear as Blood to a young queen.
Carys patted my shoulder awkwardly but thank the goddess she didn’t say anything.
Numbly, I followed Meredith through an arched doorway and up several stairs to the main building, which actually did look like a proper castle rather than a crumbled ruin. I didn’t pay much attention to where she took us. I couldn’t.
All I could see was that look of pure hatred on Keras’ face before he turned and walked away.
I sucked in a breath a little too loudly, making a sound suspiciously close to a sob. I bit my lip and fought to contain the storm brewing inside me. I wouldn’t throw another ridiculous temper tantrum. No matter how good that would feel right now.
:What’s wrong?:Mama demanded in our bond.:Who hurt you? I’m coming right now—:
:No,:I replied quickly.:I’m not hurt. Keras…:
I couldn’t say it. Not in words. I could only replay that look on his face and hope she understood.
:Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I hoped that when he saw you that things would be different.:
Different? All these years, I’d assumed she’d refused to allow Keras to come home. But maybe he hadn’t wanted to see me.
It had been my fault. From the very beginning. I just thought…
