Strike at Midnight(95)

“They called me ‘dog,’ and forced the servants to do the same. That was after I was punished to the point where I truly believed I deserved my new position as a servant in my own family home. So no. They did not treat me well.”

The prince didn’t say anything to that, so I dared to look in his direction. He was clamping his jaw together as if he was angry for me.

“Kaleb was the one who dished out my stepmother’s punishments,” I said, unable to stop as his eyes held mine. “He beat me to the point where I could no longer stand, but he was careful to hide his marks on me. As per my stepmother’s request.”

“Is this the man you think you killed?” he asked through gritted teeth, and he was visibly shaking with anger.

“He had started to look at me in a different way when I turned fourteen,” I said, feeling my pulse start to quicken as he penetrated me with those beautiful gray eyes. The intensity in them almost took my breath away. “I didn’t like it. And he often said he would be keeping my bed warm soon.”

“What did you do?”

“I hid a sharp rock that I found while out feeding the chickens, and kept it close to hand when I slept. It proved to be one of the best things I ever did.”

“He came for you.”

“I woke up when I felt his hands beneath my nightgown, and I couldn’t stop myself when my fingers wrapped around the rock. He’d apparently found my breaking point.” Tears dropped down onto my cheeks as the gut-wrenching fear and anger came back to me as if it were only yesterday. “I thought I could get through it. That I could stay in the background until my stepmother found a match for one of my stepsisters. She often said how our home was nothing but a rustic hellhole and that she couldn’t wait to get out of there. So I thought if I waited it out, I could at least get my home back. But I couldn’t let him do what he desired. I couldn’t.” The sobs hit me from nowhere and all the control that I had mastered in my training with Jacque melted away. “I stabbed, stabbed him in the neck,” I said in between rapid breaths. “And there was so much blood.” I clenched my fists together as if I could still feel it on my skin. “I grabbed my hidden sack that held only my mother’s glass slippers, a painting of my father, and some stale bread, and got the hell out of there. I didn’t look back.”

The prince slowly got up out of his seat, and I could only look at his feet as he moved across the room. Would he look at me in the same way now? Now that he knew what I was actually capable of? How tainted I was?

My chin felt warm as I realized it was from the light pressure of his fingers turning me to face him, and I blinked away the tears to try and focus on his face.

He wiped them away, one by one until he was certain every tear was removed from my skin. Then he just slowly drew me against him, holding my smelly head against his heart.

“If that man isn’t already dead,” he said with such ferocity that I barely heard him, “I will kill him myself.”

More tears formed and dropped from my eyes onto his chest. I tried not to care that him holding me made a difference. And I tried not to be shaken to the core by the venom in his voice when he had said those words about killing Kaleb.

“With all the power I have in me,” he said as he rubbed a hand up and down my back. “No person will ever hurt you again.”

Feelings and emotions churned in me so hard that I couldn’t get a handle on what was going on. This was not what I had been expecting to happen.

“You can’t marry me,” I whispered, and he gently urged me back so he could look at me.

“Why not?” he asked, and he brought a thumb up to my cheek to wipe away another tear.

“I told you, I’m broken,” I said, not knowing why those words popped out of my mouth. “You deserve someone who can be a true princess. One who can be lovingly guided by you, and who supports you. Not someone like me who gets a thrill from hunting people, and with a foul mouth that would make your father weep.”

He smiled and pulled me to him so he could kiss my forehead.

“You’re not broken for what happened to you,” he said against my skin, before leaning back. “And you are a true princess to me. You have stirred things up inside me that I haven’t questioned for a very long time. You’ve made me start to think like a true ruler should. You were right with what you said back at the fountain, and I’ve discussed the same with my father. We don’t have enough interest in our people, and we believe too readily what we are told by the Royal Court. You can show us the truth; you can help us right past wrongs for all of Carena.” He chuckled. “And I’m sure my father has already heard every word that can come out of your mouth.”

Wait. Did I just hear right? I leaned back to see that he was grinning.

“I know the words too,” he said. “And I think you’re quite a charming contradiction of a lady.”

“I told you, I’m not a lady,” I said, but I was tiring of the same argument. Who was I to judge if he wanted to think of me as one?

“Oh yes you are,” he replied. “You’re the strongest lady I have ever had the good grace to meet.” He stroked my hair back from my face. “Let me be the one to show you exactly how much of a lady you are. To treat you as you should be treated.”

The lustful promise in his voice made me take a sharp breath. What the hell is he doing to me?