Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Part of me felt stupid, he didn’t care about me, he didn’t smile back at me when I smiled at him, he looked at me like I was a puzzle or something to fix when I was trained in every way to be the perfect wife.
I scrambled after him, reaching for an arm that kept pumping in such a fast walk I nearly face planted. “Hey, I have to talk to you.”
“So talk.” He kept walking until he was down the stairs in the foyer, then out the door getting into a waiting black Maserati.
I ran on my heels to my side of the car and got in. I didn’t even have my cell phone on me, money, my purse, or a coat. I just jumped in like an idiot.
He said nothing, he just took off and started driving, sending my body sailing back into the leather seat, giving me whiplash. “So?”
“So.” I took a calming breath and clasped my hands together, shivering in my seat. He quickly turned the seat warmers on and kept driving at alarming speeds, he shifted, and kept going. I scrambled for my seatbelt and put it on. “Where are you going?”
“Out.” I would have preferred he snapped at me, instead he said it calmly.
I was barely able to stop rolling my eyes. “Yes, I see that.”
“Let me be more specific, away from you, and the castle, and the pressure, and probably to the cabin in the woods that you never even knew existed but belonged to my father. I have thoughts, feelings, things that need to be done, so it’s the place I go to sometimes grab an axe and passionately chop firewood.”
I wasn’t ready for that sort of answer. Without any clothes, or toothbrush, or my cell phone, I strapped in and said, “Okay. Off we go.”
His leather gloves twisted on the steering wheel, his smile was almost mean. “Brave of you.”
“Gonna kill me in the woods?”
“Forgot my special Christmas axe, wouldn’t want to waste it on the old one, especially for the death of a princess, the handle might come clean off, then where would we be?”
“How depressing for your axe.”
“Indeed.”
I gulped and stared out the window as it started to snow. “I don’t like you.”
“You’ve made that.” He increased his speed. “Abundantly clear. Sometimes I don’t like me, do we even ever at all times like ourselves? No. The point is, we have a job to do so even if you have to stare at me the rest of your life, is it not worth the extreme sacrifice for those you do love, for your people, for the Kingdoms? Maybe start thinking about that. I’m crass. I’m rude. I’m all the things you hate. But at the end of the day, my only focus is the three kingdoms, at the very least. Respect that.”
I was quiet the entire time.
It was only an hour away
Christmas music was played, but no more conversation was had, and I had to admit that deep shame washed over me. He may not have been trained the way I was or grown up with the privilege I did.
But he understood the job.
Even if we had to sacrifice it all, it wasn’t about us. This is what we were born into.
Fight for your country. Lead them right. And most importantly, think of them first.
Snow started to come down in sheets. I tried not to focus on it through the windshield because it was making me dizzy. Maybe I sighed too many times.
But suddenly a hand reached across and grabbed mine, clutching it tight.
Zautland didn’t look at me, but whispered, “Close your eyes.”
Chapter Four
Zautland
We weren’t going to make it.
I didn’t come out and say that, but I knew it the minute the snow started pouring down. It wasn’t going to happen.
It quickly turned into a blizzard, which quickly turned into a whiteout.
The car was starting to spin on the snow filled road and we had no water, no food, nothing but my phone, which would lose service soon and ten minutes at the very least left to go until we hit the cabin.
We had to hike.
That’s all I kept thinking as I held her hand.
There was no driving up to the cabin and the only place that had anything we needed was a ten-minute drive, possibly a thirty-minute walk, depending on the weather.
I pulled over immediately. “Take this.” I handed over my jacket to Samira and cut the engine, snow was piling up too fast and I knew the hill would be too tall and that I couldn’t actually see up it clear enough to get us there.
I checked the tank.
We had enough to make it, but not enough to last the night if we waited in the car. Guess that axe would come in handy after all.
“Okay.” I had to say it out loud. “Okay,” I said it again, maybe for me, not for her. “We either walk to the cabin, build a fire and survive, or we stay here and try to fight through overnight.”