Royal Quarry by Charlotte Rahn-Lee Page B

Having finished with the salve he curled up against Manning, pulling one of the man’s strong arms around him.
    “Is that so?” asked Manning. Albert could feel Manning’s smile against the back of his neck. “You’d give up your kingdom for a farm?”
    “Yes,” said Albert, and he was only half joking.
    “We’d have to have a rabbit farm at the end of the earth for the search party your father would put together.”
    “I know,” said Albert.
    They lay in silence for a few minutes and then Manning said, “Your Highness….”
    “Albert,” corrected Albert.
    Manning smiled. “Albert,” he said, turning the name over in his mouth as if testing the weight of it. “I should go. If I leave soon, I can slip out before the night guard comes.”
    Albert turned over to face him. He hadn’t expected this.
    “Do you have to?” he asked.
    “It will be more difficult after they are on duty.”
    “No, I mean, do you have to leave?”
    “You know how dangerous it would be if I were discovered here—and I don’t mean for me.” Manning’s forehead was wrinkled with worry. Albert reached up and smoothed it gently with his thumb.
    “Is that all?” Albert asked.
    “It would be safer for me to go—I will come again to you whenever I can, but to spend the night is dangerous.”
    Albert smiled. “Would you be missed?” he asked.
    “No.”
    “I’m known to throw fits if disturbed unannounced,” said Albert. “No one should come in without fair warning. We are quite safe until tomorrow morning.”
    The worry began to fade from Manning’s face.
    “Please stay,” said Albert.
    “It’s dangerous,” said Manning, but already he was letting his weight fall back into the bed, his body betraying his cautious intentions.
    “Don’t worry,” said Albert, “I’ll protect you.”
    “How’s that?”
    “You don’t get to be prince without learning how to distract servants,” he answered. “You can take care of any rampaging deer, but leave the curious footmen to me.”
    A smile finally broke across Manning’s face. “I will,” he said.
    “Good,” said Albert. He twisted back around to lie cradled again in Manning’s embrace and added, “I’m sorry I can’t give you a new uniform. It seems like the least I could do.”
    “Don’t worry, Your Highness,” said Manning, kissing the back of Albert’s neck, “I think of my uniform as yours, and have done so for several days.”
    Albert turned slightly, leaning back against Manning’s chest, and together they fell asleep.
     
     

About the Author
     
     
     
    C HARLOTTE R AHN -L EE grew up in the Fingerlakes region of New York and now lives in New York City. She has always loved educating herself and inventing and acting out stories, so naturally, when she graduated college, she went on to get a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting. She has written a number of plays and has been produced in small theaters in Philadelphia and New York.
    Charlotte thanks her family for their enthusiastic and at times monetary support of her writing career, her twin sister for being her first and best co-writer/acting partner, and her beautiful girlfriend (another Dreamspinner author—can you guess which one?) for encouraging her to branch out into M/M romance.



Copyright
    Royal Quarry ©Copyright Charlotte Rahn-Lee, 2011
     
    Published by
    Dreamspinner Press
    382 NE 191st Street #88329
    Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA
    http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
     
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
     
    Cover Art by Anne Cain    [email protected]
    Cover Design by Mara McKennen
     
    This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject