Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“Please, Ev! I’m serious,” he snapped. His voice cracked, and his hands shook so badly that he had to squeeze them into fists.
The prince closed the distance between them in a flash and grasped Hugo’s hands, which now felt like blocks of ice. “Hugo, you’re scaring me. Talk to me. What’s wrong?” As he spoke, he ushered Hugo over to a chair.
Hugo swallowed hard. “I can’t sit. I’m too nervous. You sit. It’s important for me to explain everything. Why we met. I’m just terrified that you’re going to hate me.”
Everand’s expression softened. He took the seat but held on to Hugo’s hands, squeezing them gently. “Nothing you could do would make me hate you. I don’t believe it.”
“You trust me, but I’ve lied. To you. Your mother. I’m not who you think I am. Or who your mother thinks I am. And after I tell her the truth, she could have me executed. At the very least, she’ll never allow me to see you again. Not that you’d want to see me.”
“Hugo, my heart, you’re not making any sense,” Everand said gently.
The endearment was the bit Hugo needed to spit out what was gnawing him hollow. “I can’t spin straw into gold.”
Everand sat perfectly still for a heartbeat as a myriad of emotions flashed across his face. Hugo couldn’t identify most of them, but he seemed to settle on incredulous.
“Who would ever think you could? That’s nonsense,” he scoffed.
“Your mother.”
“What?”
Hugo dragged in a deep, fortifying breath and pulled free of Everand’s grasp so he could start pacing. “At the Winthrop ball weeks ago, Lady Hawthorne overheard my mother making outlandish claims that I could spin straw into gold. No one believed her because it was so impossible, but Lady Hawthorne carried the story back to the queen. The day before we first met—at the luncheon—she summoned my mother and me to the palace. Rather than admit that she exaggerated at the ball, my mother…lied to the queen.” Hugo swallowed hard and forced the words out of his mouth. “I had no choice. To protect my mother, I told the queen that I had told my mother I had such a skill. The queen demanded I prove it.”
“I don’t understand. How did you prove it? Did you confess the truth to her?”
Hugo shook his head. “She locked me in a room with straw and a spinning wheel. Just as I was contemplating throwing myself out the window—rather than having my head chopped off—a strange man appeared and agreed to spin the straw into gold for me. The next day, gold replaced the straw, and the queen was happy. I thought that would be the end of it. Especially after our fateful first meeting.”
Everand flashed him a weak smile. “I was sure you were another of my mother’s horrible attempts at matchmaking. If I could get you to hate me, you’d never return.”
“You were my reward for spinning the straw into gold.” Hugo rocked his head from side to side and corrected himself. “Well, that and being allowed to live.” But the amusement that flitted through Hugo withered quickly. “However, when the rewards were delivered to my house for saving you…” Hugo paused to give the prince a stern look.
“You did save me, but continue.”
“I also received an invitation to the ball from the queen that instructed me to arrive days in advance. I had a dark feeling she’d require me to spin more straw into gold, but I thought I would have the chance to talk to her upon arriving. My plan had been to confess immediately and beg for mercy. But I was taken directly to a room filled with straw and a spinning wheel. There was no chance to talk to your mother. Once again, the stranger appeared and handled the task for me.” Hugo held up one finger. “As an aside, I do not know if you are aware of this strange man wandering about the palace. He seems harmless enough, but he’s always wearing a mask and ragged clothes. You might want to speak to the captain of the royal guards about him. I don’t want him hurt because he’s been very nice to me, but I don’t want you hurt either.”
Everand grinned and rose from the chair. He grasped Hugo’s tense shoulders and squeezed. “I know the person you speak of, and he is an odd friend of the family.”
Hugo exhaled. That was a relief at least. “I need to tell your mother the truth. I can’t spin straw into gold. Maybe she won’t kill me, but there’s no way she’ll ever allow me to see you. I’m no one, Everand. Certainly not worthy of a prince’s notice. I—”
His trembling words were cut off as Everand’s mouth crashed into his, stealing away all his voice. Hugo wrapped his arms around him and kissed him with everything he had, afraid that it might be their last kiss. He wanted to memorize everything about it, burn it into his brain so deeply that it became part of him for the rest of his days. The velvety feel of his lips. The rich taste of his mouth. The hauntingly crisp, woodsy scent that tickled his nose. The crushing weight of his arms. They were all so perfectly Everand.