LITMIR.BIZ

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he’s less beautiful than his older brother. He is much more to my liking.”

      Stunned speechless, Willow considered her thoughts. Was this a simple case of Tatiana wanting whatever Willow had? No, she decided. Not possible. Especially since everyone knew Tatiana’s intended husband was every bit as beautiful as her.

      “But the eldest son’s wife will be queen,” Willow said, trying another tactic.

      “Of the EastWard Brights.” Tatiana shook her head. “You can have that.”

      “You’d give up the throne?” This definitely meant Tatiana was up to something. Unfortunately, whatever it was wouldn’t be good for Willow.

      “Only that throne,” Tatiana finally conceded. “I’d still be able to rule SouthWard once Mama and Daddy step down.”

      “Which won’t be for a long time,” Willow put in.

      Tatiana’s smile held a hint of darkness. “Oh, you never know. It might be sooner than you think.”

      Did she plan to help things along? Willow shook her head. She didn’t really want to know. However, she’d need a mate with a lot of magical power if she planned to try and stage a coup. Which would explain her sudden desire for the younger, less handsome brother.

      They were still eyeing each other when the door opened and Queen Millicent swept inside, peering at them with disapproval. “The breakfast will be in one hour and neither of you are ready? I expect this sort of behavior from Willow, but from you, Tatiana? Honestly.”

      The queen had barely finished speaking when she caught sight of her first-born child’s red nose and face streaked with black. Instantly she rounded furiously on Willow.

      “What have you done to your sister?” she hissed, gathering Tatiana close while her gaze shot daggers at her youngest daughter. “Today of all days she must look her absolute best and you’ve made her cry.”

      Willow didn’t bother to try and form a response. She knew from experience that her mother wouldn’t believe her anyway.

      Without waiting for an answer, the queen turned and shepherded Tatiana from the room. At the doorway, she paused, glaring back over her shoulder at Willow. “I’m going to take your sister and see if I can repair the damage you’ve done. As for you, get ready for the breakfast. All I ask is that you try to look decent.”

      Willow nodded.

      “Thank you.” Giving Tatiana’s hunched shoulders a hard squeeze, Millicent delivered the final shot. “After all, every dog will have its day. Don’t blow yours.”

      “Wait, Mother.” Squirming out of the queen’s hold, Tatiana dashed over to Willow’s side. “Let me help her get ready. A little makeup will fix this.” She waved her perfectly manicured hand at her own face. “You know it’ll just take me a few minutes.”

      “Fine.” Unable to refuse her eldest daughter anything, Queen Millicent nodded. “Just make sure you both are on time.” And with that, she left.

      Tatiana sighed. “You don’t know what a burden it is being the eldest.”

      It took every ounce of self-control Willow possessed to keep from rolling her eyes. “Try being the ugly duckling of the family.”

      “No thanks.” The fact that Tatiana didn’t even bother trying to refute Willow’s words should have stung, but she supposed she was used to it.

      “You have to make the best out of what you have.” Stalking over to the closet, Tatiana went through the day dresses. Finally, she pulled out one made of light blue watered silk, the sparkles interwoven into the fabric, which made them much less noticeable. The dress was dull by Bright standards, but Willow loved it. She hadn’t yet had an occasion to wear it.

      “Whatever you do, don’t wear this one,” Tatiana ordered, tossing the gown on the floor as though it were garbage. “Wear something fun!”

      She pulled out a hideous chiffon concoction of orange, hot pink and yellow, held it up and nodded. “This is perfect.” Tossing it at Willow, who miraculously caught it, she grinned. “See you in an hour.” Then she, too, swept from the room, slamming the door behind her.

      The overpowering scent of heavy perfume lingered in the air.

      Willow shook her head and tossed the frothy dress on her bed. She went to open the window and let in fresh air. Inhaling the smell of fresh pine, she gazed longingly at her beloved woods, missing the gentle creatures that lived there. They knew nothing of subterfuge and lies. They didn’t care that she didn’t look anything at all like a Bright was supposed to look. How she wished she could simply slip out of the castle unnoticed and escape to the forest.

      Attempting to escape her life, that’s what she was doing. She’d done so many times already, running to the forest and lately, to the human world.

      As she had when she’d danced with Prince Ruben.

      The thought nearly made her smile. But, true to the way her luck seemed to go, even her one magical night was shattered by a bomb explosion. In the ensuing chaos, she’d tried to help as much as possible, escaping back to the veil at the last possible minute.

      Home again. And now this. A meet-and-greet breakfast dressed in uncomfortable formal clothes. Already, the ball last night and the human prince who’d treated her as if she was beautiful felt like a dream, a fantasy.

      With a heavy heart, Willow went to shower. When it came time to select something to wear, she chose the more discreetly elegant watered silk rather than the rainbow-colored chiffon. She could only imagine how Tatiana would roll her eyes when she saw that.

      Willow sighed, bracing herself for the ordeal ahead. Even though she wanted no part of her sister’s secret plans, she knew she was about to walk smack-dab into the middle of them.

      The next morning dawned with a leaden sky and the promise of rain whispering in the wind. The acrid scent of smoke and soot hung over everything, a constant reminder of the explosion and fire.

      Heart heavy, Ruben accompanied his father, King Leo, in an inspection of the damage caused by the bomb. He’d gotten barely an hour of sleep, and most of that had been standing up when he took a quick, hot shower to cleanse the ash from his exhausted body.

      The events of the previous night felt like a dream—meeting Willow, dancing and spending time with her. A promising dream that had been interrupted by a nightmare. He couldn’t believe the extremists were back. But who else would have done such a thing? Until he was given reason to think otherwise, he had to believe the extremists were behind the bombing. They always felt violence was the best way to prove a point.

      Ruben didn’t understand this line of thought. Last time they’d set off bombs and had tried to harm his sister. The only thing they’d achieved had been jail sentences and widespread scorn and censure.

      None of that had fazed them, he guessed. Because they’d regrouped and tried their foolish terroristic actions again. To what end? Ruben couldn’t see what they had hoped to gain by blowing up the palace. Did they even have a plan? Somehow he doubted it.

      He suspected they were all crazy. What they wanted was impossible. They wanted Shape-shifters to be able to stay wolf longer than human. Even if such a thing were physically possible—which it was not—Ruben knew better than most how that could mess with one’s mind.

      Pushing aside his thoughts, he walked with his father through the still smoldering rubble.

      “We’re lucky no one was killed.” Grim faced, in the watery light King Leo looked older than his years. As he watched his normally jovial father shoulder the responsibility for the destruction, Ruben suppressed fury. The strong emotion stirred his wolf to instant alertness. The beast was spoiling for a fight.

      He felt his father’s wolf respond in kind, which was unusual. Normally, both his parents’ beasts were sedate animals, content with their lot. Unless … Of course.

      “How

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