The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert novel Chapter 2

The voice startled her. Savannah wondered for a second how on Earth she did not notice that she had a spectator. The man who was chuckling at her was sitting under a huge oak tree, hidden behind the rose bushes when she arrived. This was the sole reason she did not see him in the first place.

Anyway, it was her mistake. And from what it looked like; she couldn’t afford any mistakes at the moment. She had to think about everything first.

She heard him standing up and turned on her heels to see who it was. A sigh of relief escaped her. Before her stood a tall man dressed in not the cleanest set of clothes she had seen.  His jeans were filthy with dirt, and his gray grandad shirt had probably seen better days. He had a beard which gave him a bit of a dangerous vibe, but she could tell that he was one of the northerners who belonged to the castle. Probably just one of the workers, which was a good thing for her. He would hardly know who she was, and she could get away with it.

“Just… trimming,” Savvy stretched a smile onto her lips and avoided looking at the destroyed bush. She just hoped that the guy wasn’t the gardener who was responsible for taking care of those. But he probably was exactly that – the gardener, otherwise why would he have that earthy forest scent with a hint of pine in it. Not that she had a better look at him, he was very handsome and had all those muscles that probably came from physical labour. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s just that I am having a very bad day.”

“You are not from here,” the guy looked her up and down with some kind of interest evident in his eyes. “Although there are a lot of new people here today,” he muttered under his breath. He probably wasn’t happy that all those people were walking around in his garden now, ruining it.

“Are you surprised?” the girl raised her brow questioningly. “It looks like your king wants a show.”

His head snapped in her direction and he sucked in a deep breath.

“As far as I heard, it’s voluntary. No one is forced to take part.” The man shrugged and that little gesture annoyed her more than anything else today.

“Voluntary?” she chuckled loudly, throwing her head back.

This was ridiculous. Were all northerners like that? “Because it’s every woman’s desire to run after a man like a little circus dog, performing tasks and tricks along with many others just like her in the pathetic hope that maybe… MAYBE he would be kind enough to choose her! Yeah, THAT’S every woman’s desire! We CHOOSE that!”

“Who are you again?” the gardener asked. “Did you come with one of the contenders?”

“Contenders!” she snorted and rolled her eyes. She hated that word already. “I came with one of the political victims.” There. She said it. “Honestly, I don’t even understand how king Kai will be able to look into his future wife’s face, knowing that he made her go through all this. That his future queen was used as a puppet in his games just because he did not want to marry a certain princess.”

“Ah, I see,” a smirk stretched over his bearded face. “You came with princess Savannah.”

“No!” she blushed and, technically, it wasn’t even a lie. She didn’t come with the princess. She was the princess.

“I bet she is angry,” the stranger went on with some kind of amusement on his face. “The western princess who is used to getting everything she wants just by clicking her finger. I am sure the concept that she actually has to fight for something is hard for her to accept.”

“Is that what you think?” she let out a laugh this time. “That a girl who grew up without parents, with herself and her brother under constant attacks just magically gets everything? Let me tell you, if she decides to stay and take part in that nonsense of competition, she will wipe the floor with anyone who’d be stupid enough to compete against her. The question is whether she would still like to get married to a man – although a man is not even the right word here – as your king. Because as far as I see it, he is the one who already failed his first test! Marrying someone like that was already a sacrifice on her part! And knowing that he isn’t even capable of keeping his own word is just sad!”

The gardener’s mouth parted and Savvy decided that she had done and said enough. It actually made her feel a bit better about the whole thing and now she knew she had to go back to her companions and start strategizing. She had to make a decision whether to meet the king, slap his face and leave. Or to stay and make him regret that he ever dared to start all this, considering that marrying him was already the sacrifice of her life.

She took a few steps when she heard a loud growl. Uh-oh. She offended the gardener after all.