Player's Princess (A Royal Sports Romance)(129)

“Even more, then. Fear is not the end of bravery, it is the beginning. It is easy to be defiant against the powerless. You’re right. I have total sovereignty over my lands. I’m the last absolute monarch in the world. I can do whatever I want. Have whatever I want.”

“You can’t have me,” I say firmly. “You can drag me to the altar, put a ring on my finger, hold me down and use me, but you’ll never have me. I’ll never love you.”

“Persephone…”

“Stop calling me that.”

“You who have so much concern for my people. Think of what will happen if I am gone with no one to take my place. Anarchy. All of this will fall apart and the technology I’ve shown you will spread beyond my borders, to men who will use it not as I have, but to do the very things you accuse me of doing.”

“Very eloquent, but I’m not going to be a monster’s little pet.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to go home.”

“You’d be executed by your own government. I will not allow that. You are too precious.”

“Then let me see my friend.”

“I can do that.”

“Let me see some people. I don’t care about your fancy robotic garbage trucks, I want to see some other human beings besides the ones who bring you your shoes in the morning. I want to go out there. You keep telling me how beautiful your country is, so show me.”

“Very well. Sleep now. Pull on that rope when you wake, and I will come for you and give you what you want.”

“You can’t buy my affection with kindness.”

“I know. That is why I want it.”

“This is dumb. There’s no such thing as love at first sight. You might be a prince, but I’m no princess and this is no fairy tale.”

“It could be, if you want. Anything you want, I can give you.”

“I want a choice,” I say, sitting up.

I realize the blankets fell away from my chest and snatch them back up, my blush deepening.

“You could almost fool me,” I tell him. “You’re beautiful on the outside but there’s a cold, twisted thing in there.” I point at his chest. “Without an ounce of feeling or compassion.”

“You don’t know me.”

“You don’t know me, so asking me to marry you is just a touch presumptuous, don’t you think?”

“Yes. That is what princes do, they presume.”

I snort and fall back into the pillows.

“I want to go home. Please.”

“After doing anything you could to get away from it?”

I roll my eyes. “What are you, my therapist now?”

He shrugs. “It strikes me that wherever you are, you seek an escape from it.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He’s cutting a little too close. I feel my lip tremble.

That balcony is out there and it’s quite a drop. All I’d have to do is sit on that ledge, swing my legs over, and…

I pinch my eyes shut.

“I know what it’s like for the whole world to feel like a prison. For every wall to lock you out.”

“You told me you’d tell me what happened to the girl you were supposed to marry.”

He flinches, as if something about the way I said it sets him off.

“My brother killed her. Then I killed him. He was insane.”

“Jesus Christ. I’m sorry.”

“None of this was supposed to be mine,” he says very softly, and stands. “I will take you to see your friend when you wake up. Sleep now if you like. I can have something brought from the library, if it pleases you. Anything you require, pull the rope to send for a servant.”

I roll over on my side, away from him. “You can’t bribe me into liking you.”

“My father had an arranged marriage, as did his father and his father before him.”

“Yadda yadda five hundred years,” I cut in.

“Your insolence is not amusing.”

I smirk a little, where he can’t see.

“My mother did not love my father when they married. You would not have known it from seeing her when he died.”

“Where is she?”

“She died, too.”

“So you’re alone.”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

I turn over, but the door has already banged shut, leaving me in the dark. I felt a little pang of sympathy for him there, I admit it. It’s a terrible thing to be alone, and creature comforts don’t make up for the touch of another human being.

“Magua’s heart is twisted. He would make himself into what twisted him,” I say aloud.

I wonder if the prince has read that book, too.

I don’t usually sleep on my back, but I’m fairly exhausted. My eyes close eventually and I fall asleep before I realize what’s happened. Waking almost startles me. The same as yesterday, it takes me a moment to adjust to my surroundings.

I keep expecting my eyes to really open, to wake up in camp like some crazy Twilight Zone episode, but no, I’m actually here. I kick out from under the covers and reach for the rope.

No, I should dress first.

I bathe quickly, brush my hair and pull it into a ponytail, and choose a dress almost at random, one of the plainest ones on the rack. I wish I had some actual pants to put on.I’m getting sick of the dresses. It’s a pale yellow and covers me up a bit more than the green one I had on yesterday.