The Hidden Princess: Kingdom's Fate (book three)

Chapter Ten: Spurious Devils

"I still think we should all go," Alakay said, as he sat on the deck playing marbles with Emree and Sparrow the following morning.

Sparrow nodded her head. "For once I agree with Alakay! You need all the backup you can get," she said.

Sighing I ran my hand through my greasy hair. Living on a ship with the majority men the past few weeks had left little to no time for proper washing. Captain Zell and Rowen had gone into town to find a suitable place for us to freshen up and switch into the proper attire for meeting the royal family of Niveitarra. "We've been through this. We need to show King Tathrow that we are here to bring peace, not war. You will all get your time to visit the castle. This is not that time," I said. The two glared at me. "You two can glare at me and pout all you want, it changes nothing," I said, walking off before they could argue more.

Nate smiled down at me, dropping an arm around my shoulders. "Your loving subjects aren't very happy with you?" he asked as we walked towards the stern of the boat.

"I can handle one of them at a time, but when they are together I want to pull my hair out," I confessed, earning laughter from my cousin, which earned him a punch to the arm.

"I'll keep them under control while you are away," he promised.

"Thanks. I think Emree will be sticking around too. It will be nice to have another girl around, especially for Sparrow," I said, leaning against Nate.

Nate sighed slowly, shaking his head. "I'm not sure about that one. There is something about her that doesn't sit quite right," he said.

I stood up raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I tried having a conversation with her earlier and it didn't end well," he said.

"What do you mean didn't end well?" I asked.

"I mean, I was trying to give her pointers on her fighting skills as she practiced with Shepherd and I. She refused to listen to any of them and had snarky little comebacks to all," he explained.

I smirked. "So your dashing good looks fail to cause yet another woman to swoon madly in love and bend to your every need?" I asked, laughing as he shoved me. "Give her a break. She's practically raised herself," I told him. Before he could say anything Captain Zell and Rowen came back and we all headed for the inn. I sighed knowing that my royal duties were about to begin.

"Isabella would kill you," Rowen said, watching as I tied my hair into a high-ponytail. He had just come into my room at the inn located in middle Sayven. I'd finished bathing and was dressed in a dark teal dress with light teal satin sleeves, a gold lined brown belt with gold and dark teal leaves, a matching neck line and a dark teal cape.

I turned to him with a smirk on my face. "Most definitely. The thing is I only know how to do a ponytail and leave my hair down. Maybe I should have let Morgan come as my lady-in-waiting," I said, remembering Morgan, Chloe, and Isabella arguing that I needed at least one lady with me.

Rowen shook his head. "You'll be fine. They wouldn't be prepared for this trip anyways. If you need anything I'm sure Emree can help," he said.

"Does she know how to do hair?" I asked with a grin, which quickly faded as Rowen jumped up and ran out of the room. A few moments later he came back with Emree following.

"I hear the queen needs a new hairdo!" Emree said.

I turned to glare at Rowen. "I hate you," I said.

He grinned, then quickly left the room. Emree raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?" she asked.

I shook my head pulling out my hair tie. "A friend back home always gets on me for having my hair in a ponytail when attending balls. He said she'd kill me and I joked that it was all I knew. Then jokingly, may I add again, asked if you knew how to do hair," I said, taking a seat in a chair.