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  I swallowed my acerbic response. “Is that normal? Like, I got the impression that any little declaration of feelings for someone was a big, permanent thing here. How is it Morgan can just take whoever she likes while being married to someone, but everyone else treats a first date like it’s till-death-do-us-part?”

  “Her majesty most high can do as she pleases. She works hard to make sure Province 1 is most profitable, so she takes her spoils where she can get them.”

  “And you, you’re my mother’s spoils?” My heart sank when it dawned on me that my mother had sent one of her former gigolos to do the wild thang with me. Ick. Of all the things I wanted to share with my new mother, penises wasn’t one of them.

  Demi shrugged. “Of course. I was one of her favorites for a time. I’ve warmed Duchess Avril’s bed, too. Her majesty most high loans me out as a gift when things get tense between the provinces and need smoothing over. There are a few of us who serve that purpose.”

  My mouth dropped to the floor. “You’ve had sex with my mother and one of my aunts?”

  Demi nodded slowly, as if I was stupid. “Of course. That’s my purpose. I’m here to make the crown easier to bear.”

  I motioned between us, needing to spit out the thing I was dancing around. “Is that why you were sent to me?” I jerked my thumb toward the bed, unable to say “sex”. Somehow the word choked my throat and deserted me completely, as if it knew it had no business being anywhere near my body. I mean, hello. I’d only just had my first kiss. Sure, I was a late bloomer, but that didn’t mean that just because I got my training wheels off, suddenly I was ready for a motorcycle.

  “Of course. But if you prefer one of the others, it’s completely within your rights to request someone else.” He angled his chin toward the empty bed. We were still on our knees on the floor, his eyes boring into me, begging me not to send him away. “I get the feeling that I may not be pleasing to you.”

  My eyes widened as I chewed on my bottom lip. “You’re supposed to be here to help me chill out, and show me the ropes, right?”

  “Whatever you need.”

  “And it’s some big deal to get chosen for this? Like, this is what you want out of your career?”

  “It’s the greatest honor, second only to Rigby’s position serving her majesty most high.”

  I nodded, trying to take it all in. “Okay. Can I be honest with you?”

  “I’m superb at keeping secrets, yes.”

  I couldn’t look at Demi through my totally embarrassing confession. He was too handsome, and I was all kinds of awkward. “I… I… I just had my first kiss last month, and it ended in a crash with no bang. I’m still a little shellshocked from it all. So you and I? We’re, um, we’re not hitting that bed in the way you’re used to.” My voice dropped to almost a whisper, chagrinned that I was actually saying these things to the rock star-level hottie. “I sleep at night, though.” I rubbed the nape of my neck, nervous at asking for something so forward from a stranger I didn’t have any business flirting with so awkwardly. “Any chance you feel like catching up on your reading or whatever in bed with me while I sleep?” My cheeks turned pink at the blatant invitation, asking the stranger to be my Judah Band-aid. “Never mind. Forget I asked. That’s too weird. I promise I’m not like this – asking a guy I just met to snuggle me in bed. Ugh!” I held my forehead, wishing I could friggin’ be cool for one whole minute. “Just shut me up.”

  Demi’s mouth fell open. “Surely you can’t be a Daughter of Avalon and have never known a man’s touch.” When I didn’t take it all back and tell him I was joking, he shook his head, completely flummoxed. He seemed to come to himself when he took in my embarrassment, and softened. “Your majesty, of course I can stay with you while you sleep. I’m your personal servant.” He reached out and placed his hand on mine. “Don’t be afraid to do with me as you wish.”

  Would that Demi had a giant wart on the end of his nose or something that would make him less beautiful. “That’s what I wish. I just need someone to be nice to me. Morgan and I didn’t exactly hit it off. I don’t think she likes me. I could really use a friend who doesn’t bullshit me right about now.”

  Demi met my eyes and something clicked. We finally seemed to be on the same page, despite our worlds of difference. He stood gracefully, lifting me with ease and helping me into the tall bed. He pulled down the covers for me and even went so far as to tuck me in, like I was five. “You really want me to read a book while you sleep? That was a genuine offer?”

  “Sure. Why not? I’ll just be sleeping. Super boring for you.”

  He crossed his arms and stared at me in confusion. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting you to be so easy to deal with. Usually I’m going all night long.” He caught himself and tried to course-correct. “Of course, should you change your mind, nothing would give me more joy than guiding a beautiful maiden such as yourself. Your loveliness is—”

  I waved off his babbling. “Yeah, yeah. I’m the shiz. My vagina holds the keys to the Magical World of Wonderland. You don’t have to be so perfect around me. I need a friend, remember? You can relax.”

  Demi’s genuine grin was a thing of beauty. It took over his whole body, lifting his shoulders and painting his model-like face with pure light that seemed to glow from within. “Thank you, your majesty.”

  “It’s just Rosie. We’re having a slumber party, so do what you like to relax, and enjoy your night.”

  “I’ll be right back. Can I get you anything, your grace?”

  Instead of shrinking from what I wanted to say, I decided to be brave and let it fly. “Just your smile. Best thing I’ve seen all day.”

  “You’ve given me that, and far more. Thank you.” He bowed to me, and then disappeared out the door.

  Immediately I tore out of bed and ran to the window. I popped it open, letting loose a whistle to summon the nearest birds to me. “Hey, guys. Come on in here.” I gusted out a sigh of relief when four birds came racing in through the opening, lighting on my arms in the blue moon’s light that filtered in and mingled with the dim oil lamp in the corner. They chirped with gusto all the typical astonished greetings that I was the Voix, and all the joy this brought them.

  “Tell me about the water supply,” I asked, cutting to the chase. If the water in Province 1 had been tainted by a rival region when I first entered Avalon, I needed to make sure it wasn’t still happening. The birds assured me that the water was safe, and the animals in Province 1 were well-fed and had plenty of protection from the larger predators. They had plenty of complaints about the Queen’s Army, though, tromping through the woods and leaving their homes in ruins. There was an overwhelming consensus that the army didn’t respect the nature in the land they’d been entrusted to protect.

  “I’ll see what I can do, guys. Anything else I should know about if I’m staying here for a while? How can I help?”

  The birds didn’t waste any time tattling on the soldiers, tell me there was a spot in the woods where the soldiers took their spoils of war to defile them against their will. My voice darkened. “First thing tomorrow, I want you to take me there. Show me this spot.”

  “No! No! We would never take you there. You’re the Voix! We wouldn’t risk you like that.”

  “I won’t risk the women like that. If I’m there, that nonsense won’t go down. I have to shut it down. Thanks, guys.” They chirped their happiness to help. I whispered to them, checking over my shoulder to make sure I was alone. “I know Morgan’s stolen the jewels from the other provinces. Any chance you might know where she’s stashed them?”

  The birds looked at each other in confusion, admitting that they didn’t pay attention to things like jewels, but they’d do a search of the grounds for me, first thing. They even went so far as to promise they’d rally the other animals to enlist their help.

  “You guys are the best. But nothing conspicuous. You have to stay hidden from Morgan and her people. She can’t know what I’m looking for.”

  I l
oved the energy of birds. They were so chipper and happy to help. Plus, the aerial view of things was dead useful. “It’s too dark out to search for the jewels now. Why don’t you come sleep with me?”

  “We can sing you to sleep!” They offered, winning my heart and making me swoon with their sweetness.

  “You guys sure know how to make a girl feel at home. Thanks, babies.”

  I laid back down in the bed, making myself comfortable against one of the thirteen pillows. Like, actually thirteen pillows. Bonkers.

  The door opened, and the sound of Demi’s voice made me smile. “No! Shoo! Get away from the princess. I didn’t realize the window was open.”

  “Oh, I did that. These are my new friends. Do you mind if they stay with us?”

  Demi swore in astonishment. “You really are the Lost Princess. I mean, I knew it, but to see it in person? Incredible. They can truly understand you?”

  “I told them you were going to read to us,” I teased, hoping he would read to me without me having to admit my giant flaw to him. I couldn’t handle going from revered princess to Remedial Rosie in a night. Not in front of the hot guy.

  Demi grinned. “Well, with an audience like this, how could I say no? And how did you untuck yourself already? I was gone for only a few minutes.” Demi locked the door, and then latched the window before he settled into the bed beside me. His arm wrapped under me to bring my body tight to his, propping me up with pillows against the tall headboard, so we were cuddled together in our cave with the comforter pulled to our stomachs. My arm draped over his lap in a snuggly hug and squeezed his hips, our budding friendship starting on a much better note.

  He opened his dusty hardcover book and handed me a second one. “I didn’t know what you would like, so I brought a second option. I wasn’t sure you’d enjoy what I read. I don’t know any Commoner tales.”

  “Not even the classics? What about Romeo and Juliet?”

  Demi shrugged with a blank expression. “Why don’t you tell it to me?”

  I didn’t know how condensed to make the whole play without pissing off Shakespeare himself, so I started at the beginning and took an entire five minutes to work my way through the Cliff’s Notes version of the plot. By the end, Demi was gasping at all the right parts, enraptured by the story that Ninth Grade Literature professors everywhere never tired of teaching.

  “That was incredible! How very sad. So they both die? They never get to truly be together, as they were meant to be?”

  I shook my head. “Sometimes Juliet doesn’t get her Romeo. Shakespeare didn’t sugarcoat it for the viewers. Sometimes love stories end up in tragedy.”

  Demi reached out and held my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles. “I should hope that your love stories have happier endings than that.”

  We shared a sweet smile, letting the cozy atmosphere knit us closer together. “I hope that, too.”

  “My turn. Which book would you like to read tonight? Something from Avalon, this time. I’m afraid your Commoner tale was too sad for me.”

  I swallowed hard, skating around my limitations with a breezy expression. I leaned forward and tapped one of the books on his lap. “Could you read me a few pages of whatever you’re into?”

  He settled down into the pillows, pressing a sweet kiss to my forehead. “Of course, my princess. Nothing would make me happier.” And darn it, if I didn’t actually believe him this time.

  He had a page marker halfway through, but thumbed back to the beginning for my benefit. “‘Most tales of Ardennes started with ‘Once upon a time,’ but the tale of Michel Fourniret should never have started in any time, and after this account, shall never be spoken of again.’”

  Demi was a cuddler, pausing to sink further down into the covers so he could bring my head to his chest and scoop my body to wrap around his. He had a swimmer’s body, lean and agile, but muscular, too. He seemed to know what I wanted, which was for someone to hold me, to make me feel safe, and to keep things G-rated while I figured out how this new life worked. His sweetness endeared me to him. The safety of his arms nearly threatened raw emotion to spring up in my eyes, but I held it back so I wasn’t the freak who cried just because someone was nice to her. “Are you quite certain this is what you wish me to read you? It gets quite dark toward the middle. I brought a collection of romantic poetry you might enjoy better.”

  I hated poetry. It’s a dyslexic’s nightmare. All the flowery language I have to decipher and decode, on top of the words having multiple meanings, makes for a traffic jam in my mind. A simple sentence, which takes far more work for me than for others to get through, loses all meaning by the end. Judah tried to read poetry to me when he was tutoring me through the Shakespeare section in our Freshman Lit class. He liked to do an old lady warbling voice that tried to be British, but usually ended up sounding like a cackling witch by the end. When he’d wrap up a poem, I still had no friggin’ clue what it had been about. “I don’t really understand poetry,” I admitted quietly, sharing a portion of a secret with Demi, who didn’t laugh at me for being stupid. “Dark and scary is fine by me.”

  “One day, I’ll read you some poetry.” One of my birds hopped on Demi’s shoulder, judging him to be safe, now that I’d vouched for him by cuddling the man. His eyes widened as he marveled at the tiny creature, completely enraptured by the small miracle of my birth blessing. “This is incredible, your grace.”

  “Rosie,” I reminded him.

  Demi was fond of kissing my face, indulging us both in the cuteness when his lips grazed my cheek. “Rosie it is, then.” I held tight to him, my one beacon of sweetness in the sea of uncertainty.

  6

  My New Friend

  When I awoke in the morning, Demi had breakfast waiting for me. He was making it all too easy. With him rubbing oil into my feet while I ate my meal in bed, I could almost forget the urgency of my mission, and the ill feelings I had toward Morgan for making him think being a gigolo was an appropriate grand ambition.

  I refused to be turned from Lane’s daughter into Morgan’s. I so desperately wanted for Morgan to be a great woman I could model myself after, but the more she revealed of her personality, the less I saw that as a thing worth striving after. I finished scarfing down as much as I could of my grand breakfast, which consisted of tea, eggs, rolls, fruit I’d never seen before, freshly-squeezed juice and a piece of candy that tasted like mouthwash and raspberries. Avalon didn’t so much understand candy, if the raspberry mouthwash treat was any indication. I pushed the rest of the platter to Demi. “Here, dude. You finish the rest. I think I stuck to my half, but I may have eaten more of the berries than my share.”

  Demi quirked his eyebrow at me, his sculpted lips curling into a half-smile he often wore when I did something he thought was cute or funny. “I’ve already eaten with the servants in the kitchen, your grace.”

  “Rosie,” I corrected him for the millionth time. “And I know you’re still hungry. You’ve been eyeing the eggs. Have at it.” One of my birds brought me a piece of ribbon he’d found outside to lace through my hair. I had six birds total working on a single braid after Demi had brushed my curls that morning. Demi had, for the most part, gotten used to the animals that flocked through the long window, but he was amazed that they could braid my hair.

  “I couldn’t possibly eat off your plate. It’s not appropriate for a servant to share food with a royal.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and handed him the fork. “Be a rebel. I won’t tell. I don’t want all this breakfast to go to waste. Especially not when some of the other provinces are low on food. Doesn’t seem right.” When he still was hesitant, I taunted him with a guilt trip. “If you don’t eat it, the starving children in all the provinces will cry. ‘Demi! Demi! How could you let all that food go to waste?’ they’ll say.”

  “Well, if it’s for the starving children.” I moved the tray to his lap, and he forked a pile of eggs. Demi looked around guiltily and shoved them into his mouth. He chewed so fast
and swallowed them down, I thought he was going to choke them right back up. “Oh, those are amazing. The chef adds purslane to the royals’ eggs. It’s harder to find, so it’s reserved for only you, Morgan and important guests. Keeps you from falling to everyday illnesses and keeps your mind sharp.”

  “Huh. So that’s what the green stuff in the eggs is.” I clapped my hands together and held them out like I was getting ready to catch a football. “Give me your foot.”

  Demi obeyed on instinct, but retracted it when I started rubbing oil into his heel. “Oh, you can’t do that, Rosie.”

  I grinned at him, tilting my head to the side. “Hey, you called me by my name. I almost feel like a person now. Thank you.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve already broken enough rules. I’ll not have you rubbing my feet.”

  I quirked my eyebrow. “Um, perks of being a princess. I get to do whatever I want. I want to rub your feet. Makes me feel like we’re on level playing field. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Or, well, rub your feet, anyways.” When he opened his mouth to protest, I shrugged. “It’s who I am, Demi. I don’t have servants. People who are very lucky have friends. You were cool to me last night when I was all turned around. You held me while I slept. That’s a big deal to me. In my world? That’s about as intimate as I get. This is my way of saying thank you.”

  Demi was cautious, but finally rested his foot on the bed between us, his eyes going from wide to rolled back when I started working on the arch of his right foot. “Oh, you’re dangerous. You can’t tell anyone about this, Rosie. It’ll be my head, for certain. I’m your soumettre, remember.”

  “You sincerely overestimate how many friends I have if you’re worried about that.” I mulled over my plan while he moaned, losing himself in my touch. “So how long do I get to spend with you today?”

  “I’m yours every day and every night, unless Rigby or her majesty most high tells me otherwise. What did you have in mind?”