The King's Queen

Chapter 15

Ashton had mind-linked Garrett asking us to meet him on the third floor. So before Garrett took me to the meeting, we went up to Ashton's room. I was cautious of being late but we still had about five minutes until the meeting so I figured we'd make it in time.

When we got there, Ashton was leaning outside his door, his expression troubled and his eyes were lost in thought. He seemed a million miles away but after we rounded the corner, he immediately replaced his worry with a smile.

"My princess." He pulled me in for a kiss on the cheek.

"My prince." I smiled up at him. "Why did you ask me to come all the way up here?"

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about before the meeting." He glanced at Garrett. "Thanks for taking her here. You're dismissed."

Garrett bowed and walked away, probably glad to finally get some time away from me and Violet.

"Let's go inside for a bit," Ashton suggested, opening his door and stepping aside to let me pass.

"You're being so mysterious." I chuckled. "What's this about?"

"Before that, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," I called over my shoulder as I headed into his closet. "I haven't gotten any headaches today so that's a relief."

I walked the familiar aisles until I found just what I was looking for—the perfect sweater to complete my outfit. I stood on tiptoes trying to get to it, but it was on the top shelf. I dropped back to my height with a slight pout before I heard a chuckle coming from the doorway. I narrowed my eyes at Ashton who was watching me with an amused expression.

"Have you come to steal another one?"

"I like to call it long-term borrowing." I grinned and I motioned to my outfit. "Don't tell me it wouldn't match."

"It would," he agreed and I could see him holding back his laughter as he walked over to me. "Do you want it?"

I nodded eagerly and he pulled it from its hanger and handed it to me. I pulled it on over my outfit and beamed at the warmth and comfort that it provided. Ashton nodded approvingly and then turned back to the racks. He typed something on a keypad and the racks swiveled around until it displayed a sweater identical to the one I was wearing.

I raised an eyebrow at Ashton. "Your stylist ordered two of the same thing?"

"One for me and one for you," he said as he shrugged it on. "I had a feeling you'd like it and I figured we could match."

"Aw," I cooed, snuggling up to him. "You can be so romantic."

"I'm always romantic," he corrected me with a dashing smile.

"If you say so," I teased and he made to ruffle my hair but stopped midway. "You said your headaches are going away?"

"Yeah. Maybe it was the stress from everything." I thought about that. "Hopefully they're gone for good now. I have to get back to studying. Winter break is almost over."

"I hope so too. I don't want to trigger your headaches, which is why I won't use telepathy to communicate with you. That's why I wanted to see you. There's something I want to run by you before we go into the meeting room."

He took my hand in his and brushed his thumb up and down the back of my hand. "Rubbing your hand vertically means agreement." He changed directions and stroked his thumb sideways along the back of my hand. "Rubbing horizontally means disagreement."

I glanced up at him and saw that the worried look in his eyes from earlier was back. "Ash... what is this about?"

"It's just a precaution," he sighed. "Most of the time my family can be rather forceful, especially my father and grandfather. Don't let your guard down around them. Remember that the Prinarch can influence your emotions. Using these signals, I can let you know the moves I'll make during the meeting. You can let me know what you're thinking of doing too."