The Kingdom Thief

Chapter 13

2 weeks later I am awoken differently than the usual wake up from Madeline or Annabelle. I am instead awoken by a knock on my door.

I groan before rolling over to my side and glancing at the clock. It is 5am and I should have another hour of sleep before I had to wake up for training.

"I swear if this is Kane waiting outside my door to order me to run a 10 mile run before training, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but fuck off" I say aloud as I rub the sleep off my face.

"Um, no. Not Kane" a voice sounds, slightly muffled from the door. I let out a loud sigh before getting up and padding over to the door.

I am surprised when I open the door to see Mason standing there, fidgeting nervously with his hands. The sight of him surprises me so much I have to take a step back and shake my head to clear it.

"Mason?" I say his name as a question as I examine his appearance. He is in a white button up shirt that is unbuttoned at the top and black pants with disheveled blonde hair. Something tells me he hasn't slept at all.

After a short pause he finally speaks. "I want to show you something" he states hastily, taking me by the hand without asking me, surprising me slightly. Mason has always been proper and formal and doesn't usually look this messy and unprofessional. I kind of like him this way.

"Where are you taking me at five in the morning?" I ask him as we quietly run through the hall, hand in hand.

"It's the only time I was sure you wouldn't be training and that your servants weren't going to be in your room" he replies hastily.

I stop in my tracks at his words. "Does that mean that wherever you are taking me would be frowned upon from the aristocrats and your father?" I ask him.

"Yes" he says bluntly, his face slightly red.

I beam at him. "Lead the way".

We continue down the hallway and only have to duck into a hiding spot three times because of passing servants.

Finally Mason opens the doors to a room that can only be the library. I've never seen so many books together in one place before in my life. I stop for a second to gape at the towering bookshelves.

"Bridget-" Mason starts but stops when he notices my expression. "What, there weren't any libraries where you used to live?" he asks.

I blink away tears. "There weren't any books where I used to live" I admit embarrassingly. I look down at the floor not wanting to see Mason's face. He probably thought I was even more stupid now. How pathetic it was that the only book I was ever given to read was the rules and decrees made by the king.

But when I look over at him I don't see any of that. Instead he is staring at me like he finally realizes that a few months ago we were on completely different levels of wealth. Like he finally realizes how awful it is in his father's kingdom for the unfortunates.

His future kingdom.

He stays silent for a second before finally speaking in a slightly cracked voice. "Bridget, how many meals did you get a day?" he asks.

I look away as my face flushes embarrassingly. "Two if we were lucky. If we weren't then nothing" I admit.

He closes his eyes and shakes his head slowly. "And all of these years I've been throwing away hundreds of platters full of food into the garbage".

I smile sadly at him. "Life is funny in that way, isn't it?" I try to crack through his suddenly serious expression.

He looks over at me with a stricken face. "Bridget, there is nothing funny about you starving while my family has been bathing in riches".