The War of Six Crowns: The Vanished Knight

Preview from The Heir's Choice

Rhea's brows knitted together in confusion. "Of course we met. I watched you slay the dragon-"

"What?" he choked out. Wonderful. He was attracted to a crazy woman.

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "I am not insane!" She stormed out of the room.

The door slammed hard enough to make him cringe. She was nuts. Absolutely barmy to fly into a temper about something he thought- Wait. Thought? The gears in James's head locked. Did Rhea really just read his mind? He stared at the door, rerunning the conversation in his head. Dragons...insanity. Good. That leap made perfect sense. He definitely didn't say anything about her being crazy. Thought it, yes. In fact, he still held that opinion. But how the hell did she read his mind?

Maybe she was psychic. A crazy one who liked yanking people's chains by telling them they slay dragons. Dragons, of all things. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. If dragons really existed-and they didn't, did they?-he'd stay the hell away from them. James Braden was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

But why was she so psycho about being seen as crazy? It had to be a common occurrence. Psychic people got discounted and ridiculed all the time, didn't they? So maybe she was sane but her vision was off. Or maybe she was certifiable but seemingly harmless. Did it even matter what she was?

Rhea breezed in again seconds later, followed by three servants carrying laden trays. She pointed at a table off to the side and the servants placed the food there. The table's twig-like legs kept standing.

This time, Rhea pulled up a chair and sat, eyeing him. James shrunk away from her cool regard, despite himself. Time to test his theory.

You should have known how shocked I'd be at the mention of slaying dragons.

Her lilac eyes sparked with anger. Hmm...definitely a reaction there.

Well, it's true. You surprised me, okay?

"You never thought about an apology." She hugged her knees to her chest, posture deflating like an exhausted child's.

James prepared to deny her soft accusation, but her knowing his thoughts made anything he said futile.

"Why did you come back?" he asked.

Rhea stared at the darkness above again. "I don't know..." After a moment, she shrugged. "I guess you're better company than my servants. A few thousand years ago, someone thought it was smart to take an oath of silence. Now they all do it when they follow me. So I'm stuck listening to my ears buzzing."

"You brought me here to keep you company?"

"Not really. I need to speak to Phipps."

What would she want with Phipps? All James wanted was to not see the doddering old castle keeper ever again. In fact, getting the hell away from him was the reason James had been caught alone, ripe for the picking by Rhea's thugs.

James scowled and crossed his arms. "I'd prefer it if you let him drown."

At least Ward would come with Phipps. Unless he'd gone back to earth when James had left them in Icaimerith. No, Ward wouldn't do that. He went nowhere without James. They'd been friends since before Ward moved in with James's family.

She sighed and glanced his way. "You and Phipps always did get along like cats and dogs."

"How would you know?"

"I'm Rhea."

Again with her acting like they knew each other. James grimaced. Maybe she did know him. Maybe it was the side-effect of being psychic. Not a comforting thought. "Well, Rhea. You're different."