The idea didn't repel me nearly as much as it should. In fact, a part of it kind of appealed to me.
"It isn't what I need," I pointed out. "They can't think of me as soft. I need to be hated."
"And stealing a prince who was meant to be for Lucia will help with that."
"That's a good point." I thought for a moment. "Alright, it sounds like a plan. You can stay here, pretend to be the prince, and flirt with me."
"I look forward to it." He flashed me an impish smile. "I've been thinking about doing just that for long enough."
"What do you mean?" I turned to him, confusion no doubt written all over my face.
"You'll see." Mischief twinkled in his eyes, and I found my gaze drawn down to my lips.
What was wrong with me? I had bigger things to think about than Gideon and our upcoming fake romance. So why was that the main thing on my mind.
"Maybe you should invite some of the nobles back for a ball?" he suggested.
"I don't think they'll come back for one," I admitted. "They hate me, remember? Just like they should."
"They'll come back if they're scared of you," he pointed out. "Put a threat in the letter and it'll do everything you need it to."
"And then what do we do?" I asked. "We can't throw a ball for no reason."
"The treasury can take the expense, can it not?"
"Yes, but that's not the point..."
"How about we spread the word of the ball and invite Lucia to come. Do you think she will?"
"Maybe for a chance to assassinate me? But it's too early for that. The people in general still accept me, more of them need to defect to her side for this to work." My head began to ache from the pressure of having to make this all work.
"Okay, we'll keep thinking. But send out the invitations. It'll take time to arrange."
I nodded. He had a point. It was time for the kingdom to regain some of its former glory, even if it was all in aid of carrying out my task.
This was the life I'd chosen, and now I needed to see that through. If I didn't, the whole realm would fall into a state I didn't even want to think about.
"There's just one thing I need to know," Gideon said.
"Oh?"
"The map. How is that going to help him when it's blank?"
Ah. I'd been worried about that question since the moment I'd handed him the map.
"He can read it. As can I."
"How? That shouldn't be possible." His eyebrows knitted together as he looked at me.
"Magic," I admitted, before holding my hand up to stop him from asking more. "This isn't a safe place to talk about this. We can do that later, in my office where it's safe."
He looked like he wanted to argue more about it, but didn't dare press. That was the right way to approach it. Magic wasn't a secret to the kingdom, but there weren't a lot of users around, and I'd rather it not get out that I was one of them. Being known as a bad queen was better than being known as the witch queen.
Things were bad enough as it was. I wasn't about to make things worse.
Chapter 5
I shuffled around on the throne, attempting to get comfortable. I could have sworn this thing got worse the more often I sat on it. Was this why people said that being royal was more of a burden than a joy?
"Prince Jonathan," one of the herald's announced.
I tensed, almost expecting the real deal to walk into the room. When he walked in wearing Gideon's face, I relaxed a little. He wore the royal's clothing well. I'd never seen him this well presented before. I felt like I could come to enjoy it.
He bowed deeply before my throne.
"Your Highness," I greeted. "How are you finding the palace?"
"I find that I miss having a chance to pay my respects to the princess, but I'm honoured to talk with a queen in her stead."
"Pretty words from a handsome prince," I observed, enjoying the sparring with Gideon. It was so much easier when I knew he was on my side.
"May I sit with you, Your Majesty?" he asked.
"Of course." I gestured for one of the guards to get a chair and place it by my side.
Once he did, Gideon took a seat. "How was that?" he whispered.
"Good. I don't think anyone will think twice about if you're the prince or not. Confidence is key."
"And that I have in buckets," he teased. "I see word of the ball has spread." He nodded to the various nobles assembled in the audience chambers.
I wasn't sure why they were all staying in here rather than going about their normal business, but I supposed it would work for reaffirming who it was that had the power over them.
Riki whined and raised her head, threatening to put her head on Gideon's lap. She'd been a gift from him, so it made sense that they shared a bond, but this wasn't the place to indulge it.
"Not here," I whispered to her.
She whined, but rested her head back down despite that. My heart pained at the thought of denying her anything she wanted. She was so much a part of me that it felt wrong to deny her.
"So, what else do fake princes do with their time, other than sit and flirt with queens?" Gideon asked.
"Whatever you want to do. Go spar with the guards, ride a horse, go out hunting. You can choose whatever path you want to take."
"How about some dancing lessons? I'm not sure I know how."
"We can't do that," I chided. "No prince is unable to dance."
"Then I guess you're going to have to teach me yourself." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, a satisfied look on his face.
"Fine." I waved to a serving girl with a tray of wine. If this was what I was going to have to deal with, then I needed some wine to help me deal with it.
She came over and both of us took a cup of wine.
I bit my tongue before a thank you could escape. I had to be cold. Nobody should know that I still cared and was still grateful for the services they provided to me.
"Thank you," Gideon said, not bound by the same rules I was.
The girl left us to it and served some of the other nobles. At least the word would get around of my coldness. It turned out that Gideon was right, I did need more people here. Perhaps this would speed up the process and get me killed faster. That was the end of my journey, I was certain of it, not that I'd ever spoken to anyone about it.
The doors swung open, but I barely even looked up. It was probably just another noble family on the other side waiting to become a part of my court. At least I was trying to appear as if I didn't care about them.
Swift footsteps echoed from the floor, and I glanced up.
Oh. Not a noble family coming to give their respects. This was something different. A messenger came forward with a simple wooden box clutched in their hands.
"Your Majesty." They dipped into a deep bow.
"You've brought me something?" I asked, a little worried about the contents. I wasn't expecting anything except for a deer's heart. I glanced at Gideon, who seemed just as wary as I did about the contents.
"Yes. This has been sent by your Huntsman. He sent a note saying he was searching deeper in the woods for more too, but I'm not sure what that means." The messenger's voice shook as he talked.
"Very well. Give the box to me. With the note."
He handed it over. "Will you need me to send a reply, Your Majesty?"
"No. You can go." I wanted to suggest he went down to the kitchens and got himself something to eat, but I refrained.
Once he'd gone, my attention turned to the box in front of me. A small part of me was afraid to open it, but I knew I couldn't show that amount of weakness.
I read the note and rolled my eyes. "He's a fool. Why didn't he realise I'd know your handwriting," I bit out, being careful to keep my voice low enough that no one else would hear me.
"He's a fool for sending that so quickly," Gideon responded. "If you hadn't been in on the plan, then you would have figured it out by this point. It would have been impossible for you not to."
&n
bsp; "Why is the world so full of fools?" Barely a day since he'd left and already he wanted me to believe he'd tracked down Lucia and cut out her heart to send to me.
Gideon chuckled. "I don't think the world is full of them, but I do think that prince is one of them." He shook his head.
"At least this was all part of our plan," I said. But for that plan to work, there were a few more things I needed to do. Like open the box in front of me.
"You can save it for later," he suggested.
I shook my head. "The whole point of this is for people to see me do it."
"You can still go back on it. There are other ways to make you seem heartless."
I laughed loudly, drawing some nearby nobles' attention.
"I think you'll find I'm in the possession of more hearts than I need." I unclicking the clasp on the box and flipping the lid back.
I almost gagged, but just about managed to hold myself together.
Gasps came from anyone within earshot.
I rose to my feet, being careful to let the heart be seen by as many people as possible. "Take it away," I ordered one of the servants. "Feed it to the dogs."
One of the servants rushed up to me and took the box, before rushing it out of the room.
Riki whined from beside me. She was probably sad that I hadn't fed the heart to her, but it was me I wanted people to hate, not her. And if she ate the heart of the princess they loved, then I didn't think they'd let her outlive me. At least this way, Riki would be able to have a good life after me with Gideon.
"It's a human heart," someone whispered, I didn't know or care who.
"Did it belong to the princess?" someone else asked.
I held myself steady and hardened my eyes. Each moment was painful to me, but I saw it through. But I was only going to stay in the room for as long as I had to. The sooner I was away from the scrutiny of the people here, the better.
"Bring wine to my chambers and draw me a bath," I ordered loud enough for other people to hear. They needed time to gossip about what had just happened, and I was going to give it to them. This was all part of the plan, as distasteful as it is.
One of the servants ran out to go and carry out my orders.
Gideon rose to his feet.
"Stay," I said softly. "Circle, gossip, find out what people are thinking of."
He nodded. "I'll come to you in an hour," he whispered.
"It is done." I swept away from him, Riki by my heels. I didn't say anything else to anyone as I left the room. I was the cold queen. Untouchable by the people.
Until the very end.
The palace was as cold as ever. A hot bath would be just what I needed.
Chapter 6
I wrapped my robe around me. I hadn't bothered getting dressed again after my bath. Unless Gideon told me the nobles had already stopped gossiping, then it would be better if I had dinner in my rooms instead of with them.
"And if I stay here, then I can just be myself," I said to Riki. "With you, I'm just me."
"I hope you're just you with me too," Gideon said, stepping out of the shadows.
"You really need to stop sneaking in here. Someone's going to start talking."
"Isn't that the whole point?" He smirked, clearly enjoying himself.
"I think they might question why a prince who was after Lucia yesterday is happy with me today," I pointed out.
Gideon flopped down on my bed next to Riki, clearly not caring about propriety in what he was doing.
I supposed it didn't matter. No one had followed me as far as I knew. And if they had, then there would be more problems caused by what they heard than what they saw.
"What are they saying down there?" I asked.
"Exactly what you want them to be. You're cruel, heartless and cold. Though there are several of the noblemen who I believe would take you to bed if they got a chance."
I chuckled darkly. "None of them will. I've only ever been with Killian. I don't plan on changing that unless it's for someone special."
He raised an eyebrow. "Did I really need to know that?" he asked.
"Why shouldn't you know that? You're my friend, you said you wanted my secrets."
"That doesn't mean I need to know who you're sleeping with."
"I think the point is that I'm not. Riki is my only companion." I leaned in to stroke the soft fur of her head.
"Maybe we should start some rumours about your relationship with your beast. I'm sure that would turn some hearts in Lucia's direction."
I gave him a wry smile. "I doubt that would do any good at all."
"Let's put that one on hold then." He shrugged, which looked odd from where he was lying on the bed. "There are a few people who are wondering if Lucia is really dead. That's a good one, I think."
"Yes, I think so. We want them to believe that she is and that she's thwarted my attempt at killing her. That's the main thing."
"I didn't say anything, but I think there are a few ways we can encourage that rumour to work in our favour." He looked gleeful as if he wanted to explode with excitement.
"Our?" I raised an eyebrow.
"If I'm the only person who knows about this, then I feel like it's our secret. Something we share just the two of us."
"Now you're just trying to get a rise out of me." Even so, I could feel myself smiling. He'd awakened a part of me that had stayed dormant since Killian's death. And grief had nothing to do with it. Perhaps they were right when they called me cold. It fit with how I'd been acting.
"Perhaps. But more importantly, I would like to get to that dancing lesson. I'm sure the nobles will start having lavish dinners and informal dances even before the ball. Our cover will be broken if I don't know how to dance."
The smile reached my eyes. I'd been worrying about this, but at the same time, I was excited to teach him how to do this. Gideon was so competent at so many things, it was going to be fun seeing him learn.
"Get to your feet."
"We don't have any music," he pointed out.
"I can deal with that." I pressed my fingers to the amulet around my neck and a beautiful tune began to play.
"How?"
"Not important."
"You can't make music appear from nowhere and then tell me it's nothing," he insisted, getting to his feet as he did so.
"It's part of this whole thing. Something the King gave me when he made me promise to help him with this. It's supposed to be for anything that will aid me in making the people hate me and make Lucia into the woman she needs to be."
"That's a double-edged sword of a gift."
"Most are." I smiled sadly.
"So, dancing?" He must have noticed the sad look on my face.
"Yes. Get in front of me and then we have to work on your hold. First, place your hand on my waist and take the other one."
He did what I instructed, the weight of his hands resting on my waist. I liked it more than I expected, but pushed the thought aside. No one was going to like me less if I showed that I had a heart.
"Alright, now follow my lead," I instructed. It had been a long time since I'd learned to dance and I wasn't sure about how to teach someone else with words, it was just going to be a case of trying to work this out as we went along.
We stumbled through several dances, laughing at the missteps and growing closer with each step.
If I closed my eyes, I could pretend that none of this had happened. Lucia was just in the other room doing whatever she could. There was nothing more to worry about.
Gideon pulled me closer and I rested my head on his shoulder. He held me tighter and the two of us just swayed back and forth with no real purpose. We'd never get away with dancing like that with other people in the room.
"I don't think these are the steps," he whispered against my hair, echoing the direction of my thoughts.
"I don't think I'm dressed for dancing either," I responded. It was only then that I realised how inappropriate my attire was. I didn't know why it hadn't bothered me u
p until this moment. I wasn't sure it even bothered me now.
"I like you dressed like this, if that counts."
"Is this the flirting that was promised?" I joked.
Gideon chuckled. "No flirting, just fact. If you want to see me flirt, you should have a banquet before the ball."
"Balls, banquets...who has time for all of this?" I pulled away and stormed over to the window that looked out onto the grounds.
The music continued to play, but turned a little darker in tone. I let it. I could stop it with one small press of the amulet, but it suited my mood.
"It's all part of your ruse," Gideon reminded me. He stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms tightly. "Your plan was working with you just sitting on the throne, but you were dragging it out for longer than you had to," he pointed out.
"Surely that's better than dancing on a grave, so to speak," I muttered.
"Perhaps. But if you want to fulfil your promise and move on with the rest of your life, then you have to get this over with."
I laughed bitterly and turned in his arms. "The rest of my life? You really think I have that to look forward to? This is going to end with me dead."
"Katya, please. It doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to look at this as if it's the end. All you have to do is put a little faith in people and you'll be alright." The earnestness in his eyes scared me.
"I can't believe that," I whispered. "There's no hope left for me. No redemption. If I got through with this, then what am I going to do? How am I going to live with myself?"
He lifted a hand and stroked my cheek. "You'll be able to live with yourself because you did the best thing you could in a terrible situation. You made a promise to the king, and you carried it out despite how you felt. That was incredibly brave of you."
My heart leapt at the words he was saying. A small part of me wanted to believe him, but the rest of me only recalled the cold voice in which I'd ordered the deer's heart to be fed to the dogs. The people thought it belonged to Lucia.
They thought I was a monster.
"I'd sever all ties with me, Gideon. You don't want to be punished alongside me."
"You really think that's going to work on me?" I raised an eyebrow.
Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance Page 3
