Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne

Chapter 91 This could go wrong.

The snow lightly fell above them as they stood by the stables. Light flakes piled on William's dark curls and distracted her for a moment. William and Patrick looked almost unrecognizable in their commoner clothes. Patrick had holes in his gloves and his hair was almost as messy as William's. Doris curled her fingers at her sides to prevent herself from reaching out to run her fingers through William's locks just to try to tame it. She hated how much she liked it when it was a pure mess. She was part of the reason it looked that way, he rolled out of bed and didn't even attempt to fix it. She couldn't help but notice that he stood closer to her than he normally did, with his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his eyes on their surroundings. Enzo had one of his more... run down carriages being filled with the things they would need. It made Doris a bit nervous, how long would they be there for? She tried not to allow her mind to wander into unwanted territories, but it was impossible when it was all she could think about. The moment she slid out of his arms and into her clothes again, she felt different when she looked at him. For the first time, she didn't think of the fact that he was a prince-it was like she had almost forgotten that for a minute. She was so far gone from the maid she was when she left the palace, it was hard to even consider going back to that girl. A small part of her would always feel like she had to obey orders, but a bigger part of her wouldn't let her be stepped on anymore. She knew Cordelia was to thank for that. “Ah, you all look great.” Enzo clapped his hands and tore her from her thoughts.” Well, good enough. I hardly recognized you three without your fancy royal attire that you tried to pass as poor clothes.” “How long will we be gone?” Doris asked as she nervously eyed the carriage. “Well, they believe you three are there to live. We couldn't send you with just one bag.” Enzo smiled down at her. “Your trip length is up to you three. However long it takes you to find what you need.” “Is there anything else we should know before we leave?” Patrick asked. “Yes. Don't take it personally if some don't like you when you get there. A lot of the workers can be pretty cut throat when it comes to their job and getting ahead. Try to find the laid back types, they're looser with their lips and easier to get things out of.” Enzo looked at all three of them. “And one more thing... don't be caught where you're not supposed to be. Punishment is ruthless “Ruthless? Aren“t you the owner of Life Pharmacy?” Patrick stood a little straighter as if he was just realizing what he was getting into. “Yes, but I have others in my place when I'm not there. I won't be there for this adventure, I want to keep myself as separated as possible so any wrongdoing will be handled by them.” Doris glanced up at William to see his brows furrowed. She couldn't tell if he was worried or annoyed at the moment, but she was a bit of both. “Alright, I will see you off. Don't forget your identities and you three can come up with a back story on the way there. It'll be a few hours at least.” Enzo opened the door and reached out his hand to help Doris up. William was there instead, he gripped her hand and helped her into the carriage with his hand on her lower back before Enzo could touch her. He only looked amused at William's persistence as he stepped back. William went in next, he sat next to Doris while Patrick sat across from them. Enzo gripped the frame and looked them over one last time. “This could go wrong, you may learn things that you never wanted to know or you may be caught and ripped apart. I have already put out a warning to the rogues not to harm the prince if they ever see him when you first came, but that has clearly not mattered to many of them. I wish you all luck and I hope to see you again.” Enzo nodded before he closed the door and smacked the side of the carriage to let the driver know they're ready. It took off in a messy launch and William reached out his arm to steady her so she didn't fall into Patrick's lap. Patrick's eyes flickered between them with a hint of suspicion, but something made Doris think that he already knew without having to see her blush. “So, Isabelle and James, eh? Who's brother am 12” “Mine.” William said. Doris glanced between them and bit her lip. They looked very different. She couldn't pin point one similarity between them and she doubted anyone else would think they were brothers at the camp. “What about cousin? I'm not sure if you will pass as brothers. Enzo mentioned that we can give him a role ourselves.” Doris suggested. "Alright, what's our story? We came to the north to escape the wretched kingdom?” Patrick said with a smirk. William rolled his eyes and leaned back against the seat with his thigh pressed against her own. He hadn't looked at her much since they... since what happened between them. But he was closer to her, to the point that she noticed he was always inches from touching her. She hadn't been alone one second with her thoughts, part of her was glad for it. She knew she would regret her entire existence the second silence crept in. “We can say we left one of the towns after they mistreated us for being poor—" Doris said. “How did they mistreat us?” Patrick interrupted. “We could say they tried to take your beautiful wife for themselves.” Patrick laughed and smacked William's leg. William kicked his shin and he winced with a frown. They sure acted like siblings, even if they looked nothing alike. “Maybe they just always bullied us for being poor and we had enough so we came up to the north for freedom.” Doris said quickly. She still felt a bit uneasy being referred to as his wife. “We came across someone who knew Enzo and he got us the job. I'm sure they won't dive deeper into our stories. It's the reason everyone comes here.” “If we say anything to a worker, we have to let the other know. We don’t want to be caught in any lies. This is quite literally the belly of the beast and we can't have any missteps.” “Don't stress yourselves before we arrive.” William grumbled and closed his eyes. * We're married, you're my idiot cousin and we came to the north for freedom like everyone else did. That's it.” “Any information we find will be shared at the end of each day, no lingering.” Patrick leaned back and stretched out his legs on the empty seat next to him. Doris sighed and watched the darkness pass them out the window. Normally she would be beyond stressed to be heading towards somewhere they had no protection—but her mind wouldn't leave the bedroom. It was like she was still there with his touches burned permanently into her skin. If she lifted her sweater, she might see his fingertips still. She felt a bit sore down there, especially sitting as she was. That bit was never mentioned in her books. She shifted uncomfortably and kept her eyes out the window even though she wanted to look at him and try to see what he felt. Did he think of her differently? Or did he still see her as his maid that was only born to do as he wished? Her shame wanted to drown her. She could feel it eating at her chest and playing with her heart like it was a game. She knew the risk when she fell into bed with him, and now she would have to live with herself. She was tired of feeling bad for indulging in things that were for herself—but this couldn't be excused. She did the one thing she promised herself she would never do. On the other hand, her fingers itched to touch him again as if her body wanted more despite what her mind screamed. It wasn't fair. Her mind was smart enough to know better, but her body wanted to crawl on top of him again and do forbidden things with the one man she swore she would never touch. "You okay?” Patrick asked Doris. She flinched out of her thoughts and saw him staring at her tightly clenched fist. “You look like you're about to punch a hole though the side of the carriage.” Doris slowly unclenched her hand and let out a breath. “Yes. I'm just nervous.” Her eyes flickered to William who watched her closely but said nothing. Patrick grinned at her. “We haven't even got there yet, that's when the real nerves come.”