Page 43 of Cinder's Trial
“I am. Sorry.” Killian even sounded apologetic. “You’ll have to find another prince worthy of you.”
I could see the woman visibly shudder then stiffen. “In that case, I don’t want to waste your time. I see this was a mistake. If you’ll excuse me.” Cindy-mae swept out, shoe in hand, clomping unevenly, but best of all, she remained human.
When the door shut, Killian sighed. “That went better than expected.”
Unfortunately, not all of the meetings with candidates picked for the experiment went so smoothly.
Despite patting all the Cinderella-hopefuls down, some managed to create weapons.
There was Gertrude with lavishly coiffed hair who leaped onto the table and ran for me, pulling out a long pin from her tresses before having her ankles swept by Hannah.
Chubby-cheeked and twinkling-eyed Jolene threw her shoe, which spun and missed my head, only because Levi yanked me out of its path. The heel planted into the wall a few inches deep. Jolene got escorted out, noisily sobbing.
Luckily, none of the jilted potentials turned into dragons, although we did get one frog, who hopped away croaking, and a swan who hissed in our direction before heading for the window, which Hannah quickly opened so she might fly free. We even met one woman who suddenly flipped into a witch and did some damage. Miss Juliette McIntyre went from a meek and sweet-looking young woman with a guileless expression to suddenly wearing a dark form-fitting gown and flinging lightning bolts. Gerome tasered Juliette and carted her out for processing by the bureau. We took a hard line on violent magic users.
Through it all, I played my part. Smiling, batting my lashes at Killian, getting a shoe placed on my foot over and over.
At ten o’clock, Killian yawned. “I think that’s enough for one day.”
“Not bad, you broke the hearts of twenty-three women,” Hannah noted looking up from the tablet where she’d been keeping track.
“Leaving how many?” he asked.
“Two hundred and three. We had more suddenly appear on the guest list late afternoon.”
Killian groaned. “We’ll never disappoint them all in time.”
“No, but the important part is we know what seems to work,” I pointed out to lift his spirits.
“Is it working though?” Killian asked, his expression serious. “Or will the curse keep sending me Cinderellas until I finally cave?”
“Maybe you’ll meet one you like and actually marry her, putting a stop to it.” I tried to offer him hope.
“I would like nothing more. However, in the meantime, I’ll keep having to deal with this.”
Hannah offered a sly solution. “You know, there is such a thing as a marriage of convenience. You could always just fake it. Find someone who doesn’t mind being a trophy wife, at least until you meet the one.”
“Who would agree?” he asked at large. A question no one had a reply to.
Levi appeared to be in a foul mood as we returned to our room. I could have pried, but my menagerie cheered upon my entry so I spent some time on the floor letting them climb over me, replying to their chittering, while rubbing Izzy’s spine.
Eventually, I had to deal with the grumpy Knight who stood staring out the window.
“Care to explain your foul mood?” I asked.
“How much of what I saw downstairs was an act?”
Don’t tell me I had a jealous Knight on my hands. On that point, I could easily reassure. “All of it was a fake.”
He whirled. “Are you sure? Because it looked and sounded convincing.”
“Of course, it did.” I rolled my eyes. “What did you expect? We had to make these women believe Killian wasn’t available. Can’t exactly do that if we’re scowling at each other.”
“I’d understand if you wanted to marry him. He would be a good match for you.” Spoken stiffly through a rigid jaw.
“According to who? Because it certainly isn’t me. I find myself rather attracted to an ornery warrior who has yet to give me a kiss, even though we’re finally alone.”
He didn’t need any more invitation than that. He plucked me from the floor and held me aloft as he devoured my mouth, leaving me breathless.