When best friends Claire and Jo wake up trapped in a fantasy romance novel, Claire thinks it's a dream come true while Jo knows it's her worst nightmare - especially after they are almost killed by a monster and end up on the wrong end of a handsome...
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MY ROOM LOOKED the exact same as Claire's: bright, ornate, and massive enough to swallow me whole.
Someone cleared their throat from behind me. I spun, forcing the older maid who had a name I couldn't pronounce let out a startled gasp. Was it Birchand? Brickton? "Apologies, My Lady," she curtsied low. My stomach roiled at her use of My Lady. "Allow me to show you to your bath."
I heard the distinct gurgle of running water, now that she mentioned it. It came from a half-closed door on the other side of the room. Did they have running water? Either way, a bath sounded nice. The stress of the ride and waking up in the woods in a different world probably made me stale. "Um, thanks."
The maid offered a nod in return when I didn't give much else. "I will lay out your dress for tonight as well. We have a few pieces, but I fear they are out of season. Would you like for me to bring you some choices?"
"Tonight?" I echoed, trailing five steps behind the conversation.
"For dinner," she clarified. "With His Highness, the Prince. I was told he extended an invitation to you and Lady Claire, yes?"
I wanted to tell her I wouldn't be accepting any invitations to anything. That I wanted to crawl under the covers of what looked like an Alaskan king-sized bed and hide until this nightmare was over. But Claire somehow had her own plans for... whatever we were doing. Hell, she managed to get us a safe place to stay within the span of an hour after waking up in this place. She was our only hope of getting out of this. "Right," I finally said, mustering up all the memories of Claire's favorite historical movies, clawing for what was proper etiquette. "I'll just wear whatever you think is best. This is mine and Lady Claire's first time in... Larynx?"
"Larnwick," the maid corrected gently.
Crap. "Yeah, that's what I meant. I don't know the fashion here so I'll trust your judgment. Sorry, again, we ran into a bit of trouble earlier so I'm uh... quite tired."
That seemed to have the right effect, as the maid's eyes blew wide. "Oh dear. What sort of trouble?"
"Oh, just a... run of the mill monster attack." Monster attacks were run of the mill around here, right? "The Prince's knight said it was a golem gone rogue."
"A golem!" she exclaimed. "I heard there was one stalking the outskirts of town, but I've never seen one before. What did it look like?"
I swallowed. "Um... large. I didn't know what it was at first. It was like an animal, but not really, and made up of tree branches and moss and mud. It smelled like old leaves. And I felt..."
Cold. Like the wind that would rush through the bare branches of the trees back home, steal my breath away, narrow my focus into pure instinct to run into my house or school to find shelter. Warmth. There hadn't been any of that when the monster hissed, bowed forward, and lunged.
