Page 84 of Once Upon a Crown
Lance walked ahead of me, and I ran to catch up with him, but pain shot through my ankle. That was what I got for running around the palace grounds in the rain.
I tried to step on my injured foot but only managed to let out a cry of discomfort as I attempted to walk. The sound made Lance look over his shoulder.
Before either of us could move any further, there was an earth-shattering sound next to me. Lightning struck a nearby tree, breaking the trunk. I braced myself in case it was going to fall my way but luckily, because of the way the lightning had struck, it missed me.
And then Lance was there, and before I could protest, he had picked me up in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Preventing you from getting yourself killed.” The rain was so heavy now that I could barely see a few feet in front of us.
There was another loud crack of thunder, and I jumped a little in Lance’s arms.
He carried me inside and put me down in the nearest room, which happened to be the library.
Both of us were completely soaked. My hair and clothes felt heavy with all the water.
Lance had placed me right in front of the fireplace and I scooted closer, hoping to feel more warmth. My entire body shivered so much, even my teeth clattered.
I watched Lance remove his jacket and then his shirt, draping them over a nearby chair. His stomach muscles were more defined than I would have imagined for someone who so frequently gazed upon the bottom of a bottle. I looked away, clearing my throat.
Lance added a few more logs to the fire, the flames surging in the hearth.
“You shouldn’t have gone out in that weather.” His voice carried the tone ofI told you so.
“You don’t know me at all if you think I’m going to leave horses out in a storm like that.”
“You’ve probably made your injury worse now.” My ankle did hurt a little, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him.
“Here, let me look at it.”
“My ankle is quite fine, thank you.” I moved it as if to prove my point and then flinched in pain.
“Why do you always have to be so stubborn?”
He got on his knees and started to undo the lacings of my shoe, which was covered with mud and soaked from the rain. I couldn’t move away unless I kicked him, which, though it would have given me pleasure, didn’t feel like the kind thing to do now that we’d agreed to be friends.
He quickly pulled off my stocking, appearing very focused on the task at hand. When his cold hands touched my ankle, a shiver went through me, which I blamed on the fact that my clothes were wet all the way through to my shift.
Lance carefully inspected my ankle, fingers delicately tracing over my skin.
“It’s a little swollen but it should be fine.”
“See.” I pulled my foot away. “Told you it was fine.”
“You could be lying on the ground, bleeding to death, and you’d probably still say you were fine just to spite me.”
I gave him a look that suggested I was annoyed but that he wasn’t wrong.
“You’re shaking. We need to get you out of those wet clothes.”
“Ha.” I barked out a laugh. “And how many girls have fallen for that one? Plenty, probably, is my guess.”
“Fine, die of the cold. What do I care?”
I was shaking. And my wet hair wasn’t much help.
“Do you think you could get me a towel?” And then after a second, I added, “Please?” The servants were running about the palace, closing windows and curtains making sure all the rooms were lit and warm. No one had seen us as we came in through the garden door.
