The Golden Princess (Return to the Four Kingdoms, #4)

by Melanie Cellier

“Isn’t it delightful?” Adara cried. “All I have to do now is take my maid and two guards—and let the guard captain know where I’m going.” “Funny, I don’t see a maid and two guards now,” Rek said with false surprise. She laughed. “My maid is waiting outside, thank you very much. Obviously I couldn’t tell the captain where I was going because I didn’t know myself. And I didn’t need guards because I kept in sight of you the whole time.” “Although I didn’t even know you were there,” Rek said. “But I suppose your unwavering faith in my ability to protect you despite this impediment is meant as a compliment.” “Naturally.” She gave him a broad smile.

How truly sad to live a life surrounded by people but connected to no one by either love or respect. It put my own desire to cling to those I had loved in perspective.

“So many confused emotions.” His words were almost inaudible, more felt on my skin than heard with my ears. “But when it comes to you, Zaria, all of them so intense.”

“I humbly apologize for not being sufficiently excited about being threatened with a violent death.”

“You stole his gang from under his nose?” Rek sounded awed. “I just climbed onto the wagon and drove away,” I said. “It wasn’t much.” “Just climbed on and drove away—with thirty-eight thieves in jars.” Rek shook his head, a laugh in his voice.

“I refuse to be like my father, so focused on ruling, he has no room in his life for love. I’m done choosing duty, or anger, or hate. I choose love. I choose you, Zaria.”

I had thought it childish to cling to my past, but my naïveté had been thinking you needed to move on from losing the people you loved and who had loved you. Those people formed you as a person—you didn’t grow past them, you built up from the foundations they’d given you.