A Kingdom of Tales

Chapter 20

Miles pulled out some food from his bag that I hadn't noticed before. "Where did you get this from?" I ask.

He gives me a mischievous smile. "The dining room on the cruise."

"You didn't." I let out an audible gasp.

He nods proudly. "I so did."

We weren't allowed to take food out of the dining room. It was a rule meant to prevent people from just stealing hoards of food. When Miles brought me back food yesterday, he'd had to give the staff a good enough excuse. He'd gone with me being sick. I guess he sneaked in a few extra sandwiches to keep.

We ate in silence, and then Miles got up to take a bath. He only took a towel with him, and before I could remind him to take a change of clothes, he'd entered the bathroom.

He came out a few minutes later in just a towel. My gaze fell to his front. His body was made for war. It had a few scars, presumably from sparring. He noticed my staring. "Like what you see?" He asked tauntingly.

I forcefully removed my gaze from his body and looked up at the ceiling instead. I was not going to be teased about liking his body.

It was my first time seeing him shirtless, so my reaction is understandable. Or so I tried convincing myself. He bent down over his bag, giving me his back. My smile melted off my face at what I saw.

Is that a crown tattoo? It was on his lower back, between the two dimples there. I fought off the urge to press my thumbs there. So he is the crown prince...

My heart stuttered, missing a beat. This evidence is damning enough. Even if I asked him right now, he wouldn't be able to lie his way out of it. The evidence is literally fixed on his skin forever.

I cringe, rubbing my hands over my face. I was stuck with the prince of Avenlea for the rest of our trip.

Now that I think about it, he is just as obnoxious as I'd imagine a prince would be. How had I missed the signs?

He walks back to the bathroom to put on his clothes, giving me time to contemplate the situation.

I'm definitely not going to reveal that I know his secret. He might not deny the tattoo, but he'll definitely lie about why it's there. He'll make up some crazy excuse like that he'd liked the design.

No. I'll keep this to myself for now. It won't help us in any way in any case. It's not like if he revealed his identity to Wariu, I'd suddenly be spared the execution.

I'll turn myself in the first opportunity I get. The moment I'm alone without Miles, I'll find the nearest city guard, and I'll turn myself in for execution. I don't care how important Miles seems to think I am. He's the prince of Avenlea. He can't die for some task that may or may not save his people.

With that thought, I find Miles opening the bathroom door, this time fully clothed. I have to admit, though, that I do miss his shirtless body. I'm this close to begging him to take off his shirt again.

"Hey." He says as he's closing the bathroom door. I walk up to him and pull his neck down to kiss him. He's surprised and doesn't kiss me back for a moment, but then he pulls my body to his and kisses me back.

It's selfish, but I want to kiss him as much as I can before I'm taken to the emperor. I want to be able to say that I lived a full life when my head is on that block.

I pull him closer, not wanting any space between us. Our lips fight for dominance; there's nothing sweet about this kiss. He lifts my body up by my thighs. I wrap my legs around his waist quickly, not breaking the kiss.

I'm roughly pushed against the wall; all sense of control is gone. I pull his shirt up, wanting to feel his body against mine. He helps me take his shirt off, only breaking our kiss for a second before my lips are on his again.

I move my hands over his skin, tracing the muscles gently. Clearly, I appreciate all the hard work he put into building this body. He pulls away, pulling my bottom lip with his teeth. All thoughts of him being a prince are out of the window. Right now, all I want to think about is how it would feel if he kissed me elsewhere.

He moves his head back towards me, kissing down my neck until he reaches the lines of my shirt. "Up." He orders. I'm confused until I realise what he wants. I raise my hands patiently while he tries to take my shirt off of me. It takes too long, though, so he decides to rip my shirt down the middle instead. I let out a gasp at the cold air hitting my stomach.

He carries me to the bed and lays me on it gently. He kisses my body with as much ferocity as before. He looks down on my body. "Beautiful. Truly beautiful." He places more kisses on my body, more gently this time.

"How far do you want to go?" He asks. It's cute, but I don't have time for this right now; I need him inside me.

This is when I hear the door slam open. I frantically start searching for my shirt, which I conveniently can't find.

"Stay right where you are... By order of Emperor Wariu, Jasmine Curre, you are under arrest. Please come peacefully." One of the dozen guards standing in the room says. He's clearly higher ranked, based on the number of stars on his shoulder. He has three, while the rest only have one.

Miles looks down on me, scared. I don't blame him. I push him off of me roughly and stand up. I pull my shirt off the floor and push both my hands toward the officer. He brings out a pair of handcuffs and ties my hands, rendering me useless in any fight. I take one last look at Miles' face, which is lit with betrayal. I can tell what he's thinking; he doesn't have the best poker face.

It's the last thing I see before the officer pulls a syringe from his pocket. He injects me with whatever serum is in it, and the world goes black. Miles face in that last moment will haunt me for the rest of my life. But who are we kidding? We couldn't have fought them off if we tried.