"James, I'm worried," I said as we sat alone in the dining hall.  Sarai had gone to bed, and the queen...

She hadn't come out of her bedroom much at all since the king's death.

But that wasn't all I was worried about.

"What is there to be worried about?" James asked, looking up at me with golden eyes. "The Jackal is where he belongs and crime has been reduced to none."

"Matthias is still out there!" I exclaimed. "Who knows what he's planning?"

"The fact that he hasn't attempted to enter the mine should show us that he has given up," James replied. "We can't worry about the past. If he hasn't shown up yet, I'm sure he won't."

"You don't know that, James," I retorted. "He might just be waiting for the right time."I gave him sharp eye contact. "Don't be foolish. You're going to become king in a few weeks."

James sighed and looked at my untouched plate of food. "There will be extra precautions at the coronation. And lots of extra guards--"

"That didn't keep him from killing your father," I interrupted.

His eyes flashed to mine and held such sadness that I thought my heart would just break.

He was still hurting.

And I had just opened a very fresh wound.

"I'm sorry, James. I--"

He held up a hand for me to stop. "It's fine, Lily," he said. "I understand your worries. But we make the best team these kingdoms have ever seen. If they come, we can take them down."

My mood turned from guilt to masked anger.  I took a deep breath to clear my thoughts.

"Don't get too confident, James," I told him. "You know that is never good."

I rose from my seat and walked out of the dining hall.

After defeating The Jackal, James had insisted me and my step-mother moving into the castle.  Step-mother had agreed immediately.  

Once she had moved in, she had continually tried to push me and James together. 

She would probably gain a lot if James and I got married and I became queen--

Just thinking about it made bile rise in my throat.

Marrying a king?

Settling down?

Step-mother would never get her wish.

I arrived at my large suite fit for a princess and sighed tiredly at its extravagance.  

I flopped on the bed, stared at the top of my canopy bed, and tried to imagine daggers and throwing stars stuck to the ceiling and walls.

I imagined the dust and exposed wood smell of our cottage.

All I could smell here was fancy perfume. 

I shot up suddenly and jumped off the bed.

I had to go back to the cottage.

I ran to the stables, mounted a horse, and charged out into the streets of Arelenes.

I couldn't bring myself to care as people scattered like ants.

I was a good enough horsewoman to not hit anyone on the way to the edge of the forest.

I didn't allow the horse I rode to stop until we arrived in a familiar clearing in the trees where my old home rested.

I stared at its old beaten structure and couldn't help smiling.

It was my childhood home.

I might not have lived there my entire life, but it was were I had lived with my father.

I turned my eyes to the overgrown fields my father used to plow and a tear slipped down my check.

The horse underneath me moved back and forth, the sound of his hooves echoing through the empty forest.

It was like he could feel my emotion.

Perhaps he could.

Animals had a way of doing that.

Not understanding words but understanding emotions.

I hugged the horse's neck and rested my head on her neck.

"Thank you, Juliet," I murmured into her mane. "I understand."

A/N Yay! First chapter out! I am very excited for this book! If you haven't read the first one, please go check it out first. It's called Lily Rose: Legendary. Thank you! 

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Ciao,

SiSi