CAMILLA’S P.O.V

A week passed and I was beginning to doubt whether it was possible for it to die down. No one had said or done anything outright or untoward to us but the story had only circulated further and gotten worse. There were now so many absurd versions of what actually happened that I began to wonder if many people lacked the me ntal capacity needed to think because some of the stories were wild.

I heard one where I had caught him with his penis inside of her and had nearly gone crazy and almost beat her up. I thought it was stu pid because if I ever caught him with his di ck inside of someone I was going to kill him and not her but that wasn’t even the problem. The problem was that I just wanted people to shut up.

Riley was supposed to leave today and she had already asked twice if we needed her to stay back. I assured her she was fine but clearly that wasn’t enough because she kept shooting me wary looks as we loaded her things into the carriage that was supposed to take her to the port. Ryker was standing by my side looking more solemn than he had in a very long time. Once we were done, Riley turned to us and wrapped her arms around her brother’s torso.

“Are you sure that you don’t need me to stay?” she asked and Ryker narrowed his eyes at her. He opened his mouth to speak but she quickly held up her hands in mock surrender. “Relax, I already know that you don’t need my help. I just wanted to ask.”

She pulled away from him and made her way to me. She melted into my embrace and I sighed as I wrapped my arms around her. She didn’t say a single word but I could feel every ounce of worry and fear in her and I hoped for both our sakes that she couldn’t feel mine.

“You’ll be fine,” I assured her. “We already sent missives by witches ahead of you. They should arrive within a few days and the letters will be sent directly to you so you know which places are safe enough for you to visit.”

She swallowed and took a deep breath before responding. “It isn’t me that I am worried about. I don’t know how this scandal is going to end.”

I looked up at Ryker who was watching us with soft eyes then lowered my head so I could whisper. It was one thing for him to know we were worried – which he did – it was another entirely for him to hear us worried. I knew it could be emasculating and while Ryker never struck me as the type to be worried about things like that, this week had made me see a different side of him.

“Your brother will be fine,” I whispered to Riley. “He is strong and we all know that Alara is lying. We will get to the bottom of this soon, I promise you. The moment we do, I

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Chapter 1 35

15 Feb

will find a way to get the news to you.”

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“Okay,” she nodded as she pulled away from me slowly. “Just take care of him please. He has spent so long taking care of other people and I am worried that he doesn’t take care of himself.”

“You never have to worry about that, I promise you.”

She smiled with a teary nod and gave her brother one last hug. She stared at a spot behind me and I turned to see Christine standing beside a pillar.copy right hot novel pub