Falling For The Trickster – Lucy Tempest

My sight, my sense of sound, didn’t return to normal until the dance had ended and the guests applauded. I remained staring up at him as the people moved around us, chatting and sampling desserts, completely unburdened. As the shock thawed from my body, horror settled in. I would have collapsed under its weight, were it not for his hands on my waist, effortlessly propping me up. “I can’t do that,” I finally said, my voice slow and stunned. “I can’t give you my child.” Something indiscernible shifted in his bright eyes.

“Why not? People give up their children every day for far lesser reasons.” “I’m not those people,” I argued. “And then, I won’t have children at all if I don’t please the king.” “And if you don’t, he could hurt you, and ignite a war in your name,” said Roderick. “Well, Gertrude’s name.” I slammed my hand on his chest, not caring how this appeared to onlookers. “This isn’t funny!” He raised his brows. “Do you see me laughing, Ottoline?” My hand slid down his shoulder to feebly grip his forearm.

“There has to be something else you can ask of me.” He searched my face, then quietly said, “You have nothing else that I would want.” “You want to rip my child from my arms the day it’s born, and what? Replace it with a changeling that I’d raise as a prince? Is that it?” “The only one who qualifies as a changeling here is you, my dear,” he said with a brief laugh.

“You can always have more children. And I would never hurt it, that I can promise you.” “You think he would have more children with me after I tell him our firstborn is going to be used to pay a faerie debt? Are you mad?” I spat, pushing away from him. He caught my wrist, holding me still. “I’m not mad, I assure you. Everything I do has a good reason, even if it might mean nothing to you.”

“This,” I said, trying to be firm, but shaking as tears threatened to pour from my eyes. “This is why no one likes your kind, because you do things like this.” Hurt flashed across his face. “If you don’t want my help, just say so.” “I don’t want this,” I blubbered, shaking my head. “I want you to put me back where I was.” “I put you back, and Gertrude will have you beheaded for treason,” he reminded me.

I looked up at him, feeling the walls closing in on me. No matter where I turned, I ran into a dead end. There was no way to break through and make myself an exit out of this mess. “Do you want time to think about it?” Roderick said, his voice subdued. “I don’t have time.” I wiped at my face, sniffling. “Is there anything else you could possibly want?

Anything?”

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, stored in, or introduced into a database or retrieval system, in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Disclaimer The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

OceanofPDF.com Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Note From the Author About the Author Also by Lucy Tempest OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com T Chapter One here was only so much more of this I could take. My knuckles were white against my ruddy skin as I gripped the railing of the ship’s balcony, staring out at the dark waters, weathering the frigid winter air.

But anything was better than going back inside Princess Gertrude’s designated quarters, even when they were lavish and warm. After all, she was afforded only the best as a member of the Avongartan royal family, while we traveled to what would be our new residence once she married the Crown Prince of Orcage. I might have blamed her excessive attitude on worry about venturing into a foreign land and a new role.

I myself was nervous about the uncertainty of this new life. But not even that could excuse her behavior. She’d been like that since the day I’d been first “promoted” into the misfortune of being her lady’s maid. I couldn’t believe it had been that long ago. Three whole years that I had waited hand and foot on the most petulant, demanding malcontent to ever walk Folkshore.

Every day I woke up hoping for a crumb of appreciation, a simple thanks, even one she didn’t mean. But all I got was worse than nothing. Any attention I got from her had been granted in the worst way. “Ottoline!” Gertrude shrieked from behind me. “Unless you fell over, get back in here and draw my bath!”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: e09bfeff97057118
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,310,438 bytes (2.203 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781949554243, 9781949554236
• Pages: 111
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 169.35 minutes
• Total Words: 33,870
• Total Characters: 183,934
• Average Words per Page: 305.14
• Average Characters per Page: 1657.06

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