Page 2 of Royal Hunt
Gregory’s father owned the land that bordered my family’s farm, so naturally we’d grown up in each other’s company. Gregory was passably handsome, charming, and a good friend. His hair was a darker shade of brown that suited him and his heavy brow well, along with the square jaw that most of the men in his family favored. His eyes matched his hair, though I knew they lightened to a honey hue when they caught a bit of sunlight. It was a damn shame I couldn’t marry him, but my father had made that clear early on. Gregory’s family wasn’t rich enough, wasn’t grandenough….I shook my head. My father ruined enough of my life. I wasn’t about to let him intrude upon me anymore than he already did.
I held my hand out to Gregory, who kissed it with familiarity, his lips just grazing the top of my knuckles. Spending time with him was like putting on a pair of worn boots or covering up with your favorite cloak. It was warm and familiar.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” I remarked. “Weren’t you being sent away for schooling?” It had largely been unspoken between us, but we both knew we were rapidly approaching the age when everything would change. I’d be married off, and he’d be sent to become a knight or learn a higher trade, as was fitting for the third son of a minor lord. That was the only way he’d be able to attract a bride with a dowry, after all. I was practically already an old maid at twenty and three.
Gregory’s fingers lingered against mine until I drew back. He sighed, his expression uncharacteristically serious. “Father has it in his head that I can pick out a bride before all of that. He wants to have a contract drawn up before I leave.” His eyes searched mine. “I had to see you once more. I wanted to reassure you that everything will work out. I wouldn’t worry about Cadgan if I were you.”
His smile was slightly off, and I frowned. Gregory was bright, but never cryptic; he preferred to wear his emotions on his sleeve. Riddles and puzzles were trifles he’d never had the patience for.
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He grasped my hand again, bringing it toward his face. I thought he was going to kiss it again, but instead he brought it to his cheek, his skin smooth with the last remaining vestiges of boyhood. My chest tightened at such an intimate gesture.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any feelings for Gregory. He’d been my constant companion since childhood despite my father’s best attempts to separate us. Gregory had been the one to teach me to hunt, to fight, to swear with the merchants at the market. He’d been the one to save up his spending money to buy me my own sword, which I hid in the barn behind a bunch of old, rusted harnesses. And when both of us had grown older and first noticed the other as a man and a woman, we’d . . . educated each other on the finer points of the opposite sex. Such an arrangement likely didn’t help the feelings I harbored for him. It was my own fault, but I didn’t regret any of it. Not for a moment.
But that happy, carefree boy was gone now. In his place was a serious young man who made my heart flutter with his caresses and heated looks. He tucked a strand of my rebellious hair away from my face, frowning when I flinched. It wasn’t his fault, I hated being reminded of how horrid my hair was.
“Gregory, what are you talking about? Speak plainly,” I insisted, tired of riddles.
He put a finger to my lips, silencing me. I was unnerved by the fierceness of his expression.
“When it starts,” he began, “just do what you’re told.”
I scoffed at such vague advice, and bit back a nasty retort. Honestly, it was like he didn’t even know me sometimes.
“When what starts?” I demanded. “Father wants me to have unchaperoned time with Cadgan tonight. I’m sure you know how that will end,” I muttered darkly.
Gregory’s eyes widened in alarm.
“But you’re not a—”
My face flushed. “I hardly see how that’s relevant.”
His eyebrow raised. “Well, we could tell your father how we—”
“Shut up!” I whispered frantically, punching him in his arm. “My life is already ruined, I’m not going to take you down with me!”
Gregory rolled his eyes. “Like I said, I wouldn’t worry about Cadgan much longer.”
He had the audacity to wriggle his eyebrows at me and then kissed my hand once more. I sighed as he backed up, disappearing into the large crowd inside with ease. Gregory had always been more outgoing than me.
I blew a strand of hair in out of my eyes. It was a shame I couldn’t just tell my father about the both of us. We’d been each other’s first everything, and I meanteverything.The girls back home swooned over Gregory, but where do they think he learned his tricks? My father would be furious if he found out, but it might not be enough to call off the marriage to Cadgan. There wasn’t any proof.
It wasn’t like being caught with your skirts over your head during a royal banquet, after all.
I froze.
That was it.
If I did something shocking or embarrassing here at the party, Cadgan would have no choice but to call off the wedding! Father wouldn’t be able to sweep it under the rug if I was caught publicly. And not only that, but I doubted anyone else would be interested in marriage after such a scandal! I could live out my days in peace at the manor, taking long walks and caring for the horses.
It was perfect.
Now all I had to do was seduce someone dumb enough to take the bait.
A loud belch cut through the quiet night air, scaring the shit out of me.
Two
