The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series) by Rachel Higginson Read Free Book Online Page A

me. I heard the undertones of protective, brotherly love in his voice. He thought I would be angry at Amelia.
                  “I’m not upset,” I replied curtly, not sure if that was true. I realized my fork was suspended halfway to my mouth and dipped my head to meet it aggressively.
                  “Ok, good,” Kiran laughed a little in relief. “She isn’t staying long anyway, just through the weekend I think. And then she is meeting her mum back in Zurich for a humanitarian summit or something of the like.”
                  “Humanitarian summit?” I asked, curiosity sparking inside of me. My blood heated quickly and I felt alive wondering about the pretty vegetarian at the end of the table. When was the last time something had truly interested me?
                  “Mmm, yes,” Kiran talked around a bite of food. “Since their…. I guess you could say conversion…. Since Aunt Bianca and Amelia lost their titles they turned their money and their efforts toward the poor of humanity. They are very involved in numerous charities all over, and are trying to give away everything they own. Or it seems that way anyway. Jean will never let them become poor, but they’re right in that we could all live with a little less, don’t you think?”
                  I made an agreeing sound, but didn’t push the conversation further. I felt the same way, and had tasked Eden with spreading our inherited wealth around the world in worthy causes. It was also something I had been trying to impress on the wealthiest of our people, but I had always tried to avoid Bianca and so we had never had the conversation. Even if, in the end, she had seen the necessity for Lucan’s death, she was still his sister. I had a hard time facing her, knowing how much I cared for my own sister and how hard it would be for me to lose Eden even if she were an evil tyrant. I had a hard time looking Bianca in the eye knowing I had been very instrumental in Lucan’s downfall and had a direct hand in his ultimate death.
                  Our plates were cleared and people began to move around the outside space. There was a dance floor and the music subtly changed from soft background music to big band, jazz, rat-pack stuff that people could dance to. After the first of countless dinner parties, I had abolished the tired, boring formal dining that took five courses and sucked hours of my life into the meaningless vacuum of polite conversation. But in order to appease the people, which I was always about appeasing the people, I had compromised to three courses. Appetizers were served cocktail party style while everyone mingled, dinner was served sitting down and dessert was set out on elegant tables around the square for people to enjoy at their pleasing.
                  I felt very diplomatic with that decision, until I realized the most important decision I had made as King thus far was about food….
                  I got up from the table, knowing I had important hands to shake. Eden and Kiran had already been sucked into the endless polite politics of our culture and so I headed in the opposite direction, hoping for a whole divide and conquer scenario. Ok, mostly I was hoping the majority of people here tonight would want to talk to them and leave me alone.
                  I walked toward the dance floor, not really with a purpose in mind, just pulled in by the expert skills of the musicians and the gravelly voice of the singer belting out Frank Sinatra. All ages of couples waltzed around the floor, lost in each other and the beauty of the evening.
                  “Avalon, you must be thrilled to welcome your sister home,” an older woman grabbed both of my hands, squeezing them in her soft clasp. I couldn’t remember her name, but her accent was American so I felt like I should know her.
                  “I