“And for someone who’s seen it all, you seem to know very little.”
She laughed and leaned forward smacking her hand on my thigh. I glanced at her dainty fingers and her cheeks blanched as she ripped it away, sliding her palm down her thigh as if to erase the action.
I shrugged and gave a reassuring chuckle until a crooked smile crested her lips. “Someone needed to keep my father entertained.”
And apparently, keep his secret.
"Closing time. Sir. Ma'am.” Mr. Takka appeared in front of us and nodded toward the clock on the wall. His kind stare flitted between the two of us. "But if you need me to stay open I can?”
I glanced at my nearly empty glass, the gravity of going home and dealing with my abomination of a father sitting heavy between my shoulders just in the fleshy spot beneath my neck and pushing me down to the stool.
"I've probably had enough for tonight." I turned to Veda, a slight kernel of anticipation growing in my stomach. "Unless you'd like to stay?"
She leaned back and stretched her arms, a soft squeal coming from her throat. "I should probably get home too."
She slipped her hand into her pocket and slid a wrinkled twenty baht across the bar.
I slammed my hand on top of the bill. “You don’t have to pay. It’s on me.”
“I’d rather not.” She wriggled the paper from beneath my fingers and leaned over the bar to deposit it on the lower counter, out of reach. “I prefer to pay my own way.”
She gave me one last lazy smile, loose and carefree, a sudden pang surging through my chest.
She rested her hand on my arm, her fingertips cold through the thin cotton of my sleeve. "And about what I said before, about being king. I never said you didn’t have the potential to be a great king, I just don’t think you’re there yet.”
She cast another smile my way, then retreated to the corner, piling her books into a perfect stack.
I gulped the last mouthful from my glass and closed my eyes concentrating on the frothy ale as it slid down my throat. Veda’s word cascaded through my head, every one of her stories replaying in a calming loop. How she lived by herself up on the mountain. The dreams she had about one day leaving Aboria. Her hopes for a better future. As I recounted each of her words, a peculiar feeling washed over me. I didn’t want her to leave.
"Hey, Veda." I spun around on my stool, the ale and the lateness of the evening kept my head on the carousel even after my feet stopped moving. The single table in the corner sat empty, only the click of the front door in its frame answered for her.
2
21st May
You have the potential to be a great king...just not yet. Veda’s words echoed on a loop in my mind, twisting and writhing through my brain like the matted high thread count sheets wrapped around my body as I tossed and turned. Who did she think she was anyway? No one in the kingdom would have the tenacity or sheer gall to speak to me that way. Is that why I couldn’t stop thinking about the strange slip of a girl who lurked in the corner of my favorite tavern? Or maybe it was the lack of malice? When she’d ripped into me earlier, I could see the rage seething beneath her skin, but when she whispered those words in the dim light of early morning they lacked venom. Her wide emerald eyes twinkled with hope. Honesty. She actually believed in me. Why? Who the heck knows?
I unraveled myself from my bed and hung my feet over the side, digging my toes into the softness of the brocade rug covering the cold stone floor. But what if she was wrong and I’d never be great? Groaning, I rubbed my hands over my face trying to scrub out the memory of last night. Of Veda. Of everything.
Grrrrr!
A loud growl accompanied the smash of breaking glass off towards the west wing. I jumped to my feet and grabbed a robe from the armchair by my bed and rushed into the hall. Staff scurried through the corridors, heads down, or grim expressions held tight in fear from the ones who dared to make eye contact.
“That’s it. Thank you all, but we will not be needing your services today. Please head back to the servant’s quarters.” Griswold clapped his hands as his voice boomed over the pending chaos. “Thank you. Move along.”
I tugged at his jacket. “What’s happening? Is it…?”
Griswold nodded, his lips in a tight grave line.
“But I thought my mother said she was taking care of things. That it would all be okay?”
All the light left in his expression drained. His advanced age showed even older than usual. “Things are worse than she expected. She’s gone to fetch a doctor.”
“She left him alone? Why couldn’t they send someone else?”
“This situation requires the utmost discretion, Your Highness. Besides, she has been by his side all night, she needs the break. Now I recommend going back to your chambers, at least for the time being.”
I stomped down, the smack of my bare foot on the stone surging through my leg. “I want to see him. My father. Take me to him, Griswold.”
“I can’t.” He placed a shaking hand on my shoulders and gently pushed me back down the hall.
I whirled around and planted my feet, the robe billowing around me like a cape. “I am the Crown Prince of Aboria and I
