The King's Inamorata (A Queen's Tale #1)

Stubborn Roots

*Chapter Four Remastered*

Hello everyone! From now on, this novel is undergoing edits. At the top of every chapter, if you see the little stars that means that this part of the novel has been remastered. It will NOT always be faithful to the original. In addition to grammatical edits, there will also be revisions regarding plots, characters, and locations to make this a neater and more coherent story to follow. The blurb has also been remastered. All original chapters will be LOCATED AT THE VERY BOTTOM in case you want to compare changes or reread anything! Thank you so much for your love and support and I hope you enjoy Stubborn Roots Remastered!

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Vivia pulled and yanked on the branch of a dead bush she found hiding under a layer of snow. After another tug the branch slipped from her grip and she landed on her back. With a grunt she yanked off her gloves and tossed them into the snow. This was useless. She'd never dealt with such a stubborn dead root before. The bush was only one of many other treacherous weeds she'd have to pull out in the months to come. Spring always came early in Canta and so in another two months or so when the snow began to melt she'd have to prepare the land for the new crops.

A head popped out of nowhere, blocking the sun from her face. Agna smiled. "The little knight just woke up."

Vivia wiped the sweat from her forehead. "How's he feeling?"

"He said his leg hurts." Agna shrugged. "I kept asking about the gash on his side but he insisted it was alright. It's too bad. I wanted him to get undressed."

Vivia's mouth twitched as she resisted the urge to smile and Agna extended her hand to her. She took it and pulled herself up. The two of them walked back to the cottage together.

"I saw you grinning."

"Be quiet, Agna."

"I know you were thinking the same exact thing," she shut the door behind them and the warmth of the fire place welcomed them with open arms. "There's nothing wrong if we just look."

"I thought you liked the baker's boy, hm?" Vivia slid off her cloak and quirked a brow. "What was his name again?"

Agna rolled her eyes. "He's too boyish and charming."

"You don't like boyish and charming?"

Her eyes drifted to the stairs. They were filled with mischief. "I like whatever is up there."

"Mhm."

Vivia removed her cloak and hung it up to dry. She went into the pantry to look for something when she saw that there were chocolate chip cookies left over from last week. With a joyous gasp she took the plate out of the pantry and removed the clear top. "Look what I found."

Agna plucked one from the plate and bit into as if she couldn't eat it fast enough. "My Gods I'm an amazing baker. I forgot about these."

"I'll bring some up to Luc," she said. "I'm sure he must be hungry."

"Luc? Are you—?" she pursed her lips. "What are you doing?"

Luc stood before her mirror with scalpels in his hands that she was sure he had no idea how to properly use. He was fiddling with the stitches on his side, probably trying to remove them, and when he glanced at her he huffed impatiently. "They itch."

"So you decide to pull them out? Give me that!" she snatched the scalpel from his hands. "Do these look like scissors to you?"

"I know what a scalpel is, Miss Ellspire. I'm more than capable of removing stitches myself."