Free Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) by Jennifer Marsh Page B

trying my hardest to get comfortable.  My brain just wouldn’t shut off and let me sleep.
    Irritated, I hopped out of bed and perched myself on the comfy sofa that overlooked the ocean.  I tried to get lost in it as I used to, but the last couple of night’s events clouded my mind, making it hard to feel peaceful.
    A lone person was walking on the beach.  Though it was dark, I could make out the long wavy shimmering blue hair and golden robes that only royalty wore.
    “Gader,” I called out and he turned and smiled up at me.  “I’ll be right down.”  I pulled my clothes on, kissed Clifton on the forehead, and made my way down to the beach.
    I was happy to see that Gader had waited for me.  I hugged him hard.
    My brother was a handsome man with long, wavy, sapphire-colored hair, similar to my mother’s shade but somehow manlier, and eyes that were more white than blue.  His skin was darker than mine, almost the same shade as Kafkus’, deep cobalt.  He had soft yet strong facial features.  He looked like a king, there was no denying it.
    “What are you doing up so late?”
    “I could ask you the same question, dear sister,” he said in his, always proper voice.  He gestured to a piece of driftwood, and we both sat down.
    There was a long and uncomfortable silence that was made even more awkward when he spoke.  “So, I hear that you have found yourself a suitor.”
    I wasn’t sure how he would perceive Clifton, so I said nothing.  Instead, I stared off into the water.  I wasn’t really looking at it.
    “I am happy for you, Quartessa.  I truly am.  But I want you to be careful.  How long have you known this man?”
    “Technically, I have known him for a month.  But we didn’t really start speaking until a couple of days ago.”  I thought it best to be honest.
    “Around the time that you were attacked?”
    “You think that Clifton had something to do with it?” I asked, unable to believe it.
    “I meant nothing except that you have not known this man long enough to be able to trust him.  When I first met Gwinny it took me a long time to realize that she wanted to actually be with me, and that she did not just wanted to obtain the title of Queen someday.”
    His words irritated me to the core.  “This isn’t about Clifton wanting rank.  He didn’t even know that I was a princess until Kafkus outed me.”
    “Ah yes, Kafkus, what about him?  He was looking forward to seeing you most of all.  That was why he volunteered to fetch you.  I am sure that he was none too happy to see you with another man, especially a mixed-blood.”
    My brother and I typically got along great, but the real that reason he was acting this way was becoming very clear.  Gader and Kafkus were best friends as they’d been for many years.  I guess that since I had left to avoid marring him, Gader had now turned against me.
    “Look Gader, I would understand if I had agreed to marry Kafkus then changed my mind and left instead.  But that is not what happened.  Kafkus was forced on me, and I didn’t want to be stuck in a loveless marriage.”
    “I would not say that it would be loveless.”
    “I don’t love him.”
    He stared at me with complete exasperation, as if I should already know what he was about to say.  “Kafkus has always loved you.  When we were ten, he told me that he was going to marry you someday.  I never took him seriously; that is, until I started to notice the way that he looks at you.  It is the same way that father looks at mother and Gwinny looks at me.”
    I felt my face grow hot with a mixture of anger and embarrassment and I sprung to my feet.  “That is very different.  You and father both chose your wives.  My life was being planned for me.  You could never know the feeling, Gader.  You have never had to endure the pain that I have.  Though we grew up together, we have had two different lives.  You could never relate to what I have been through.  And even if Kafkus