Page 73 of Maid for the Alien Prince

It was a deep sound and I felt it reverberate against my fingertips. I was certain Ges couldn’t hear it—especially not with his mind occupied with his sinister thoughts of me.

Please, Rayaw. Please, hear it. Please, come to my rescue. Please!

“It’s fitting that you should come to me like this,” Ges said. “After all, you are the one responsible for me losing my position. Fate has seen fit to give you to me, offering me a second chance to get back everything you took from me. Of all the heirlooms I took, none are more valuable than you. Rayaw will give me anything I ask. In fact, he will give me everything. He won’t hesitate. He is a fool when it comes to love.”

I realized with keen horror that he was right. Rayaw really would hand over everything he owned to get me back. I felt sick at the idea of Ges taking everything from him. But there was something worse than that.

There was the knock-on effect of being unable to help the palace staff as we needed the seed money that would now be in Ges’ possession.

And if Ges became the owner of the palace and all its associated wealth, well, it was only a matter of time before he squandered it, and then what would happen to the staff? They would have no chance to leave and improve their situation elsewhere.

All of Rayaw’s plans would come to nothing.

All because I was thirsty for a glass of water…

I knew I shouldn’t blame myself, but I felt responsible for what had happened. I wanted to cry but steeled myself against it. It would hardly help me in my current situation.

Then I became aware of just how quiet Ges had become. He peered down at me through his tiny eyes, an expression coming across his face that I was only used to seeing on Rayaw’s face.

It was Steyatt, after all…

Fear shot through me like a virus.

“In the meantime,” Ges said, “we might as well enjoy ourselves… Well, when I said ourselves, I meant myself. You might not have such a fun experience.”

He leaned down and pressed his hand against my mouth. He reached for the front of my nightie and squeezed a breast.

I screamed around his fist but there was little chance anyone would hear it.

10

RAYAW

The scream was wailing and high-pierced and shot through me like a bolt of lightning. It didn’t help that Camila had been in trouble in my dreams, struggling against powerful captors with shining golden eyes.

There was nothing I could do but watch from behind the prison bars of sleep. Instinctively, I knew it was nothing more than a nightmare, nothing but my ultimate fears playing out before me. Such a thing wasn’t possible in the palace when we were surrounded by guards on every side.

So, when Camila in the dream opened her mouth and screamed, her mouth forming a terrified “O” shape, I expected for it to be silent, to not really exist, that it was all a figment of my imagination—the same way I never quite found the ground when I stumbled over a cliff—yet another common dream of loss of control that struck me from time to time.

In fact, it seemed to happen a lot more often since I had taken up residence in the palace. Sometimes I thought it was better not to have anything, to live in squalor, because at least then you knew who your enemies were, what they looked like, and how to overcome them.

But the scream was loud and shrill and filled my ears. I immediately sensed it wasn’t just an imagined scream, but real. The cry shivered with hollow outrage and disgust.

My eyes burst open and my limbs flew out to either side, my legs flailing beneath the silk sheets that had seemed like heaven personified when I’d cuddled Camila up close last night, but now felt like a prison as they restricted my freedom of movement.

I immediately pulled my arms back for fear I would accidentally strike Camila lying beside me.

I panted and peered about the room, thankful it had all just been a dream, that none of it was real and had been a consequence of the fears I had bubbling up inside me about what might happen to Camila now that she was by my side.

I had too many enemies and they all wanted me dead, or at the very least out of the way, and the easiest way to achieve that now was through Camila.

She was in danger because of me.

I had never thought of our relationship that way before, but as we traveled along the long open roads of the informal dirt paths crisscrossing my estate, I realized just how exposed we were.

I was afraid for Camila. I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I needed for her to be safe.

Even if it meant she couldn’t be anywhere near me?

---