Heart of the Raven Prince (Entangled with Fae, #2)

by Tessonja Odette

It conjures memories of our encounter in the alley, and all the rage I felt then returns now.

Forget that he’s a psy vampire huh. Such an idiot. No preservation skills whatsoever… don’t remember important stuff just dumb stuff…

I’m not ready to face my stepsisters again. Not yet. Not until I gather my wits and figure out how to act around them.

OMG!

That means what Maisie said about him is true;

Why would she lie, idiot? That’s something that should have been very important to consider by someone who’s about to be lying and hiding for the next two week in HIS palace… 🙄🙄

“Neither was I, but apparently I already said yes.”

Oh gog! It was Augie that Marus spoke to and got confirmation from last night! He has likely created multiple messes for an Ambassador.

I realize Em is still waiting for an answer, but that would require me to confess my glamour shenanigans.

And you can because it wouldn’t hurt anything considering “Maisie” was unaffected and remained in her room last night. But the author has to continue to make this stupid.

“As hard as it is to believe, I have no other use for two empty-headed human girls. I already know their kind.”

So why is it okay to keep the two empty headed humans with Maisie? They could work in the kitchens.

My heart quickens as I realize their color for the first time. “Aqua,” I say, not realizing I uttered the word out loud until she faces me. The hue is even more striking now that they’re in full view. “The color of your eyes.”

I think he does remember then…

Curious. Very curious indeed. “We should get to know each other, Em,” I say, watching her carefully as she faces me again. “How old are you?”

He knows…

“How are your siblings? You have mostly sisters, am I correct?”

He’s definitely testing her. Her knows…

My body convulses with tremors, but I refuse to let my fear show on my face.

Okay, idiot. What part of “psy vampire” did you not understand?

My stomach twists. If I’m thrown in a dungeon, they’ll surely strip me of my glamoured shoes to dress me in rags.

But your two weeks might pass easily waiting for the Queen’s return…🤷🏽‍♀️

“They unhitched Donna and Dominus and would have stolen our wheels next and sold them by sundown.”

They weren’t scared enough to not attack a carriage pulled by skeleton horses though…

At least this way, they run home to their parents and perhaps think twice next time about robbing travelers.”

They probably don’t have parents though…

“Of course,” Franco says. “The little bastards have figured out the fillies’ weakness. Tempt them with raw meat and they’ll forget what they’re supposed to be doing.”

How did they even unhitch them from the moving carriage to lure them in the first place?

“Another entitled creature,” the man says. “Another fae noble who feasts on riches while children starve.”

If you don’t like the fae, why are you there? Go back to where humans lived separately…

“I don’t have a purse, but I can give you my clothes.”

And you forget that your shoes contain a very important glamour that you need for the next to weeks and that they likely look very expensive…idiot.

“What are you doing?” Franco asks in a furious whisper.

Exactly…

Franco puts a hand on his hip.

Yeah, he has a lot of feminine moves…

I’m about to shimmy out of my blouse when the prince turns toward me and begins unbuttoning his shirt. “Turn around!” I squeal.

And why? What does he need to turn around for when it’s not like you’re going to get a new shirt to replace that one before he faces you again. Idiot.

He seems awfully bold for someone wielding a gun without bullets. Perhaps I shouldn’t have encouraged Franco to go soft on him after all. “Give me the princess’ shoes.”

He’s pointing the gun at her but says give me the princess’ shoes. Does that mean he knows she isn’t the princess?

He looks at me with a smirk. “See what happens when I try to play nice?”

That doesn’t even make sense…

On purpose. Because he knows I’m a liar, and after everything I said to him outside the coach, he has every right to despise me…

Yet he just saved you instead of leaving you or even giving you to the man before that. He even said nothing when you told the man you were Maisie. STHU. Ridiculous.

I say, an edge of panic cutting through my tone. “Put me down right now.”

Yep. Taking to him like that with him KNOWING you’re not Maisie is actually going to get him to comply… 🙄

Our descent has lodged my shoe even farther off my foot.

Why not just lift your leg to fix it or better yet, ask him to?

Then comes the dawning realization that I just accosted a prince.

Dummy…

“So, what? You expected I’d be fooled the entire month and we’d amicably sever our courtship at the end of it, leaving me none the wiser that the real princess had hardly ever been here?”

Well, you were expecting to do the first part of that as well… 🤷🏽‍♀️

“She eloped, didn’t she?” The impostor’s body goes still, emotions sparking with surprise. She says nothing to confirm or deny it.

And how would Ember know? There was no hint towards that at all…

Will I be permitted to fulfill my bargain with Princess Maisie, and in turn remain safely hidden until the bargain with my stepmother is completed as well?

There’s nothing saying she can’t tell him about her original bargain though…

Then, with unexpected gentleness, he sets me on my feet and joins me on the balcony floor. It takes me a few breaths to gather my bearings, and even after I manage to maintain my footing without toppling over, mild disequilibrium remains.

Watch those hateful stepsisters be in her room and sees how they are dressed, or rather NOT dressed…

“Enough about me,” he says, interrupting my thoughts. “Let’s talk about you.” I fold my arms over my chest, feeling naked beneath his gaze. “What about me?”

You should probably go inside and make sure you have no eavesdroppers first.

I’m about to say more when the balcony doors fly open.

I knew it…

“What might we do for you, Your Highness?” Imogen asks, her voice full of forced sweetness.

Did she ask you to do anything? Wasn’t it stupid to have her work as the maid of visiting royalty when it should have been obvious what her visit was for seeing as how the queen is on vacation?

“Please,” I say with a generous smile.

You have to take your shoes off to bathe…

I’ve never been before, not even when I was a child, but…I’m going to the opera…with the prince. As the princess. As his date.

Oh stop. This doesn’t even make sense after all she’s done and been thru with him. He already knows she’s not Maisie, the only person who does know, and he isn’t being mean about it. So she shouldn’t feel so scared and uncomfortable. It’s stupid.

And is now full of items that had previously been in and around the princess’ chests.

Which is why it was dumb of you to leave them in your rooms while you were away, like you don’t know them. 🙄🙄

My pulse quickens as I study the trunks. If they found my gown…well,

Didn’t you lock that chest?

If I can’t open the trunk, neither can anyone else.

Not true. A locksmith can so you’d might want to tell them that you don’t want that one opened before they decide to be “helpful” and have it unlocked. She so dumb. All of the damn time. Always leaving loose threads in order to be found out.

“Perhaps I can inquire about a locksmith—”

See… and her dumb ass response. She could have handled that before it even started. Now she looks suspicious and Imogen will probably try to get in out of spite thinking it holds a secret that will sway the prince from liking the princess. Idiot. Like you don’t already know your stepsisters. Smdh.

“What’s inside?” Clara asks from the washroom doorway. I blink a few times, seeking a valid explanation.

Why would you even need to give her, a maid, an explanation as a princess? Make sense.

“Might I ask why, Your Highness?” Imogen says with clear distaste.

No, maid.

but if we fail to don human clothing by sunrise, we perish.”

That’s right, tell your seething enemy how to kill you, even the fake you. Makes so much sense. Idiot.

Holding my head high, I say, “Are you questioning me?”

Yes. And they have been doing so ever since you returned to the room. NOW, you bite back? 🙄🙄

Does he want me to pretend to court him so others will be clueless he was rejected?

What is with this useless train of thought? The bargain she has to hold out for ends in two weeks which Maisie made hers match. The Social Season shindig is a month. So she could leave well before then, claiming her inheritance and getting on her train. None of this even matters. He doesn’t know he only has two weeks to do whatever he plans, he believes he has a month.

I wonder if my stepsisters chose it on purpose, knowing I’d regret dismissing their assistance.

Yep. I thought that as soon as you described what was in your hands behind the screen…

Then, before you leave, you must publicly affirm you—as Princess Maisie—are the one who desired for our pairing to go no further.” I blink a few times. Did I hear him right?

See, getting mad for nothing.

That means my first assumption about his motive was incorrect.

Surprise surprise…

Although, I doubt it’s for the reasons you think.” I scoff at that.

You shouldn’t. You’ve already been wrong before.

If he wants brutal honesty, I suppose I can provide a portion of it.

Then it’s really not brutal honesty is it?

keep my expression flat to avoid reacting to his latter statement.

Why does she keep acting lick it’s her expressions he’s reading vice her emotions. Two different things…

The significance of this moment strikes me. It’s our first public appearance as a courting couple. The realization sends a wave of dizziness to my head. What if I can’t do it? What if I say the wrong thing? What if—

OMG. Author do you not realize how pointless these little panic attacks are that she has? She has already spent more intimate times and moments with him for her to act this stupid and fretting over and over again at the most random times.