Princess in a Strange New Land Read Online Free

after?”
    “Status and riches,” John answered. “You will quickly learn that noblewomen wield their bodies as weapons in order to gain titles and wealth. I have known no woman here who was as true and as sweet as she made herself out to be.”
    “Is there a fiancée, perhaps?” Akna teased.
    His mind wandered for a moment. Before he’d left on his first naval voyage, he had been engaged—to a noble lady of extreme beauty and with a keen wit. He had been madly in love with her, only to have his hopes cruelly dashed to pieces when he discovered she’d been consorting with other men in his absence. When confronted, she’d pled and begged. But when his forgiveness had not been easily given, she’d shrugged and told him in a cold voice that she’d only wanted him for his title anyway. That woman had fooled him well—so well that he’d vowed never to trust another woman again.
    “Yes,” John replied stiffly. “A fiancée who did not love me. Or rather, she only loved my fortunes.”
    “Ah, so you trust no one,” Akna said, her words painfully true yet also gently said. “I see. But yet you indulge anyway?”
    “Why not?” John said with a shrug. Then, leaning in and placing his palm on her knee, he said, “But surely you are not interested in my title or my wealth.”
    “Surely not!” Akna exclaimed.
    “Well then, in the interests of intercultural communication,” John said teasingly, giving her thigh a gentle squeeze, “shall we…explore?”
    “Why explore?” Akna rejoined cheekily. “You cannot possibly have anything to gain, and you have nothing I want.”
    “You wound me,” John said, covering his heart in feigned hurt.
    “Rubbish,” Akna scoffed with a smirk. “Your ego is much too large to be injured by the rejection of a simple savage.”
    “Now, now,” John said with a suggestive waggle of his brows. “Surely there is something about me that you might want. And for your information, my ego is not the only thing that is larger than most. And I can promise you hours of…entertainment.”
    Akna laughed, a rosy glow to her cheeks and a sharp retort ready on her lips. They continued to exchange witty barbs over the course of dinner, their animosity forgotten and replaced with banter void of any note of bitterness. John lavished Akna with warm, sultry smiles, which only earned him playful rebuffs and quips. John relaxed in her company, refreshed by her disdain for manipulation and social climbing and intrigued by her unique world view. He found their repartee exhilarating, and she was truly a creature of wild beauty when she met him in verbal sparring. Perhaps, John thought to himself as he admired the fire in her dark eyes, the next few weeks would be exciting after all.

Chapter Three
    “I do not like it,” Akna declared stubbornly.
    “But it suits you so well,” John protested, chuckling.
    “How so?” she demanded.
    “The material is stiff, and the colour is dark,” John explained frankly. “Would you not say these are qualities that describe your personality perfectly?”
    “How dare you!” Akna seethed, spinning around to pin him with a glare. “Perhaps you should be the one to put this dress on, you stiff-necked soldier!”
    “On the contrary, my lady,” he said, stepping just out of her reach. “I am as limber and light-hearted as any man could be. Perhaps you would care for a demonstration?”
    Akna flushed and turned again, clenching her hands into tight fists. John only continued to chuckle as he retook his seat. The seamstress and her assistant glanced at each other and rolled their eyes heavenward. The diplomatic party of Inuit had been at the king’s country estate for a little over a week, but their young delegate, Akna, and the king’s representative, Sir Frederick, did nothing but bicker their way through the grounds like quarrelling school children. Everyone seemed amazed that the king did nothing to intervene, simply watched with an amused tilt to his