The Runaway Princess Read Online Free PDF Page B

have thighs as thick and sturdy as Roman columns and arms like a Roman centurion. He certainly did not stomp like a giant staking out his territory, so that the floors groaned and the crockery rattled.
    The crockery was rattling as Danior moved toward her, obviously not charmed; his mouth compressed into a thin line. “Why not?” he rapped out.
    â€œYou have no neck,” she blurted, pressing up against the nightstand beside the bed.
    He reached up and touched the knot of his plain white cravat. “Of course I have a neck. How else would I swallow?” As if he realized what he’d said, he tossed his hand out in disgust. “You’re talking nonsense, and I’m defending myself.” He glared down at her. “It has been twelve years since I’ve seen you, yes, but I was fourteen on the day I bid you good-bye, and I think I have not changed significantly since then. If my looks displease you, I am sorry, but that is no reason to try to evade your duties. As time goes on, I am sure we will grow accustomed to each other’s appearance.”
    She had two choices. She could either go back to her “he’s insane” theory, or she could accede that this peasant-built man was Danior of Baminia. She feared the latter was the truth, and she sighed as another of her lifelong fantasies, that of the elegant prince, writhed in a short and painful death. “So you think I look different?”
    â€œOf course you look different. You were a child, totally unformed and undeveloped.” His gaze swept her quickly from head to toe, then returned to linger on her generous bosom, displayed as attractively as possible by the cut of the gown. “Although I never expected you to grow so . . . tall.”
    Tall? She could have sworn he hadn’t been going to comment on her height, and fascination definitely sparked in Danior’s eyes. Behind her, she fumbled with the handle on the water jug. “Why not?”
    â€œHm?”
    Yes. That was interest, compounded by that possessive gleam she’d seen in the dining room. Her alarm returned and doubled. “Why didn’t you expect me to grow so tall?”
    â€œOh.” He looked her in the face. “You were such a short little thing. Don’t you remember how our people chuckled when we stood together?”
    She had to be firm. She had to be. “No, because I wasn’t there. I’m not your princess.”
    He stared at her as if deep in thought, then nodded once, rigidly. “And obviously, I’m not your prince.”
    Her heart lifted for one brief moment before he continued.
    â€œI forget that you are young, and wish perhaps that your life had not been arranged from the moment of your birth. So I wifi give you romance.” Darnor sank to his knees before her and took her free hand. “Princess Ethelinda, wifi you honor our betrothal and after the ceremony of Revealing, marry me in the Cathedral at Plaisance?”
    Evangeline stared at the top of his bowed, yet not humble, head, and she realized she’d never been in such trouble in her life. Not when she’d been a hungry waif. Not when she’d been put to work at the orphanage. Not even two months ago when she’d slipped away from East Little Teignmouth in the deep of night.
    Danior said, “Together, we can reunite our two kingdoms and create prosperity for our nations.”
    She was in trouble because she wanted him to be Danior of Baminia. She wanted to be Ethelinda of Serephina. And more than anything in the world, she wanted to believe she had a home to go to,where people looked to her with hope and affection and considered her the fulfillment of a prophecy.
    She swallowed. Her grip on the pitcher loosened, and her hand reached around to hover above his head, almost touching the thick black sweep of hair.
    With one word, she could change her life. She wouldn’t have to go back to England and start a bookstore in