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)
Twenty-Two
The dungeon was about what he’d expected. Cold, damp stone walls underground. Flickering torches left long streaks of soot. An old rancid stench hung in the air. Not so much that it gagged him, but enough that Hugo couldn’t quite escape the smell. It was still only the middle of spring, so the temperature was quite cool, biting through the material of his now stained and filthy tuxedo jacket. When Hugo gazed at himself, he almost laughed. Tossed into a dungeon wearing a tuxedo designed by the royal tailor. He couldn’t appear more out of place.
The guards stopped at one cell, opened it, removed the rope from Everand’s hands, and shoved him inside before closing the door with a loud, metallic bang. They took Hugo to the next cell and repeated the same actions. The second he could move his arms, pain shot down both of them. Circulation returned, along with pins and needles in every nerve ending.
Thankfully, iron bars separated their cells rather than a stone wall. Hugo rushed over to Everand’s cell and shoved his hands between the bars. Everand clasped his icy hands and rested his forehead on Hugo’s.
“My treasure, I’m so sorry about this. You should never have been dragged here. I never want to see you come to any kind of harm,” Everand murmured.
“Were you serious all those times you talked about us being together? Even the silly cottage in the woods with the rabbits. Did you mean it?” Hugo asked.
Everand jerked his head up, and his deep-sapphire-blue eyes glittered in the thin torchlight. “Yes, of course! You’re my treasure, and I want to be with you always.”
“Then this is part of your life, too. Being a royal isn’t all balls and brunches, right? There’s danger that comes with it. I need to see that too if I’m to understand your life. I want to share everything I can with you.”
Everand sighed and leaned on the bars again. His thumb rubbed back and forth across Hugo’s fingers. “Sure, but what if you decide I’m not worth it? Being rich is nice and fun, but people try to kill me or kidnap me every once in a while. It’s rather annoying.”
A hint of a smile played on Hugo’s lips as his lover tried to downplay all the worries that surrounded him, but it didn’t mean Hugo’s heart didn’t ache for Everand. “If I weren’t willing to stick by your side through this, it would mean I’m not worthy of you. I’m here because I want to be.”
“You are worthy, Hugo. Never doubt it. And I am glad that you’re here, even if that makes me a selfish bastard. I just feel that with you at my side, we can figure out how to fix this mess.”
Relief swept through Hugo at his words, but he didn’t miss how exhausted Everand looked. “Why don’t we sit? Or maybe you could go lie down on that straw, try to get some sleep?”
“Sitting here is enough. I want to be close to you for a little while.”
Hugo slid to the filthy stone floor and held Everand’s hand through the bar. It was cold and damp, but Everand’s hand was warm and strong.
“Um…I don’t want to pry…”
Everand huffed out a weary laugh and leaned his head against the bars. “You have every right to know why we’re in here, and it’s because of my grandparents as well as Victor’s grandparents.”
“That…was not the answer I was expecting to hear, but I’m getting the feeling that it would explain why you and King Victor look similar.”
“Yes, Victor and I are technically cousins. Or…maybe half cousins. It’s…messy.”
Hugo blinked. That only made him more confused. “Oh. Wow.”
“I don’t know all the details. My father wouldn’t tell me much, and grandmother never spoke of it, but it all started about fifty years ago. King Philip—my grandfather—met and fell in love with a young woman named Victoria Gromwell. Yet, before he could arrange their marriage, because marrying a royal is never a simple thing, King Dominic of Wulia swept in and brokered a deal with Victoria’s father, forcing her to marry the king of Wulia. She warned Dominic that she loved Philip and would never be happy, but he didn’t give a damn. Not long after the wedding, she discovered she was pregnant with Dominic’s son. Obviously, she had to stay with him, but Philip continued to sneak messages to her, professing his love. A year or so after Prince Xavier was born, she escaped Wulia with my grandfather and came to Branem. Within a few months of arriving in Frostbourne, she divorced Dominic and married King Philip. She then gave birth to her second child, who is my father, King Hubert.”
“But what about Prince Xavier? Did she take him with her to Branem?”
Everand shook his head. “No, she left him behind with his father, King Dominic. While no one has ever admitted it, I think the rationale was that Dominic might give up an unfaithful wife, but he would never let go of his first-born son and heir to the Wulian throne. She didn’t have any choice if she wanted to be with my grandfather.”