''Don't you remember, little flower?'' he asked, his voice low and melodic, ''Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.''
''Perhaps,'' I whispered, ''But Shakespeare was referring to a man...''
He cocked his head in confusion, his eyes growing darker...
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HERE'S A LITTLE SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT'S COMING FOR MARA & CEDRIC! NOW POSTED ON MY PROFILE.
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The fall from the window in my Art History classroom had around a 75% chance of causing certain death. However, the longer I sat and listened to Professor Janikowski drone on and on about Picasso's blue period the longer I contemplated my escape through that jump or by cutting off my own ear.
And yes, I do know that that was Van Gogh not Picasso, but the incessant lecturing had my mind crumbling. Two weeks ago, I was fighting faerie princes to stay alive and rescue my nephew and now? Now I was fighting to stay awake through a history lecture. Not even Ellie could save me.
I tried to remind myself that I'd chosen this. After my grandmother died and the crown passed on to me, I told Maddox I was returning home— to my other home. He'd wanted to argue, but how could he? I was the queen.
He gave me three weeks to finish out the semester and then I had time to make my decision over the summer. To take the crown for good or to hand it off to one of my many distant relatives.
Just your run-of-the-mill twenty year old decision. Not monumental or life changing or anything like that. And I knew that the moment I returned, they'd all be watching me, awaiting my answer.
Well, at least we had that in common.
"Was that as bad as it was for you as it was for me?" Ellie asked, on our way out of the classroom. "Any chance you take me to fairy world next week?"
I nudged her in the arm, glancing around at the other students in the hallway. Nobody seemed to be looking. I knew my bodyguards were somewhere down the corridor, making themselves practically invisible (as I'd instructed).
"Want to say it louder so all the humans can hear on the other side of the planet?"
She scoffed. "Relax, if anybody overheard us they probably think we're talking about a bad trip on shrooms or something."
Two and a half weeks ago I probably would've laughed at that. But two and a half weeks ago me had a lot less to worry about. Ellie narrowed her eyes at me, but I smoothed out my expression, removing any trace of what I was thinking, shrinking my aura even tighter inside of me.
Ever since that day in the throne room, I'd kept my Élan Vital—my lifeblood—locked inside my chest. Now that I knew how some people could use it—well, I wanted to give my enemies as little weakness as possible.
"Come on, we're going to be late."
She grinned. "A queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early."
"Quit quoting the Princess Diaries and get moving."
After classes that night, much to Ellie's dismay, I refused to go out with her and her girlfriend, Dani, to our favorite Thursday tradition. She'd spent almost an hour begging before finally giving up. When she finally settled on an outfit, she leaned against my doorframe.
"You're sure?" she asked. "It won't be the same without you."
"I'm sure, E. An easy going night sounds nice."
"There's this guy in my software design class that I think you—"
"Tell Dani I say hi and call me if you need me, okay?"
She rolled her eyes at my interruption, but didn't say anything more on the subject. Whatever sympathetic look she sent my way was lost on me. I was fine.
Ellie had only been gone an hour before I decided to make myself a snack and park myself on the couch for a few hours. A little reality television was always good to get my brain to stop working for awhile. If I wanted to watch reality television that looked a little closer to my reality, I'd have to watch Game of Thrones. Or perhaps some medieval Vikings show.
At this moment, I preferred to watch a television show where everyone would keep their heads. Thanks.
I wasn't ten minutes into the first episode when the temperature dropped about fifteen degrees. Spirals of fog left my lips as my breath curled in tendrils around my cheeks. Had the heat broken? But no, it still sounded as if it was running just fine.
That's when the knocking started.
___________ WHO COULD IT BE???
Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek of the first chapter!
I hope to do a lot with Essence this summer! I have finals the month of April and then I'm home free till August! I hope to finish writing by August, god willing, and get the story out to you all as I go!
Thank you for reading. Stay safe and be kind, my friends.
