“You’ve been defying your parents for your whole life. You have always risked their wrath for love.”
“I have not.”
“Yes, you have. Your heart is far too big to be weighed down by duty, Donovan. It might not be obvious to you, but it’s obvious to everyone else. You found a way to get Martina released from the castle against your mom’s wishes. You freed Eryk and Nate from the dungeons, where they would have rotted for life.”
“No.” He looked slightly dazed. “No. I merely… I exploited loopholes in our laws.”
“I bet your mom still doesn’t know you stole Cecil.”
He clamped his mouth shut.
“You know, Bronwyn was right—you have every reason to be mad at your parents because of what they’ve put you through. They’ve forced you into a box, and you don’t fit.” My hand moved without my permission, and I placed it on his chest, over his heart. “This right here is too big to be the tyrant they want you to be.”
“No.” He shook his head. “The Queen is not—”
“Oh, she is,” I said. “Connor didn’t appear in a vacuum, you know. He got his lust for power from someone.” We maneuvered past another couple, stiffly gyrating their hips next to us. “Look, I get that Connor is taking things to extremes, but”—I shrugged—“throwing kids in dungeons and keeping silly human teenagers as prisoners forever is a little harsh.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “A monarch must rule with a firm hand.”
“A monarch should be wise. That’s what you are. You freed Nate and Eryk, and now they will die for you. The Queen is trying to force you to be like her, and you can’t be that person.” I paused. “But Connor is.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Let’s be honest, that’s why she’s got a soft spot for him, right? That’s why she let him get away with so much when you were younger. I bet she didn’t even punish him when he stole your fiancé.”
I waited a second, but he didn’t answer.
“But,” I went on. “Instead of being mad that she’s forcing you to be something you’re not, you’ve lied to yourself and pretended that you were following her wishes, when in reality, you were following your heart—”
The words died in my mouth. Over his shoulder, I spotted a man getting to his feet, a man with a thick pelt of ice-white hair. “Donovan,” I hissed, shaking his shoulder. “Is that…?”
Just as he turned to look, a brunette woman with a long horsey face stood up. She had very thick, wavy hair, too.
Donovan stiffened. “Yes. We need to follow them.” He caught Nate’s eye and jerked his head.
They were already moving.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Four more people with thick hair stood as we wound our way through the tables. Donovan led me forward, holding my hand tightly, fingers entwined in mine so firmly I couldn’t let go.
Suddenly, Cress was in between us, swaggering forward, breaking Donovan’s hold on my hand and taking it in her own, while the boys briskly walked in front. Cecil trotted beside them, managing to swipe two smoked salmon starters and an entire filet mignon off the tables without the diners noticing.
We followed the thick-haired, well-dressed suspected centaurs as they sauntered out the side exit of the dining room, chatting happily as they drifted through the thick ferns and trailing ivy, heading down a gravel path towards the direction of the sports center.
Cress jabbed Donovan in the ribs as we walked. “Coward.”
He snarled at her. “Not now, Cress.” He reached out and took my hand again, pulling me along beside him.
“You couldn’t do it, could you? You’re too stubborn. Too scared of being hurt.”
“I said not now!”
“We are out of time, Donovan. We are about to face Connor, and he has brand new seduction magic. He’s going to be there as soon as we step through the portal. We’re probably going to have to fight him, and, hopefully, a bunch of centaurs, to get the songbird back. Would you like me to wrap up the Chosen in a pretty bow and deliver her right to him?”
I glanced at her, suddenly worried. “I thought we weren’t taking the prophecy seriously?”
She winked at me. “I’ll take it seriously if it gets me laid, Chosen.”
I cocked my head, confused. “What?”
Donovan gave a deep rumble. “If you do not close that giant mouth of yours, Cress, I will have the royal tailors sew it shut.”
“I told you before, if you are too stubborn and cowardly to tell her, then I will.” She gave him a saucy wink. “The prophecy says she will bond, whether it be to the Devourer or the Giver. And you know how much I like…” She ran her tongue over her top lip. “Giving.”
“What does that mean?” I pleaded, stumbling on my heels on the gravel path. “Cress, what are you saying?”
Cecil trotted up beside me, chuckling. “It means she’s a top.”
I looked down at him. “And what does that mean?” I stumbled along in my high heels, trying to act natural. Behind us, a dozen other men and women with very thick heads of hair were making their way to the sports center, too. None of them paid us any attention, but then again, it fit with what they’d told me about the centaurs—too arrogant and self-absorbed to notice anything untoward going on around them.
I’d had enough. I ripped my hand out of Donovan’s grip. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”
Cress laughed out loud. “See? You ham-fisted, stubborn fool, you will deliver her straight into his arms because you cannot be honest with her.”
“I will not force her!” Donovan let out a snarl, whipped around, and grabbed Cress by the throat with his massive hands.
