Reign Queen by L. Gibbs (10 ebook reader txt) 📕

to continue to keep Russal’s company. Amilyexplained it to me. Ask her about it.”

“No. I need to talk to Russal.” Kambry rosefrom the chair, wiping her eyes and sniffling. “I need to talk toRussal right now.” She stumbled toward the wall dividing the twositting rooms. When she came to the corner, she turned back toLessa. “Thank you for coming. I’m glad you were awake.”

Lessa blushed. “I was with Cole. We’ve beentalking.”

She stopped and stared at Lessa. “I want tohear more, but later. In the morning, rather. Right now, I need togo up to my room, to Russal.”

“Covey told you about that day, didn’the?”

Kambry didn’t answer. Her thoughts feltjumbled. He hadn’t lied, but he’d left out details, directed her toview the event a certain way. But she had been willing to believe.Something in her relationship with Russal left room for doubt. Andsomething in how she perceived Covey encouraged her to believe him.She had to figure out why she kept losing faith in one and trustingthe other when she had plenty of reason to believe Covey’s veracitywas lacking. Was it possible both had valid reasons to be the kingof Kavin? Did the second son of a king have as much right to thethrone as the grandson? Looking at it that way, it seemed so.

She raised her fingers at Lessa in anuncertain wave. “We’ll talk later.”

Lessa left, her glance before closing thedoor encouraging Kambry.

Raising her nightgown above her ankles,Kambry climbed the stairs. Would Russal be willing to talk now?

At the landing, she stopped and worked tocalm herself. She’d knock on his door and see if he was stillawake. Her steps to his door dragged. She drew several breaths andreleased her nightgown from her clenched fingers. Resting herforehead on the door, she knocked softly. “Russal,” shewhispered.

Something moved on her bed, the sheetsrustling. Kambry twisted to face the sound and pressed her back tothe wall. Covey? She pounded on the door beside her. “Russal!”

From the bed, Russal’s voice responded, “I’mhere. I came in to talk to you, apologize for ignoring your requestto talk things out. You weren’t here, so I waited. Like I made youwait. I’m so sorry, Kambry.”

She rushed to him, wrapping her arms aroundhis waist. “Russal, what’s happened to us?”

“Shh.” He held her close. For long minutes,they stood pressed together.

“What are we going to do, my love?” he said,his chin resting on her head. “How are we going to become strongtogether?”

“We need to trust each other,” she mumbledinto his shoulder.

“I have to stop thinking of you as that girlwho hesitated to even sit with her friends.” He corrected himself.“Her brother’s friends. You have many friends of your own now.Maybe that’s where I’ve gone wrong. I haven’t been your friend, toodetermined to be your lover to work on such a very important partof our relationship.”

It felt so good to have his arms around her.She felt safe, cradled against him. He smelled like vanilla andproilis blossoms. She turned her face toward his neck and pressedher check to his chest, his warm skin inviting her close. Fingersclenching the open neckline of his nightshirt, she desired nothingmore than to stay breathing in his scent.

As much as she wanted to stand in this quietmoment, she knew they needed to talk. “Covey told me aboutsomething that happened shortly after the murder of your parents.He said he watched you do a terrible act, and he described it tome.”

“Felip didn’t come here until I was sixteen.How could he have seen anything?”

She leaned back and looked up at his face.“He said his mother brought him here often when he was little.”

“Of course.” He laced his fingers behind herback and gazed down at her, a flat expression masking his thoughts.“What did he see?”

“You made a rose vine attack Tomo.”

His first reaction was to gaze at her withconcern, then he nodded, his eyes glazing over in recall. “I hadtold Tomo I could make the plants move. He didn’t believe me.” Heshook his head, his mouth twisting. “I guess I wanted to prove tohim I was king of Kavin.”

“You were eight.”

“I was a fool. I yanked at the power of Kavinand demanded it wrap him up in roses. I didn’t even think about thethorns or what Kavin would do. I was shocked and frightened by howthoroughly it reacted. He screamed when the thorns bit into him,the vines tightening up. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know how to makeit stop. The more frightened I became, the more the vines twistedup his legs and torso. Amily started screaming. I just stoodthere.”

The tendons of Russal’s neck stood out.Kambry curled her fingers behind his neck, massaging the tightmuscles. “That was long ago, Russal. You were just a boy.”Recently, she had blamed him, and now she was encouraging him toforgive himself. She really didn’t know how she felt about him orCovey.

“One doesn’t use power without first knowinghow to use it properly. I nearly destroyed a friendship I was onlyjust appreciating.”

She slid her hands down to his chest andlooked up at him. “Did that experience play a part in your decisionnot to take the king’s crown?”

“It was clear I wasn’t ready.” He lay hishead on her forehead. “When Felip was here, he told you whathappened that day.”

“And Kavin showed it to me.”

He straightened, his eyes widening. “You sawit through Kavin?”

“An image, so detailed, so real, it couldhave happened today in the gardens.”

“You must have thought me a monster.” Russalgripped her hands as if he thought she might draw away fromhim.

She gazed down, ashamed to let him see theaccuracy of his statement. “I saw only what he told me.”

He squeezed her hands. “And you let me tellmy side. That couldn’t have been easy. If you had seen it throughKavin, then how could I have given a better accounting ofmyself?”

Laying her head on his chest, she said, “Iwent to someone I thought might have been there.”

“You spoke to Amily?”

“No, Lessa.”

His voice carried his surprise. “She wasn’tthere.”

“She was hiding nearby. She used to followyou three about.”

His arms tightened around her as if he neededthe comfort. “We shut many people out. None of us trusted