Royal Obligations

Chapter 16: The Perfect King

I slam my door shut and watch helplessly as Forrest slides off my bed with my journal in his hand.

"Where did you get that?" I hiss and Forrest just continues to smirk.

"I knew there was something up with you," He says, ignoring my question. He circles around the room, tossing my journal back and forth. "I just never thought this was what is was. It seems I was right when I mentioned my brother being a safety net for you."

I continue to glare at him as he continues. "You really thought you could have gotten away with this, didn't you?" He stops pacing and turns toward me. Forrest throws my journal onto the bed before slowly walking my way.

I had no words. Nothing to excuse myself. No words to make up some ridiculous lie.

"That's what I found most interesting," Forrest continues until he's standing right in front of me.

"And what's that, Forrest?" I grind out, my teeth clenched.

"It would have worked." He says, absently tucking a piece of blond hair behind my ear. "Cordelia, I thought you were just a naive girl who thought treating me badly was a bold move. Like you were proving something to yourself. I thought you were going to be just like my grandmother, or maybe my mother. Don't get me wrong, I love them. They are family. But I would never choose a wife as disobedient as they were."

I swallow as he leans in closer. "But you aren't naive, Cordelia. In fact, you are none of the things you mentioned in your little biography here. You are absolutely brilliant."

I stare at him in shock. What was that supposed to mean?

"What are you getting at, Forrest?" I press.

He backs away from me, giving me the personal space I needed. "You are probably afraid I'm going to turn you into my brother right now, aren't you?" He asks, tilting his head to the side.

I let out a long breath and stare at him. No emotion. "All I have to do is burn it, and you would have no proof."

Forrest scowls. "Please, you wouldn't burn that. After reading, after technically getting a look inside your mind, I know you wouldn't destroy that journal. It's the only thing you truly own. It would be like burning your thoughts."

My stomach clenches because he was right. He was right.

"No need to fear, Lila." Forrest says, making my blood boil when he uses the name I was born with. "I will not be turning you in."

I stand there for a few moments, wondering what was in it for him if he didn't tell Harlan why I was really here. What my true feelings were. What kind of a person I really am.

"I do have one condition though, love." Forrest says with a devilish smile, and I find the panic rising up within me. I felt like a caged animal.

Why did I only get this feeling when it involved Forrest? Why was he always the one to ruin everything I tried to accomplish?

"And what is that condition, Forrest?" I ask. "Are you going to demand I sleep with you? Maybe that I dump Harlan and send my own self home?"

Forrest laughs. "Cordelia, you need to realize I was the one who read your journal, you were not the one who read mine. Which means you have no idea how my brain works."

That was like a slap in the face, because now I had no leverage over him. He knew how I worked, how I thought. He was like a parasite in my brain.

"I could care less what you do with my brother. It's his own fault he cannot recognize fake from real." Forrest rolls his eyes. "He isn't going to be the next king of Illéa, I am. So he could marry a maid for all I care. Which leads me to my actual request,"