Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Fantasy / The Mate Games / Who’s the woman sitting on the throne?

Share

Who’s the woman sitting on the throne?

Penulis: Author Calypso
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-03-24 21:22:13

ALTHEA

The next morning, I wake to a soft knock at my door. I barely have time to register it before the door creaks open, and two young women step inside.

They move efficiently, as if they’ve done this routine a hundred times before. One of them carries fresh towels and a tray of food, while the other sets out neatly folded clothes on a chair near the window. Their uniforms are pristine, their movements graceful, but I don’t miss the way their eyes flick toward me, filled with quiet curiosity.

I sit stiffly on the edge of my bed, feeling strangely out of place in the silk nightdress I was given. The palace’s luxury still unsettles me, and somehow it still feels like this is a world I’ll never fit in. The events at the woods yesterday has only made me even more certain of that. My ankle is wrapped tightly beneath the sheets, a dull ache pulsing with each movement. My body is sore, but it’s the memories that weigh the heaviest.

The bed beneath me is too soft. I feel like I’m si
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab Terkunci
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya

Bab terbaru

  • The Mate Games   Everything will come crashing down

    ANONYMOUS POVEverything had been going perfectly. Every word, every step, every calculated smile, months of planning, and I’d gotten so close I could almost taste it. That is, until recently. Now, my entire plan is hanging by a thread, and unless I act fast, it’s going to unravel completely.I press my back against the cold stone wall, the shadows of the corridor wrapping around me like a second skin. My hands shake, but I force them still. There’s no room for mistakes anymore, no time for hesitation. Not when everything I’ve worked for is at risk of being thrown out the window.It hasn’t been easy hiding my identity all this time. Playing the role of a harmless contestant, smiling when I wanted to scream, laughing at the prince’s jokes like I wasn’t slowly dying inside. Every day, I wore a mask. Sweet, silent, obedient. A background character in someone else’s love story. I even cut my hair, dyed it, changed my posture. All to make sure no one ever recognized me. Not even her.Espec

  • The Mate Games   A loss

    ASHERPain in the ass doesn’t even begin to describe that girl.She’s reckless. Impossible. Infuriating in a way that burrows under my skin and refuses to leave. One minute she’s biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, the next she’s flipping a coin to decide her fate like it’s all just a game. And somehow, even when I have her in my hands, when I’m supposed to be the one holding power, it never feels like I do.She had the chance to kill me. More than once. The blade was at my throat. Her fingers trembled, but not enough to stop her if she’d really wanted it. And yet, I’m still here. Breathing. Bleeding, but breathing.For all her talk of slitting my throat, she’s failed to do it every damn time.Then again, I’ve failed just as much. I swore I’d drive her own dagger into her back. Promised it. Dreamed it.But here we are.The steel stays sheathed, and I tell myself it’s strategy. That I need her alive to pry the rest of their plans from her lips. I need her to lead me to the others.

  • The Mate Games   Dead feelings

    ALTHEAI stand there for a few seconds after he’s gone, staring at the empty space where Asher was. My heart still beats too hard, almost like it’s trying to tear itself out of my chest. The cold air wraps around me, but it’s not enough to cool the heat that lingers under my skin. I press my fingers to my lips. They’re still swollen from his mouth, still taste like iron and something I don’t want to name.Gods. Out of all the ways I imagined that going, daggers drawn, threats hissed between clenched teeth, maybe even blood on our hands again, this was not one of them. Never did I think we’d end up pressed together like that, kissing each other like the world wasn’t burning down around us. Like we weren’t enemies standing on opposite sides of a war.For a second, I’d let myself forget. And worse, it had felt good to forget.I force my hands down, shove the thoughts deep where they can’t touch me. Then I pull my hood back up and pick my way across the roof. My legs feel strange, too loo

  • The Mate Games   Heads or Tails

    ASHERShe jerks away so fast it almost feels like she’s been burned. The dagger that was pressed to my throat falls from her hand, clattering on the stone. Her palms shove hard at my chest. I let her. My back hits the low wall behind me.She stumbles back, breathing heavy. Her eyes are wide, almost wild in the dim light. I swallow, ignoring the sharp sting on my lip where she bit me. Blood slips over my tongue, metallic and warm.“Don’t…” Her voice cracks. She pants, eyes locked on mine. “Never again.”I don’t move. Can’t. My chest heaves, trying to keep up with my heart. The weight of what just happened presses down on me, heavier than any blade. I lick my lips, tasting her there. My hands still tremble from holding her. From wanting her.She sways on shaky legs, then tears her eyes from me, fixing them on the ground between us. The blades lie there, glinting under thin streaks of moonlight. Silent reminders. Her face hardens.She lunges.I snap out of it, diving for the same spot. M

  • The Mate Games   It’s ruin

    ASHERThe seconds slow.As our eyes lock across the dimly lit, crowded room, it feels like time has stopped just for us. It’s impossible, but somehow, it’s really her.Althea.I see it the moment panic flashes through her silver gaze. She spins on her heel, pushing her way through the mob before I can even take a full breath.I move.I shove bodies aside, ignoring the curses that follow. I spot the ripple of her hair disappearing deeper into the crowd and curse under my breath, sliding through gaps, elbowing past drunk fools too slow to move. Heads turn as I mutter another colorful oath.Then she’s gone. The crowd swallows her whole.My heart slams. I keep moving, forcing my way toward the far side of the room. I know where she’ll go. The cellar. It’s the only easy exit out of this filthy tavern that leads anywhere worth hiding.Steel screeches ahead. That old door. She’s slipping through.Murmurs rise behind me as I reach it, the wood only cracked wide enough for her slim body to van

  • The Mate Games   He’s coming

    ALTHEAHe’s here.In the middle of a damn fight, of all things. But somehow, it doesn’t surprise me. If there’s one constant in this twisted world of ours, it’s that Asher finds trouble, or maybe it finds him.I stand frozen, breath shallow, eyes locked on the crude fighting ring set up in the middle of the bar’s wide back room. The air is heavy with sweat, smoke, and the sharp tang of spilled ale. People press close to the wooden rails, shouting, placing bets, eager for blood.And there, right in the center, is him.The man moving with lethal grace, stalking slow circles around his opponent like a predator toying with prey. He’s so much bigger than the other man, muscles straining beneath a dark tunic, body coiled tight with energy. But it’s the way he moves that twists something deep inside me. Not just fluid—calculated. Like he’s already three steps ahead, mapping every dodge, every strike, every final blow.A cloth wraps around the lower half of his face, hiding his mouth, nose, e

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status