War of the Princes 03: Monarch by A. R. Ivanovich Read Free Book Online Page A

Lord Brendon's meeting room, I found Ruby and Rune fighting with a pair of yardsticks. She was swinging at him as though wielding a sword, her artificial candy-apple red hair splaying out around her with every twist of her body. Rune sidestepped her clumsy assault, and Ruby lost her balance, nearly tumbling to the ground.
    Rune was all in black and brown. He wore a trim, high-collar coat adorned with enough buttons, belts and buckles to appear as cavalier as it did militant. Just seeing him sent a breathless thrill through me and set some of my worries at ease.
    Love can be like that.
    “ Mind your feet,” he told her. “You’re overemphasizing every motion with your body before you strike. Continue this way, and your opponent will anticipate your every move and you’ll be exhausted. You need to keep your stance wide, shoulders relaxed.”
    Ruby sighed. She had always been passive, bookish, and unless I dragged her along, she tended to avoid physical activities in general. Watchin g her engaged in combat training, with Rune of all people, was the last thing I expected to see.
    “ I'm no good at this,” she sighed.
    “ Do you want to stop?”
    Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses. “No.”
    Carmine was lounging on a day bed beside a bay window, flipping through a newspaper. “You're wasting your time, soldier. She isn't the fighting kind.”
    Ruby dropped her sword arm.
    “As much as I hate to disagree with you,” Kyle said, perusing a bookshelf, “You've never tried to steal her journal. It's all in the nails.”
    “ I didn't hurt you,” Ruby said defensively. “And I might not be good at this stuff, but I'm not going to get any better at it if I don't try at all.”
    “ And who is it you desire to fight?” Carmine persisted.
    I slipped through the door, trying to close it quietly behind me.
    “Prince Raserion,” Ruby said.
    Uh oh.
    My hand slipped from the handle and suctioned by the morning breeze, the door slammed behind me. Everyone turned to stare. Rune's expression softened upon seeing me.
    “ Oh. Morning,” Kyle said.
    “ Good, you're here.” Carmine folded her newspaper closed. “Feeling better?”
    “ What happened?” Ruby asked, instantly concerned.
    I nearly panicked.
    Oh, nothing. I've only agreed to ally myself with the bloodthirsty tyrant that is ultimately responsible for the murder of your boyfriend. Yeah, and I might have dreamed the entire thing, except that I didn't.
    The color washed out of my face as the internal monologue played through my head, and I fumbled for an explanation. “Nothing, nothing. I fell… by the refreshment table. Slipped. Hit my head really, really hard, but I'm fine.”
    It wasn't the right time to tell them.
    Carmine was watching me closely. She had the most cause to be worried or suspicious of my strange behavior. I waited for more questions, but our pilot only smiled. “You should probably put some ice on it. There'll be no mission north without you.”
    “ I'm okay,” I said under my breath.
    Kyle smirked, casually resting an elbow on the bookshelf. “Kat knocks her head all the time. She's immune to blunt force trauma.”
    I scowled at him. “ I might be, but you aren't, and you're lucky you're standing way over there.”
    “ I've asked Rune to teach me to fight,” Ruby said with more zeal than I'd ever seen alive in her. Cheeks shiny, and eyelids puffy, she looked as though she'd spent the night crying again, but now there was fire behind her eyes. “I've decided that I'm never going to be anyone's victim. I want to know how to defend myself and how to protect us.”
    Ruby's pain was evident. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her again how sorry I was, but I wouldn't undermine her moment of bravery. Instead, I marveled at her strength.
    “ I want to be like you,” she said to Rune with reverence.
    “ No,” Rune said, stopping that thought dead in its tracks. He put the long ruler down, resting it against an end table. “You