I slid my finger over the blade, realizing it was not a blunted tip. “Are we fighting with real swords today?”
He nodded. “And I really enjoy having all my parts and pieces when we finish, pauper, so watch your thrusts. I want you to take it slow, your movements that is, and concentrate on what you are doing. This isn’t about who finishes faster today. It’s about precision.”
My mouth dry, I licked my lips. “We already know who finishes first.”
Royce’s eyes burned with heat. “Tsk, tsk, pauper. Sexual tension is not going to distract me.”
I pursed my lips in a smile. “We will see about that, king. Are we going to talk all day or actually do something?”
Royce moved so fast that I didn’t even get the last word out before he was on me, forcing me to block his thrusts. He hadn’t lied; his thrusts were slower, as if they were moving through sand, but still just as dangerous.
The swords clanged together loudly, and I started to break out in a sweat the more he came at me, though never close enough to nick any part of my body. “Watch my hands,” he said as I successfully blocked each thrust. “You can never go wrong from watching your opponent’s hands, especially if it’s just sword play.”
“And if it’s not?” I asked, breathing heavily as I blocked another parry.
“Then all bets are off,” he answered, a hint of a grin on his face.
We danced around each other for over an hour, my hand starting to vibrate from the clangs of our swords together. “Good, pauper,” Royce said as I blocked a particularly hard angle. “You’re getting better.”
I lowered my sword. “Can we take a break?” I felt like I had gone through the shower and forgotten to dry off with the amount of sweat that was pushing through my pores.
“Sure,” Royce said. “Want water?”
I nodded and he walked over behind the small stand that served as the money podium, producing two water bottles in his hands. “Good thing I brought two.”
I grinned as he handed me one, our fingers brushing as I took it. The shiver down my spine wasn’t just my imagination, that was for sure. “How often do you come here instead of your home?”
Royce arched a brow, a naughty grin on his face. “You want to know how many times I come, pauper? Surely you can figure out my stamina by now.”
“Oh my God, Royce,” I groaned, unscrewing the cap. “Is that all you think about these days?”
He did the same, holding the bottle up to his lips. “Hell yeah, pauper. Don’t you?”
Well, I hadn’t until I had met him. Now every statement to him was full of sexual innuendo.
Royce took a long draw off his water bottle, wiping his mouth with his hand. “I come here when I have a shitload of homework. Believe it or not, I do better studying in the library.”
“I can’t believe it,” I said, replacing the cap. “A king? Studying? That’s got to be a picture-worthy moment.”
He grinned. “We have to get through somehow. Our sexual nature won’t help us graduate or I would be gone by now.”
I rolled my eyes, setting my water bottle aside. I enjoyed this time with Royce, joking around like this. It was easy for me to do so if I conveniently forgot that he was a king and likely after my birthright.
He seemed almost normal.
Could a king be normal? Probably not, but it was a nice thought anyway.
“Hey, pauper?”
I looked up at Royce. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got news for you.”
My ears perked up, pushing aside my thoughts about normal kings and Royce’s true intentions. “What kind of news?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I’ve found your mother’s grave.”
All the air left my lungs and I stumbled back against the ring, my legs suddenly wobbly. My mom’s grave? “Wh-what do you mean?”
He had the grace to look apologetic, as if what he was telling me was hard for him too. “My contacts. They have tracked down a grave and based on what they can figure out, they think your mother might be buried there.”
I stared at him, not believing the words he was telling me. I had already attempted to accept the part that my mother was dead and likely killed by my father, unfortunately, but to know that I could visit her—I didn’t know what to think.
Royce took a few steps forward to me, gently wrapping his hands around my arms. “I’m sorry, pauper.”
“Where?” I forced out.
His eyes were sorrowful. “England. They think they have found her in England.”
I crumpled against him and he gathered me close. “Ah, pauper,” he whispered, his breaths stirring my hair. “Bloody hell, I’m sorry.”
I willed the tears to come, but they wouldn’t. My mother was truly dead. I could go see where he had buried her, where she had been put to rest.
I could talk to her.
After years of wondering where my mom might be, I was so close to being with her.
Royce’s hand rubbed my back lightly. “We can go there this weekend if you want. They have a sample of her DNA and all they need is yours to compare it to. I’ve pulled some strings. You could know in a day or so.”
Go to England? My mom’s DNA? This was like some weird TV show, not my life. I pulled back, looking up at Royce. “I can’t go to England.”
He frowned. “Yes, you can. I can get the transportation and everything. You can even stay at my family’s estate. My parents are in Austria right now. There won’t be anyone there save you and me.”
While any other girl would have girly-squealed about being alone with Royce for an entire weekend at
