Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne

Chapter 141 No amount of assurance is enough.

Nobody expected William to want to go back to the village, but he did. They mounted their horses and headed straight back to the village rather than to the palace like they all figured they were headed. Edward and Mal were eager to walk them out the door and slam it closed the second they were in the snow. Despite the new respect, the fear was more evident.

He didn’t respond to anyone as he led them back to the village. Doris was close to falling off the horse with how exhausted she felt. She could imagine that they all felt the same, but somehow William appeared wide awake. His show of leadership must have lit a fire under him.

By the time they made it back to the village, it was still quite early and no one had yet ventured out of their cabins. She didn’t know why it made her so happy to know that they didn’t have to answer for where the food was yet.

“We’re going to wait until they deliver all of the food that they promised. Then we can go back to the kingdom.” William announced. A warm bloom formed in her chest. She didn’t expect him to care this much, but he was already treating the rogues as if they mattered. He made sure they saw him in action and that his words held a heavier weight than they expected.

Enzo smiled at William, a warm sort of look that was contagious. Perhaps he realized this too. “You’re a good man, William. Why have you hidden this side of you for so long?”

William slid off the horse and helped Doris down. He rolled hie eyes at Enzo’s words but she swore he almost smiled.. “Perhaps you didn’t bring out the best in me.”

“Nonsense! I bring out the best in everyone.” Enzo grinned as his feet hit the ground. “It’s rather nice seeing you like this. I don’t think anyone would have handled it better. I should have thought about locking people in closets years ago. All of this mess would have been solved a lot sooner, that’s for certain.”

Doris bit her lip to keep in her laugh. William shot her an annoyed look but she only let her grin escape. She’d miss this part of their journey. The easy jokes and longing stares.

“We should all rest before they get here,” William said. Doris eagerly headed towards the cabin they resided in and ignored Enzo’s laugh from behind her.

The guards they’d left behind were circled around a wooden table playing a game of cards. They stood the second they saw William and bowed instantly. It’d been a while since she saw them act that way towards him. Another sign that they all were trying to prepare for their arrival at the palace.

“Your majesty, the villagers are still resting. They seemed a bit sluggish but overall much better than the days before. They finished off a portion of the food earlier in the day despite our warnings.”

a delivery of food to the village. If I’m not awake, come get me. I want to make sure they

agreement.”

said at once. Each person from their group filed up the stairs

off her shoes before she collapsed on the bed. It suddenly felt better

disoriented when a loud pounding woke her up. William was out of bed before the third knock was over. He threw open the door and was met with a guard who still had his fist in the

majesty, I believe the delivery is here. There’s a large group heading

I been out?” William said. His voice was a little rough from sleep and she couldn’t help but smile at the sound of it. It was the sort of intimate sound that left strange flips in her

evening now, sir. You’ve been up here

if he

back at her. “You may join

pulled on her shoes. The side of his mouth lifted slightly as he watched her. She quickly followed him out the door and into the night air that felt

the villagers had been resting. William straightened his shoulders and headed right for them. She could

the line was a well dressed man with a large bag attached to his horse. He turned to William with wide eyes and

man slid off his horse and almost fell face first into the snow. His nerves were starting to get the better of him. He gestured for his men to dismount and they all looked

was brought. I didn’t want to return to the castle and find out that our agreement wasn’t

them even longer than when the next stock will be delivered.” The man said quickly. He unzipped the bag to show William that it was filled to

about the other villages that were

groups going to each one to have it

knees and showed him that their bags were just as filled as the first one.

the kitchens are that way, make sure they’re all properly