Chapter l341

Chapter 0341

I knew it couldn’t be as simple as all that, but I really did want to go out there. The gardens had been one of our regular hangout spots for so long. To lose it now, felt most unfair.

My voice soft, afraid someone would overhear, I said, “I’d love to.”

“Great,” Julian said, and pushed open the door. “Let’s go.”

“Through this door?” It wasn’t even locked?

There were guards on the other side, but when they saw Julian, they merely nodded. Their gazes were heavier on me until Julian wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Then they politely looked away.

–

Maybe Julian really had that much power after all.

He led me further out into the gardens, then pulled his touch away. I stayed close to him though, not wanting to abuse this kindness he was gifting me. I leaned down to smell the flowers, and he politely stopped at my side.

“Good?” he asked.

“Wonderful,” I replied. It was almost Heaven out here in the flowers. The sky was blue overhead, with several puffy white clouds. It was so peaceful. It was –

What was that noise?

A small plane with a roaring engine flew high on the edge of the palace grounds. Julian reached out and sna tched my arm. He started yanking me back toward the palace.

“Julian? What’s happening?”

The plane’s door opened and suddenly a plethora of papers flew out from the opening. They sc at tered as the dropped, fl*pping back and forth in the wind. Despite Julian’s tugging me, I still managed to reach out and snat ch one.

What I saw sent ice water into my veins.

It was a photocopy of the royal family’s portrait, but each member had red x’s where their eyes should be. Along the bottom, scrawled in the same vibrant red, were written the words:

Liars wear the crown for now.

“Julian?” I held out the flyer for him.

He snat ched it out of my hand and stuffed it into his pocket. If he meant to hide it, he was doing a poor job of it. Many more flyers were sc atte red throughout the gardens.

1/2

+15 BONUS

Julian continued to tug me toward the entryway. I started going willingly now.

“Clean this up,” Julian said to the guards. His tone had shifted from before. Tighter now.

Strained.

“Thank you,” I said to them, adding politeness where he had forgotten his.

Fear was gripping my heart too, but everyone needed to remain calm. That’s what Nicholas would have said.

“You can see for yourself now, how tumultuous things have become,” Julian said, as we walked back into the safety of the palace hallway. “All the more reason to keep working hard for this fake relationship. For this silly event. However you can, to save us all.”

“I’ll do what I can,” I promised. My hands trembled. When I closed my eyes, I could see the photo with the x’ed out eyes.

The King. The Luna. Joyce. Julian. Nicholas.

None of them were safe.

And the threat in the letter. For now.

That implied a switch to come.

Julian continued to pull me. He was forceful now, and it was starting to hurt.

“Julian,” I said. It was like he couldn’t hear me. “Julian, please. You’re hurting me.’

That gave him pause. He stopped and looked down to where he was gripping my wrist with a tight fist.

“Sorry,” he said and released me.

“It’s fine,” I said. I understood his reaction. It was terrifying, seeing that threat.

How much worse must it have been for him?

This was his family. His future. His own life.

“Julian…”

“We’ll talk later, okay?” He hurried away from me. I’d never seen him so rattled. And I was powerless to do anything but watch him go.