The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) - Kiera Cass Page 0,1

apart, placing our hands behind our backs and curtsying quickly.

“I could hear you girls shouting like animals through the walls. How can we hope to have a suitor matched with you if you insist on behaving like this?”

“Sorry, Mother,” I murmured contritely.

I dared to peek up at her. She was standing there with the same exasperated expression plastered to her face she usually wore when speaking with me.

“The Copeland girl got engaged only last week, and the Devauxes are in talks now as well. Yet you’re still acting like a child.”

I swallowed, but Delia Grace had never been one to stay silent. “Don’t you think it’s a little premature to pair Hollis with someone else? She has as good a chance as anyone at winning the king’s heart.”

My mother did her best to suppress her condescending smile. “We all know that the king’s eye is prone to wander. And Hollis isn’t quite queen material, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked with a sharply raised eyebrow, daring us to think otherwise. “Besides,” she added, “are you really in a position to talk about anyone’s potential?”

Delia Grace swallowed hard, her expression stone-like. I’d seen her don that mask a million times.

“And there you have it,” Mother concluded. Having made her disappointment with us clear, she turned on her heel and left.

I sighed, turning to Delia Grace. “Sorry about her.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t heard before,” she admitted, finally handing over the letter. “And I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.”

I took it from her and cracked the seal. “No matter. If it wasn’t this, it’d be something else.” She made a face that said I was right, and I went to reading the note. “Oh dear,” I said, patting at my loose hair. “I might need your help pulling this back again.”

“Why?”

I smiled over at her, waving the letter like a flag in the breeze. “Because His Majesty requires our presence on the river today.”

“How many people do you think will be there?” I asked.

“Who knows? He does enjoy having a crowd around him.”

I pursed my lips. “True. I’d like to have him to myself just once.”

“Says the girl who insists this is all just a game.”

I looked over at her, sharing a smile. That Delia Grace, she always seemed to know more than I ever wanted to admit to.

We rounded the hallway and saw that the doors were already open, welcoming the new spring sun. My heartbeat picked up when I saw the red robe trimmed in ermine draped across the back of a slim but sturdy figure at the end of the walkway. Though he wasn’t facing me, his mere presence was enough to fill the air with a warm tickling feeling.

I fell into a deep curtsy. “Your Majesty.”

And I watched as a pair of glossy black shoes turned to face me.

Two

“MY LADY HOLLIS,” THE KING said, holding out his ring-bedecked hand. I took it and rose, looking into a beautiful set of honey-brown eyes. Something about the deep and purposeful attention he bestowed upon me whenever we were together made me feel a little like I did when Delia Grace and I were dancing and I’d spun around too quickly: slightly warm and dizzy.

“Your Majesty. I was so pleased to receive your invitation. I love the Colvard River.”

“So you’ve mentioned. I remember, you see,” he said, wrapping his hand around mine. He then dropped his voice. “I also remember you mentioning that your parents have been a little . . . overbearing recently. But I had to invite them for the sake of propriety.”

I peered behind him and saw a larger party than I’d been expecting for our excursion. My parents were present, as were some of the lords on the privy council, and plenty of the ladies who I knew were waiting impatiently for Jameson to finish with me so they could have their turn. In fact, I spotted Nora looking down her nose at me with Anna Sophia and Cecily right behind her, smug in their certainty that my time was soon to end.

“Don’t worry. Your parents won’t be on our barge,” he assured me. I smiled, thankful for a small reprieve, but unfortunately my luck didn’t extend to the winding ride in the coach down to the river.

Keresken Castle was set atop the Plateau of Borady, a marvelous and unmistakable sight. To get down to the river, our carriages had to weave slowly through the streets of the capital city of Tobbar . .