Cursed Without A Crown

05 | Treason is Relative

STILL VERY MUCH IN ORODEN

Naomi knew she should probably be frightened since she'd been caught breaking into the solar. But she couldn't help but notice that this particular stranger's hands tasted a lot like sugar.

"I saw you looking around as if you didn't want to be discovered. I've never seen or heard of another Shade in the palace. So," he squeezed his grip, "tell me exactly what you're doing here."

She should've flinched at the tightening of his hand and how threatening he sounded, but Naomi wasn't paying attention to those. In truth, she hadn't even been listening to half of what he'd said. As soon as she'd heard his voice, she'd frozen, recognising the familiar Ravencorff twang.

It only took a second for realisation to set in.

"Yaah shay!" she exclaimed, her words muffled in his palm.

"What?"

Naomi repeated, excitement bubbling inside her, "Yaah ah shay!"

"What?"

Getting too elated to continue stressing herself, Naomi pulled his hand away from her mouth and quickly turned to face the stranger, "You're a Shade!" ready to be released from her tongue. However, those words died the very moment she came face-to-face with a thick pair of breasts.

Naomi's neck bent as she pulled her head back to stare up at the pair of brown eyes that appeared so similar to hers. And his face...was, well, cute?

Extremely confused, she slowly did an appraisal, trying to figure out how and just...why?

He was a Shade, she was sure of it now, since she'd seen no mark. But Naomi had never in her life met a Shade that big. Ever.

They were either really skinny, or lean-muscled. Never, well, fat. The conditions in Ravencorff left no room for fat. All the Shades she knew, even the ones that had made a living for themselves outside of Ravencorff, had never been well-off to gain this much weight.

And although some were tall, they certainly weren't that huge. He was like a mini-giant. His tunic hung on him like his body was a clothes line, his middle's outline showing quite prominently.

The Shade-stranger rose an eyebrow after moments of silence, as if waiting for her to be done with her assessment of him.

"Are you finished?"

Naomi stared at him, not understanding why her brain felt so muddled. But she tried as much as possible to shake the feeling off.

Not having the patience to wait for her to respond, the other Shade let go of Naomi and took a step back. Then, as if suddenly realising where they stood, his eyes landed on the door of the library, down at her, and back to the door again.

"Were you going to—?"

"Find my way to the guest chambers?" Naomi quickly cut in. "Yes, yes I was. What a fool I am. It isn't obvious at all that this is the king's solar." She laughed a little too forcefully and tugged an invisible strand of hair behind her ear.

"Of course it isn't," he said dubiously, apparently not falling for her lame attempt at trying to be evasive. But she wasn't about to be the one who looked like the nervous intruder.

"I was really looking for the guest chambers. But it seems as if fate led us to meet," she said with a curious smile. Whether he knew it or not, he was going to help her. That thought alone brought her excitement back up again. He might not be the bastard prince, but it was a start at finding a loyal Shade who could aid her in her mission.