EOK Gifford-Smith

Minerva batted her eyelashes at me and pushed her shoulders back. "Do I look lonely?" she said.
She looked like someone I wanted to push onto her back right then and there. Like someone I wanted to kiss until we were both dizzy. But there were things you didn't say to a princess, not when your station was so far below hers.
***
On her first day working as a maid, Eve finds the king dead on his throne. His murder kicks off a cascade of intrigue, and as the plots of the nobility come crashing down around her, Eve is torn between hungry princes, the ever-watching eyes of the royal court, and a mad princess who seems to know far more than she lets on. Complicating everything further is the Imperative, a magical curse through which the Andan nobles have bent the world to their whims. If she is to survive, Eve must learn what it means to find strength in the face of overwhelming power.
The Maid and the Monarch is created by EOK Gifford-Smith, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

The Maid and the Monarch

Leon spoke with the harsh certainty of someone who is already convinced of your wrongdoing.


"How dare you," he said. "Why would you keep this from me? You both knew where my brother was--last night--and you didn't tell me. Is this another plot? Are you trying to manipulate me?"


"Leon please," Minerva said. "We were going to tell you, we found out late last night--"


"Eve left dinner early!" Leon shouted. "I know where she went, I know what she learned! Why do you keep lying to me?!"


"It was more of an exaggeration..." Minerva stopped herself before she made the situation worse.


I glanced at Simon. He was shaken, clearly, but he seemed physically unharmed. He met my eyes and mouthed, 'I'm sorry.' I shook my head. He had nothing to apologize for.


Leon paced the room, his hands squeezing into fists and flexing open again.


Chapter 47: Serious Accusations