All Chapters of The Princess’s Pride: Chapter 11 - Chapter 15

The next day, Kaleb’s housekeeper woke Ariana before the sun rose. Three guards escorted her to the palace, keeping a close eye on her. It seemed that being a suspect didn’t stop her from doing her old tasks.She was given to Clara. After a breakfast of lukewarm, salty barley porridge and stale rye bread, she quickly taught her the basics at the washbank.Five minutes later, Ariana wanted to cry. Washing was hard. Is this what the servants go through while cleaning her clothes?“Is something wrong, Elena?” Clara asked, hands beating the cloth she was washing against the flat laundry stones."Are you sure this is truly the duty I used to do as Elena?”Clara paused momentarily, confusion flickering in her brown eyes. “Um, yes. Why are you asking that?”“Because this is difficult!” Ariana snarled, dropping the soaked clothes in her hands and standing. “I mean, this is the most degradin

Ariana clutched the wagon’s wood tightly, her face scrunched up like a sour lemon.For a brief moment, she entertained running her mouth. Letting out all the words she had been holding in her chest against him. Worse, the beguiling curl on Kaleb was practically begging her to do precisely that.This demented bastard! He’s probably waiting for me to slip up!Clara was anxious. As she bit her nails, her eyes darted between Ariana and Kaleb.“What? You can’t talk anymore?”Ariana took deep breaths. As calm as possible, she answered through gritted teeth. “No, Captain. It’s all a figment of your imagination. I’m clearly not hiding anything.”"Are you sure?" Kaleb pressed. “Because your face looks like you’re about to do something very difficult.”Would you give it up already?“I already told you,” she growled. “It’s nothing. Nothing is wrong, okay?”Kaleb smirked. "Alright, if you say so," he said, flipping the reins and going back to the front of the march. Bastard.“Is there something

A guard stood outside.Ariana sat in the tent, on the rough ground, wrists up and tied to a hard pole behind her. Her butt was numb from sitting for what felt like hours. But that worried her less than the thought of the Magus arriving tonight.She pressed her palms together to stop them from trembling. The spell would bring everything into the open. What is she going to do? What if her life as Princess Ariana is revealed? Normally, she’d be ecstatic about that cause everyone will finally see that she’s telling the truth. However, for some inexplicable reason, a cold dread stayed coiled in her stomach. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, as if her lungs couldn’t draw enough air.The tent flap rustled. A guard muttered something, and Clara slipped inside with a wooden tray holding a bowl of broth."They'd only let me bring this." Her eyes looked red and puffy. "Elena, everyone is saying you were the one who tried to kill the Princess. But I know it's not true, and I told them s