Lahat ng Kabanata ng Kingdoms Reign: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 26

I avoided Jay. Not because I was angry with him. Because I didn’t want him to be right. There was a difference. I went to the library instead. Then the gardens.Then somewhere behind the west side of the mansion where I discovered a stone path I hadn’t seen before. I walked until my feet hurt. My brain refused to shut up.Drew hadn’t lied. Not exactly. He’d omitted something. Something important. Something he knew might change how I saw our relationship. That bothered me.But he’d also refused to discuss my romantic feelings with my father. That mattered. And everything he’d said lined up with what I already knew. So why did I feel sick?Because Jay had known. That was probably it. Jay knew there was something Drew hadn’t told me. He’d had the perfect opportunity to twist it.Instead he’d said—Ask Drew.I sat beneath a tree. Great. Now I trusted Jay because Drew had kept something from me. That seemed healthy.“Running away?”I closed my eyes. Of course. Jay.“Do you have a tracking d

I found Drew the next morning exactly where I expected him. Coffee in one hand. Laptop open. Hair still slightly messy.Completely unaware that I had spent an embarrassing amount of time deciding how to apologize to him.He glanced up as I stepped into his room. “Morning.”“Morning.”His eyes stayed on me. I stayed near the doorway. This was stupid. I had confronted the king at dinner. I had challenged an entire succession tradition within my first week of discovering I was royalty. I could apologize to one man. Probably.“Can we talk?”Drew closed his laptop immediately. “Of course.”That somehow made it harder. I walked inside. He waited.“I talked to my father.”Drew’s expression changed slightly. “Okay.”“About you.”“Less okay.”I smiled despite myself. “He told me he asked Jacob and Jay about me too.”Understanding crossed his face. “Ah.”“Yeah.”“And he told you I refused to answer the other question?”“He did.”Drew nodded.I shoved my hands into my pockets. “So…”“So?”“I mig

The clinic smelled like herbs, soap and something vaguely metallic. A tired-looking man stood behind a counter. He recognized Jacob. That surprised me.“Lord Jacob.”Jacob nodded. “Thomas.”“You’ve come a long way from the capital,” Thomas said as he walked toward us. “We’re reviewing the southern supply routes,” Jacob said, as if he had to verify why we were there.Thomas laughed. There was no humor in it. “About time.”I glanced at Thomas, then at Jacob. What did that mean? Were the supplies being sent not arriving on time?I studied Jacob’s face, noticing that he had simply absorbed what Thomas had said without reacting. “How long since your last complete delivery?”I glanced between the men once more, trying to see if either of them would react to what Thomas was saying.“Twenty-six days.”Drew frowned. “Records show nine.”Thomas stared at him. “Then your records are wrong.”Jay walked toward the shelves. Most were nearly empty.“What arrived nine days ago?” Jay asked.“Bandages