Surrogate for the Alpha Prince in a Coma novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Lillian’s POV

Josephine was on her feet in the next instant. “Who do you think you are?”

I lifted my hand, hoping to soothe my new friend, or at least to indicate to her that I can handle this. She looked at me with concern, but waited for me to take the lead.

With that sorted, I turned to look at Maren, who was fighting back a larger grin, looking smug, like/she couldn’t be prouder of herself for what she’d done.

Others in the room were watching with large, startled eyes. Yet, when the initial surprise passed, the look of judgement remained. They expected something from me. I was part of the royal family, and I needed to act like it. An act of disrespect against me was an act of disrespect against the King and Queen, and Grayson. It was my duty to not tolerate that.

“Maren,” I said. “I have warned you before, but you continue to act like a toddler.”

Maren’s smug smile slipped right off her face.

“You cannot continue to act this way. You cannot treat me this way. We are in the palace now, and I could easily have you punished for your open disrespect.”

Maren sneered.

Josephine, seemingly unable to hold back anymore, added, “No one even knows who you are. You think you can come in here and insult our Luna Princess? Keep this up and I’ll talk to my dad about kicking your boyfriend out of court.”

“You wouldn’t…” Maren said.

Josephine huffed. “Try me. Insult Lillian again.”

Maren closed her mouth. Then, lowering her head, she turned away from us and returned to her table, where Ophelia was shaking her head.

“Come on, Lily,” Josephine said. “The invitations can wait. You need to get cleaned up.”

The thought of returning to Grayson’s room, facing him again so soon after what had happened made me sick to my stomach.

“We’ll go to my room,” she said. “It’s closer.”

I exhaled in relief, and nodded. She looped her arm through mine again and led me out of the room and into the hallway. When we were far enough from the parlor to only hear the sound of chatter without being able to make out the words, she asked me, “Why does that new girl have it out for you?”

“She’s my sister,” I said.

Josephine nearly tripped on her next step. Only her hold on my arm kept her upright. “Your sister?!” Catching herself, she started to drag me a bit faster. “When we get to my room…”

The minute we entered her rooms, she turned on me.

“Okay, spill!”

“I was once engaged to Calvin,” I said. “But I wanted to… wait…” I blushed a little. That part was personal.

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Chapter 53

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Josephine took it all in though without batting an eye. Encouraged, I continued, “I thought we were going to be together, that he didn’t mind waiting for me. I found out rather… harshly that I didn’t understand anything at all.”

“They were cheating,” she said.

I nodded. “And I started to see him for his true colors. He never had any intention of being with me, not the way I wanted. It was all a ruse, a power grab. Nothing’s changed now.”

“I see,” Josie said. “She’s jealous of you. Calvin’s sniffing around you again, because you’re Luna Princess now, and Maren can’t stand it. She’s taking it out on you.”

There was a lot more to it than that, but that was the general basis. “Yeah.” I saw no need in giving Josie the full ugly story, especially when Grayson didn’t want her to know the truth of his condition. I didn’t like keeping my new friend in the dark, but I would follow Grayson’s lead on this.

“Well that’s it then,” Josie said. “I’ve heard enough. We should petition to have both Calvin and Maren removed from court.”

At once, my heart soared as I envisioned a life without Calvin and Maren anywhere in it. If I could be free from them once and for all, I would be so happy. But in the next instant, that good mood plummeted. Calvin and Maren would not go down easily, and Calvin was dangerous. If Josie took a stand against him, she could be putting herself in harm’s way, drawing his ire.

“No,” I said.

“No?” Josie asked, her brow pulling together.

If I told her it was too dangerous, she’d probably just double down, I had to find a different way to keep her from getting involved.

“Please,” I said. “Let me handle this on my own. I don’t want you to get involved.”

I could see from the fire in Josephine’s eyes that this wasn’t enough. She was my friend now, and she struck me as the type to do anything for friendship. Ride or die, all the way down the line.

As happy as I was to have that kind of friendship after a lifetime of loneliness, it only made me want to protect her

more.

“If you get involved, I could be perceived as weak,” I said, though I didn’t care much about that part. For someone like Josephine, who had grown up in this environment, she would value court ranking and perception more than me. “I’ve only started to be respected in the court…”

Josie frowned. “Fine,” she said. “But if they keep getting out of line, I will step in. Especially if we don’t act now, they will be at the Harvest Ball. You’ll have to be extra careful there,”

“I will,” I promised.

She sighed. “If only Grayson was awake. He would protect you, I’m sure of it,”

I lowered my gaze and didn’t reply.

Josephine gave me a change of clothes. As she was much shorter than me, they didn’t fit exactly, much too short, but it worked for now. My soiled clothes were sent to the cleaners.

After leaving Josephine, I still wasn’t ready to go back to Grayson’s room, so I went to the medical wing instead, eager to see Ronan.

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Chapter 53

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When I arrived, Ronan looked worse. Still asleep, he was pale, his cheeks sallow, bags under his eyes. His skin was so white, his bruises were even more striking on his skin. Each one fueled my anger, but none as much as the venom that I knew pumped within his veins.

That felt like Calvin’s last bid for control. Even though Grayson freed Ronan, Calvin was still able to get to him, to hurt him. I wished more than anything that I could take my brother’s place in this bed.

I sat there so quietly, maybe the workers forgot I was there. I could hear them talking out in the hallway, two nurses with a moment to spare, just outside of Ronan’s door.

“He’s in bad shape,” said one of the nurses to the other. “I have never seen a poisoning case this bad in my twenty years as a professional nurse.”

“Do you know the stories of the First Warrior?” the other said. “That he has the power to raise the deal and heal the broken?”

“Yeah?” said the first, a question in her voice.

“I hate to say it,” said the second nurse. “But I think only the First Warrior could save this poor kid now.”

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