I couldn’t believe I kissed the king.

I looked at myself in my bathroom mirror, my mind reeling. We got back to the castle not too long ago, and although I could tell something had happened, nobody was telling me what was going on. It was probably some obscure Starklandian crisis I wouldn’t care about, but still.

I couldn’t believe I kissed Trip. I kept telling myself over and over that I wasn’t going to fall for his shit, but the second he actually pulled me against him, I couldn’t resist. I should have known better than to put myself in that position at all, but I couldn’t help myself.

I was beginning to see more in Trip than just a bad boy king. He wasn’t just a player and a partier. He seemed to genuinely care about his subjects, and I was impressed with their social welfare programs. We didn’t care that much about people back in America.

Then there was that fountain. Of everything Trip had shown me so far, that was the most real. Not just because it was rundown, but that helped. No, it was because of how small it was and how out of the way it was. I believed him when he said that he used to spend a lot of time there.

I couldn’t begin to fully understand Trip. His experience of the world was so different than mine. Everything he said and did held a weight I couldn’t exactly fathom, completely unlike everything I did.

But he was also a regular guy, too. He was a normal person who liked fountains and had simple taste for his personal life. Sure, he was a king, an asshole, but I was beginning to see past that.

And those lips. My god, the way he kissed me sent chills down my spine just thinking about it. I’d been ready to strip my clothes off right there and let him take me. I’d been out of my mind.

I quickly left the bathroom and got into bed, pulling my laptop onto my stomach.

I did a quick news search for Stehen, and the first result surprised me. Apparently there had been a big attack on the main rail station in the city, and the body count was up to five people, with many more wounded.

And it had happened recently. The attack must have been the reason why Trip had had to get back to the castle, and why he’d seemed so serious. For a brief moment, I wondered if we were safe.

But of course we were. We were inside a giant castle with hundreds of guards all over the place. I should have been more worried about the people out in the city who didn’t have the king’s immediate protection. Nothing bad was going to happen to me, not while Trip was around. I didn’t know why I believed that, but I did.

I continued reading more about the war with the rebels in the south. There were a lot of articles in Starklandian and very few in English, but what I could find was surprising.

The fighting had been going on since the old King had died, which I’d known about. The rebels wanted democracy, and the Royal Army was fighting back.

But I didn’t know about the reports of abuses on both sides. I knew the rebels were brutal, but so was the Royal Army. Apparently hundreds of civilians had died already, with thousands more injured or displaced. Many of them reported horrible things done by the Royal Army.

I sat back, biting my lip. That only made me so much more confused. On the one hand, I was convinced that Trip genuinely cared about his people and went out of his way to provide much-needed services to them. But on the other, Starkland was a lot more complicated than I had realized. There were ministers all with their own power bases and land holdings, and they all were fighting with each other all the time. The king had to try to keep the peace between them, but that was a pretty impossible task.

Then you throw this rebellion into the mix and things were only muddied and horrible.

And Trip wanted to get me involved in all of this. He wanted to make me his queen, which meant I would have a political position in this country. I was a total outsider, and I knew absolutely nothing about any of it.

And yet the way he touched me sent thrills through me. I didn’t want to be queen, but I was starting to realize that I wanted the king anyway.

There was a knock at my door not long later. I got out of bed and answered, assuming it would be my father.

Instead, it was Trip.

“Trip. Hey,” I said.

“Bryce. You okay?”

I nodded. “Come on in.”

I stepped aside and he came in. He glanced back at the security detail and they hung back as he closed the door.

“Sorry about earlier,” he said. “Something fucked up happened.”

“I know; I read.”

“Those bastards.” He walked over to my little side table and took a glass decanter full of some brown liquid. I hadn’t bothered with that stuff, but he poured himself a drink and knocked it back. “Those sick bastards. They bombed a train station full of innocent people.”

“It’s really awful,” I agreed. “I can’t imagine how you feel.”

“I feel fucking angry,” he said. “I want to crush these bastards underneath my boots. I want to kill them all and be done with this foolish war.”

“I don’t blame you,” I said softly.

He sighed, poured himself another drink, and then sat on my couch. “Sorry. I’m just angry.”

“I understand. I mean, I can’t really get it all since I’m a stranger here, but I understand why you’re angry.”

“You are a stranger here,” he agreed, “but you’re a person. You get that much.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Anyway, I just came here to check on you.”

“I’m fine. You should be with your people.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Truthfully, the generals will handle this. I already gave them the order.”

“What order?”

“To get revenge. Tomorrow morning we’ll be starting renewed attacks on the rebel strongholds.”

I bit my lip, looking away. I knew I shouldn’t say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. I was a foreigner, that was true, but I could read and I had Trip’s attention. Maybe this wasn’t the best time, but it was better than never.

“Trip,” I said, “I read some things online.”

“I’m sure you did.” He sipped his drink.

“Your Royal Army has been doing things, some very bad things.”

His face hardened. “Allegedly.”

“Come on, Trip, people aren’t making this stuff up.”

“Maybe they are. Maybe some men in my army are doing bad shit. Those men are caught and they are punished.”

“But is all this fighting helping anything?”

“Yes,” he said simply. “The rebels aren’t going to stop on their own. They have to be put down. This is war, Bryce.”

“I know it’s war,” I said. “But your attacks are going to kill people.”

“They are,” he said. “That can’t be helped.”

“The rebels are your people too, you know,” I said. “I know they’re doing bad things too, but isn’t there some other way?”

“No,” he said simply, standing. His face was drawn and serious. He knocked back his second drink and then put the glass back on the tray. “I’m glad you’re okay, Bryce.”

“Wait, Trip,” I said. “I didn’t mean to be an asshole.”

“You’re not,” he said, “but you don’t understand. These aren’t easy, black-and-white decisions. If I could have my army move in and destroy the rebels without harming a single civilian, I would. As it stands, we punish those individuals who break our rules very harshly.”

I felt terrible for what I’d said almost immediately. “I wasn’t trying to say you’re okay with any of this.”

“I’ll check on you again tomorrow.” He turned and left the room without another word.

I felt awful. I shouldn’t have started pushing him on politics, not right after his people were killed in a terrorist attack. I thought maybe I could convince him to open negotiations with the rebels, but I realized that was foolish.

I was out of my depth, and now I’d pissed off the only person in Starkland who seemed to give a shit about me.

I crawled back into bed, groaning to myself, feeling like an idiot.