Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
What was he to do?
Hugo paced away from the window, shoving his hands through his styled hair, messing it up. Unfortunately, with the spinning wheel and straw, there wasn’t much room for him to pace. Too soon, he turned around and headed toward the window again.
Did he have any other choice? He’d already lied to the queen. Could he add another lie on top of it to save his own skin? What could he tell her that she’d believe? That he was feeling poorly and couldn’t use his magic? That he could only spin straw into gold during a full moon?
No.
No more lying. He couldn’t. It would catch up with him.
His one hope of living was to confess and beg for forgiveness. State he had been trying to protect his mother and brothers. As penance, he could offer to be a slave for the royal family. He could spend the rest of his life scrubbing pots and shoveling out stables.
But would that be enough? His mother had been the one to tell the first lie to Lady Hawthorne. Would she still seek retribution? He couldn’t risk it. His mother was a little careless and given to exaggerations, but she didn’t mean any real harm. She was just looking out for her children in the best way she knew how. If her husband hadn’t died so young, this would never have happened.
Facing the window, Hugo touched the jade and silver ring on his left thumb with his right hand, spinning it. The ring had belonged to his father. Charles Baker hadn’t been the type to like fancy things, but he’d indulged in this ring after he’d opened his newly expanded bakery. The only problem was that he never wore anything like jewelry while he was working. Not even his wedding ring. Because of that, the ring appeared almost brand-new.
Hugo had inherited it and rarely wore it, fearing he might lose one of the few things that had belonged to his father. He’d slipped the ring on today, hoping that it would give him some confidence and maybe a bit of luck.
What would his father want him to do right now?
He’d expect Hugo to do whatever it took to protect his family. What would Dorian and Augustine do without their mother? Yes, she was flighty, but she also knew how the world worked. Once she got her head out of the clouds about finding them rich husbands and returned to reality, she would get them all safely settled. Dorian was level-headed but inexperienced. Augustine was impulsive and reckless, but he had a good heart. He needed both Dorian and Mother to watch over him.
Hugo’s gaze lifted to the window, and he swallowed before taking a step closer. His fingers had become blocks of ice and his feet were frozen boulders, but he could do this. If he jumped, the slate would be wiped clean. His family would be safe. The gossip about his suicide wouldn’t be as damning as it would be if he were executed for a crime, right?
Another step closer…
He tried to focus on the blue sky and puffy clouds. Not the cold, hard, unyielding ground.
It would be okay. Everything would be okay for his family after this…
“You know, that’s a far drop if you’re thinking of getting out that way.”
Hugo yelped and jumped halfway across the room at the sound of the unexpected voice. He spun around and spotted a gangly figure in mismatched ragged clothes, seated on a bundle of straw. A long cloak covered him, and a hood hid his hair. A garish mask that appeared to be a goblin laughing covered his face, obscuring all his features.
“Wh-who are you? How did you get in here?” Hugo’s head whipped to the only door in the room to find it still closed. He would have heard it if a guard had unbolted it. There was just one window. Even if the man could have climbed up all those stories, Hugo would have seen him clamber through it. That left…magic.
“Think of me as a helpful friend,” he claimed, his voice as sharp and grating as a rusty gate hinge. “You’ve gotten yourself into a predicament.”
“What…I…” Hugo shook his head violently, trying to force his brain to focus on the strange man sitting on the straw in front of him. Had he lost his mind in his panic? How had he gotten in there? It must have been through magic.
“What happened? How did you anger the queen?”
“I didn’t. I—”
The stranger’s loud guffaws filled the room, and he almost fell from where he sat in his laughter. “She’s a grumpy old crow. It’s easy to upset her, but I can’t understand why she’d stuff you in a room full of straw and a spinning wheel. With nothing more than a bit of water and a crust of bread! That’s nonsense.”