KESLEY

Shit!

My breath hitched in my throat.

Panicked, I scrambled backward on the bed, pulling the torn fabric of my dress over my chest with shaking hands.

"I... I fell," I stammered out, my voice unusually high. "I was clumsy when I was younger. I got hurt." I tried to force a smile to my face silently hoping he'd buy the lies.

It was a stupid lie. A child didn't get straight, raised whip lines across their collarbone from falling down. A supposed cherished princess didn't have iron burns mapped across her ribs.

Theodore didn't buy a single word. He stood up slowly, towering over the bed.

His dark...