Chapter 60

Atwood

I know that Ruby was up to something when I found her at Nancy’s house, but my brain feels too foggy with my condition and the upcoming attack from the Bears to pay it much mind. All that matters right now is making her happy for her birthday so that hopefully she’ll want to mark me.

Her birthday is tomorrow, and despite the Bears’ attack, I’ve arranged for the most exciting eighteenth birthday that any girl could dream of. I hired the kingdom’s most talented seamstress to make her a stunning dress, the best chefs in the kingdom to provide a beautiful spread of food and desserts, and I’ve invited all of Ruby’s classmates (aside from Donna and Ethan, of course).

I’m confident that the Bears won’t make it to the castle, too. We’ve got men stationed all around the perimeter of the castle grounds prepared to fight; two men in wolf form for every man in human form, and the men in human form all have shotguns fully loaded with silver bullets and freshly sharpened steel swords. It’s taken a lot of preparation, but I now have no doubt in my mind that Ruby’s party will not be interrupted by the Bears. In fact, the guests will have absolutely no clue that there is even fighting happening outside.

Furthermore, with all of Ruby’s classmates and many other guests in attendance, I feel content in knowing that so many of my people will be protected inside my castle walls where the Bears won’t be able to harm them. Even the surrounding hybrid villages are fully armed with men from my army to protect them if the Bears try to pillage.

Now that all of my preparations for both the party and the attack are done, I can finally rest. The nightmares haven’t stopped so I still haven’t gotten much sleep, but just having the preparations done makes me feel relaxed.

I decide to head to my study to unwind in front of the fireplace with a nice drink.

When I enter my study, however, it seems that the universe simply doesn’t want me to have any peace.

My brother, Paine, is sitting at my desk.

My desk, of all places!

“Brother!” he says, standing and walking over to me. He shakes my hand with his right and slaps my back with his left, then grabs my shoulder firmly. “You don’t look well,” he says.

I shake him off with a shrug. “I’m fine,” I answer. “Just tired.” It’s a lie, but I won’t admit to my brute of a brother that I’m struggling with my condition due to not being marked yet.

Paine folds his arms across his chest and looks me up and down.

“You been eating, at least?”

“Of course,” I say. Truthfully, I haven’t eaten since my date with Ruby. I’m likely to be ravenous at her birthday party. Being around her brings back my appetite.

Even though I’d much rather send him on his merry way back to his stupid little territory in the south with his plethora of whores, I instead gesture to the chairs in front of the fireplace for him to sit and cross to the bar to pour us some drinks.

“Whiskey as usual?” I ask, to which he nods excitedly, practically drooling at the thought of pouring my expensive liquor down his fat throat.

“Neat,” he says, so I fill his glass a quarter of the way with no ice.

“What brings you here, brother?” I ask, walking over to him and handing him his glass. He immediately chugs the whole thing, slamming the glass down on the coffee table so hard that I worry the glass might shatter.

“Don’t you know?” he asks. “Mother sent for me. She says that you need help here.”

I sit down across from him and swirl my drink around in my glass while he stands and goes to pour himself another.

“I’m really fine,” I answer.

Paine chuckles, his back turned to me. “Well, you know how mother is,” he says. “She’s a worrywart.”

“Sure is,” I say quietly, taking a sip of my whiskey as I glare resentfully at his rather wide back. Despite the fact that I’ve always surpassed my brother in both intellectual and physical pursuits, as well as proven myself to be a far better leader than he, my mother always has preferred him. I think she prefers him because he’s dumb enough to do what she likes.

In fact, if I wasn’t the first born and crowned King by my father before he passed, I’m almost certain that my mother would see to it that Paine would be King instead of me. That way, she could basically run the kingdom on her own. Paine is such a mommy’s boy that he wouldn’t resist for one second.

“So I take it you won’t be staying, then?” I ask after taking another swig of whiskey. It burns going down my throat, but gives me courage. “I mean, I obviously don’t need help. Your territory probably needs you more than you’re needed here.”

Paine returns to his seat and waves his hand at me as he takes a gulp of his drink. A bit dribbles down his chin and he wipes it away with his sleeve, then belches.

“Nah,” he says. “Abbie has it all under control. I’ll stay awhile, just to make sure. Besides, your girl’s birthday is tomorrow, right? You wouldn’t want your brother to miss that, would you?”

Actually, I was particularly hoping that he wouldn’t be around for that. But instead I just shrug and smile, then raise my glass for a meaningless toast.

Later, when Paine has passed out on my couch in a drunken stupor after drinking my entire bottle of expensive whiskey, I leave him snoring there to go find Ruby. I want to give her an early birthday gift: something that will hopefully cheer her up a bit.

I find her exactly where I expected, in her room with Nancy and the seamstress. She’s standing on a little platform with her arms out while the seamstress pins the dress for alterations.

When I enter, both Ruby and Nancy look at the door with wide eyes.

“Good evening, ladies,” I say with a slight bow as I hold Ruby’s gift behind my back. “Nancy, and Mrs. Truman, would you mind giving us privacy? I’ll only be a moment.”

Nancy and the seamstress both leave the room. I can see a quick nervous glance exchanged between Nancy and Ruby, but I decide not to say anything. As far as I’m concerned, I only plan on being nothing but pleasant to Ruby from now on.

Once they’ve left the room, I approach Ruby, who still stands on the platform. She’s still much shorter than me, even several inches off the floor.

“I wanted to apologize for being a bit short with you lately,” I say, “and I wanted to give you one of your birthday gifts a bit early.”

I pull the gift out and hand it to her. She hesitantly takes it, still looking at me.

“Go on, open it.”

I watch as Ruby timidly tears into the wrapping paper to reveal a book that I’ve specially ordered just for her.

“The Complete History of the Three Kingdoms and their Mystical Counterparts,” she says, reading the title out loud. Her face lights up as she does so.

“I know that you’ve taken an interest in history recently,” I say. “This encyclopedia is supposed to cover everything. Even hybrids and witches.”

Ruby’s cheeks blush and her eyes begin to sparkle as she looks up at me with the book in her hands. “Thank you,” she says quietly, holding the book to her chest. “I love it.”

“I’m glad,” I answer. I reach for her and pull her closer, and she lets me kiss her on the top of her head.

Seeing the look on her face and getting to touch her gives me more strength, so much so that I’m positive I’ll make it until her birthday without feeling ill again. I leave her to continue her dress fitting.

The whole way back to my study, there is a smile spread across my face.