Kingdom of Ruses

by Kate Stradling

  She realized now that his concern probably had to do more with her unnatural origins than her mother’s safety, although that second factor still had its own weight.

  The Prince stopped in front of a small patisserie that displayed cakes and pies in its front window. “Shall we try something?” he asked.

  “Did you bring any money to pay for it?” asked Viola in return. “I can’t very well steal from my mother’s housekeeping funds to pay for your whims, especially when she would be more than happy to bake you whatever confection happened to catch your fancy.”

  “She is quite good at that,” the Prince agreed. “I think I have a little something, though.”

  As he fished around in one pocket, Viola wondered what sort of money he would produce. If it was from Lenore, she would be compelled to ask him where he got it.

  He didn’t get the chance to produce anything, though, for a shout from further up the street caught his attention. He looked up in alarm, and Viola’s gaze followed his to discover a stunning brunette who was running directly at them. The Prince dropped Viola’s arm just in time to be enveloped in an enthusiastic embrace.

  “Aureus!” cried the female with exuberance. “I knew it was you! I knew I would find you!”

  Viola watched with interest as the Prince—Aureus, she thought with a curiously unpleasant pang of something akin to jealousy—pulled away from the gushing female and cast a half-frightened and utterly self-conscious look in Viola’s direction. Aureus was certainly a foreign name, thought Viola, but she didn’t understand why he had been so intent upon keeping it secret. It wasn’t as though it was an embarrassing name or anything.

  Her attention was suddenly drawn from the pair by the approach of a second figure, a subdued young man with coal-black hair and glittering green eyes. Those eyes met her own, and she suddenly realized that he was a nifara.

  Her gaze shifted back to the brunette to catch a glimpse of laughing red-brown eyes—like garnets, Viola thought.

  The Prince was battling the girl’s affectionate greeting. “Get off—!” he cried. “Laelia! This is hardly the place—!”

  The brunette, Laelia, threw her arms around him a second time. The Prince looked to the second newcomer pleadingly. “Cassian, can’t you do something?”

  The dark-haired young man shrugged. “She’s traveled all this way to see you,” he said. His voice was low in timbre and sounded somewhat aloof. “It seems like you should just humor her for a bit, Aureus.”

  The Prince’s gaze again flitted toward Viola, who mutely arched her eyebrows. That particular expression on her face seemed to put fear back into him. “No, really, Laelia,” he said, and he pushed the brunette away with much more firmness this time. “I’ve told you before that I’m not comfortable with this sort of display.”

  “But darling, we—” Laelia’s voice broke off as she caught sight of Viola at last. Her pleasant expression turned hostile. “Who’s she?”

  Viola held her tongue and looked to the Prince expectantly. He immediately stepped to her side, threw an arm around her shoulder, and hugged her to him. “She’s the love of my life!” he announced to the pair.

  Viola shoved him away. “Don’t say such ridiculous things!” she cried. “Someone might take you seriously!”

  “Now, my dearest Viola, there’s no need to be shy in front of Cassian and Laelia,” he replied. “I’ve known them both for years.”

  She backed away from his reach. “Then I’m sure they know well enough not to believe every preposterous thing that comes out of your mouth,” she retorted. She positioned her basket full of groceries between them and took another step back for good measure. Then, she turned to the two onlookers and inclined her head in greeting. “I’m Viola,” she said simply, and she extended one hand.

  Cassian took it and murmured, “Pleased to meet you.” His green eyes, Viola noted, seemed sincere enough in that remark. Laelia, however, gazed upon her with venom, her eyes narrowed as she tried to assess the level of threat Viola posed as a rival.

  “So you’ve known this idiot for years?” she asked Cassian.

  “Viola, darling, you wound me,” said the Prince.

  “If only,” she muttered.

  “Aureus isn’t an idiot,” Laelia spoke up stiffly, and when Viola looked to her in surprise, she said again, “He isn’t an idiot. He might be a little standoffish, but he’s intelligent and witty and charming. I don’t know what he sees in a little nobody like you.”

  “Laelia!” Cassian rebuked.

  “She’s the Prime Minister’s daughter,” said the Prince in a hard voice. “She’s also the primary attendant of the Eternal Prince of Lenore, and a guardian of the land itself. She’s hardly a nobody,” he added as he fixed the brunette with a pointed stare.

  Laelia’s mouth opened and then shut again in irritation.

  “Don’t exaggerate,” said Viola crossly. “The Prime Minister is my father, yes, but that’s about all I can claim. Now, if you don’t mind, Aureus, I do have to complete my errands. I’m sure you’d love to visit with your friends.”

  She turned to go, but he caught her by the elbow. “You wouldn’t really leave me here,” he said, “would you?”

  “Why not?” Viola lightly replied. “It seems your friends have traveled quite a ways to see you. It’s only fitting that you spend some time with them, and I would only be in the way. Besides, I was supposed to be waiting on the Prince an hour ago.” She smiled pleasantly up at him.

  His equally smiling expression took on a dangerous edge. “But if you leave me here by myself, there’s no telling what sort of mischief I might get into, or what sort of information I might disclose.”

  Viola’s eyes widened, then narrowed in disbelief. She spared a glance back to the pair—Cassian watched with curiosity, and Laelia fairly glowered—and knew that the secret of the Prince must not be spread any further than it had already gone. “You wouldn’t dare,” she whispered.

  “You’ll stay? Wonderful!” said the Prince in broad tones. “Perhaps you could guide us around town, since we’re all strangers here.”

  Viola glanced down at the groceries. Her mother would expect them back soon, but the delay couldn’t be helped now. “I think I might actually loathe you,” she said in a low voice as she turned back to the small group.

  “Oh, I love you too,” he replied, and he gave her shoulders a squeeze.

  “That’s not what I—”

  Laelia suddenly stepped forward and snatched the Prince away, glaring daggers at Viola as she hooked her arm in his.

  “Now really, Laelia,” he said.

  “Cassian can walk with her,” she replied as she led him off in the opposite direction. “We found the sweetest little park a couple of blocks from here—have you seen it?”

  Viola looked to Cassian, and they wordlessly fell in step behind the pair. As Viola was in a bad mood, the silence wasn’t exactly stifling for her, and the young man next to her appeared totally content to remain quiet as well. Still, she thought as she glanced toward where Laelia was chattering off her companion’s ears, there wouldn’t come many opportunities for her to find out about the stranger she had come to think of as the Prince.

  “So you’ve known him for years,” she said casually to Cassian. “Has he always been such a difficult person, or am I just lucky to bring out that sort of reaction from him?”

  “What do you mean?” he replied. His green eyes studied her closely.

  Viola didn’t like when people answered her questions with another question. That wasn’t really an answer at all. She wondered if Cassian was just as difficult, if this was perhaps a trait that nifaran shared—or the male nifaran, at any rate.

  “I always feel like I’m at a disadvantage against him,” she said plainly. “It’s almost as though he can manipulate any situation to his benefit.”

  “Charmed,” said Cassian.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “He seems to have a charmed life,” he clarifi
ed, then added with a quick glance, “Don’t worry. It’s only on the surface. Aureus works for everything he gets.”

  “I didn’t even know his name was Aureus,” said Viola in a disgruntled voice, and she shifted her attention back to the pair some ten paces ahead. It seemed that Laelia was trying to get the Prince to speed up, to give the other two the slip, but he was stubbornly maintaining the same pace.

  “What did he tell you his name was?” Cassian asked.

  Viola looked askance to discover that he seemed much more intent upon her answer than she would have guessed. “He didn’t,” she replied. “He wouldn’t give any name at all. We’ve had to make do without it.”

  Cassian’s breath left him in a heavy sigh, as though the weight of the world had just settled on his shoulders. “Aureus isn’t his real name,” he said abruptly.

  “What?” said Viola, startled.

  “Aureus is the name our parents gave him when they found him.”

  A twinge of suspicion ran its way up her spine. “Your parents?”

  Cassian spared her an amused glance. “Aureus and I are brothers,” he told her. “We were both taken in by the same parents after the change came upon us. I had been with them three or four years when they suddenly disappeared one day and returned a week later with him in tow. He wouldn’t tell them his real name, so they gave him a new one. You know,” he added pensively, “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Aureus introduce himself by that name.”

  “So you don’t know what his real name is?” asked Viola incredulously. When Cassian shook his head, she blinked. “I think I feel a little better now,” she said. If he wouldn’t even tell his own family his real name, obviously he wouldn’t share it with people he had only just met.

  “I didn’t realize that the Prime Minister of Lenore was one of us,” said Cassian as they turned up the road that approached the small city park.

  Viola realized that he must have assumed that her father was a nifara as well. “He’s not,” she said bluntly. “He’s as mortal as they come. I’m his daughter by birth.”

  Cassian froze, staring at her in surprise.

  “Is that so very odd?” Viola asked. “To be perfectly honest, if it wasn’t for your brother’s advent, I would still consider myself to be mortal as well. Apparently it’s obvious enough that I’m not, but I was never taught the difference.”

  His mouth opened and shut. Then, “I… suppose… but the village where we live is full of cast-offs. I’ve never known one of our kind to remain with family after the change comes, but I suppose it’s entirely possible.”

  “I’m afraid I’m quite ignorant on the subject,” Viola replied. Up ahead, Laelia was pulling the Prince into the park, a relatively small sanctuary with trees and colorful flowers. A sparkling fountain bubbled at the center, and a few small children played around it, splashing one another merrily.

  Aureus seemed intent upon waiting for Cassian and Viola to catch up, and Laelia seemed intent upon dragging him in without them.

  “So you two traveled here to check on your brother?” Viola asked with disinterest.

  “Laelia did. She’s in love with him.”

  Viola frowned at the dark-haired man next to her. “So why did you come?” she asked. He didn’t answer, but she followed the path of his eyes to where Laelia pulled against Aureus to no avail. “I see,” said Viola with sudden insight. “You’re in love with her.”

  Cassian started at this pronouncement, but when he opened his mouth to protest, no words came. He blushed in discomfort and averted his eyes. “I suppose it’s useless for me to deny it. Yes, I’m in love with her, but she’s only had eyes for Aureus since the day he came to our village. She doesn’t see me as anything other than the brother of the man she loves.”

  Viola decided not to comment, as they were getting too near the other two to continue this particular line of conversation. They approached in silence, and she watched Laelia’s beautiful mouth pucker in a decided pout.

  “You two certainly took your time,” said the Prince, eyeing both Cassian and Viola suspiciously. Viola merely arched her eyebrows and did not reply. Cassian remained silent as well.

  “Aureus!” Laelia complained in a shrill protest. “They didn’t expect us to wait for them, can’t you see? Darling, it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other!”

  “It’s hardly been two weeks,” said the Prince with exasperation.

  “It’s been more than three,” Cassian corrected him. “It took her over a week to wheedle from Mother and Father where you had gone.”

  “I’m glad they were so trustworthy with the information,” he replied dryly.

  Laelia sulked. “You’re acting as though you’re not happy to see us, and after we traveled all this way!”

  “Nobody asked you to come,” he told her, and Viola realized at last that he was angry. She wasn’t sure she had ever witnessed him angry before—he seemed never to get ruffled by anything, much to her annoyance.

  “You could at least be civil,” she said as she swept efficiently past him into the waiting park. “They were obviously worried about you.”

  He trotted after her like a faithful dog. “I am being civil,” he replied. “You don’t see me screaming at them to go home, do you?”

  Viola paused to glance up at him, and then back at the pair in the gateway. She noticed that Laelia was glowering at her again, but Cassian was merely watching with a curious scrutiny, as though mentally recording everything he saw for a later report. Her attention shifted back to the Prince. “Do you want to send them back home?” she asked him. “Aren’t you the least bit happy to see familiar faces?”

  His mouth twisted into a charming, sardonic smile. “Yours is the only familiar face I’m ever happy to see,” he said, and he lifted one hand up to caress her cheek. Viola jerked out of his reach and turned her back on him. A wooden bench stood nearby, empty. She crossed to it and sat, pointedly placing the basket of groceries on the spot next to her.

  “Go play with your friends,” she told the Prince. His eyes narrowed, and he pressed his mouth into a thin line. Before he could retort, though, Laelia surged forward and snatched his arm, yanking him toward the fountain.

  Cassian came more reluctantly, but instead of following the pair, he turned his attention to Viola. “May I sit next to you?” he asked politely.

  She quickly moved the basket to the ground, but, “Don’t you want to go with them?” she asked, curious that he would let the woman he loved run off with his brother.

  “No,” he said bluntly. “It’ll be the same whether I’m there or not. Laelia only has eyes for Aureus, and I would just be in the way. I’d hear it from her later, too.”

  “Does she know how you feel about her?” Viola asked with a frown.

  He scoffed at this. “No. By the time I’d realized my feelings for her, she was already so deeply enamored of him. How can I compete against that complete and utter adoration?”

  “Does he love her?” Viola asked with a strange pang of anxiety in her heart. “Or I suppose, more importantly, does he know that you love her?”

  “He knows I do,” said Cassian. His green gaze followed the pair as Laelia dragged Aureus about the small park. “As to his own feelings, he says he does not care for her that way, but I never believed him. I didn’t understand how he could resist her charms.”

  Laelia was quite beautiful, Viola noted begrudgingly. Her brunette hair fell in luxurious waves, and her skin was like porcelain. Her face was well-shaped, her features delicate and feminine. In comparison, Viola felt plainer than ever.

  “I suppose I have a little more hope now, though,” Cassian added, and Viola’s attention shifted back to him.

  “Because he’s being so cold to her?” she asked.

  He smiled at her, a wistful expression that seemed to say that she was wrong. “He’s always behaved coldly toward her,” he said at last. “Laelia’s been determined to have him, though, and none of the other girls at the village dar
ed interfere. I always hoped that she would just give up on him, or that he would choose someone else.”

  “Are you all right with that?” asked Viola with a scowl.

  Cassian started. “What do you mean?”

  “Are you all right with waiting, and on the off-chance that what you hope for does occur, would you be all right with being a… a consolation prize, of sorts? That doesn’t seem fair to you.”

  “I don’t mind,” he said quietly.

  “Well, you should,” Viola replied. “You should mind very much. You’re a pleasant young man, handsome, well-spoken. I realize that I’ve known you for less than half an hour, but I don’t think you should resign yourself to being someone’s second-best. You’re better than that. And you certainly shouldn’t play second fiddle to that irritating brother of yours.”

  Cassian stared at her in utter surprise. His emerald eyes really were beautiful, Viola thought. He was every bit as handsome as Aureus, and deserved to be treated just as well, and fawned over just as much.

  He suddenly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Thank you,” he said sincerely as he pulled away. “You are very kind.”

  Viola sat frozen, wondering if it was characteristic of nifaran men to suddenly kiss girls with little or no provocation. To be sure, Cassian’s peck on the cheek had been nothing in comparison with his brother’s first intimate greeting, but she really thought they both might consider investigating the phenomenon of personal space. Perhaps their parents had never taught them about it.

  Even so, “Y-you’re welcome,” she stammered uncertainly, and her heart pounded in her ears. “I don’t see that I did anything worthy of thanks,” she added.

  Cassian simply smiled, a slow, charming expression that almost melted Viola there on the spot. It was short-lived, though, for the next moment, he was jerked up from his place by his wholly irate brother.

  “Look here,” said Aureus, ill-concealed wrath playing on his face, “what right do you have to be accosting Viola like that?”