Kingdom of Ruses

by Kate Stradling

  “Have you told her that?” she asked quietly.

  “What?”

  “Have you told her that you find her persistence disrespectful? That you find her affection troublesome?”

  He sighed heavily. “My heart is not made of stone,” he said then. “I’ve told you a lot of negative things about Laelia, but she really is a good person. I don’t want her to cry—I just wish that she would direct her undying devotion elsewhere, preferably in Cassian’s direction. I keep hoping that she’ll turn around and realize that he’s a thousand times better than I am, and far worthier of her affections.”

  “That’s idiotic,” said Viola bluntly. “Not only do you have some strange sense of inferiority toward your brother, but you think that things will change when neither you nor Cassian will make any efforts to change them. How troublesome it must be for him to watch the girl he loves fawn all over someone else, but at the same time, he only has his own cowardice to blame. And you! Knowing his nature, you expect him one day suddenly to change and draw Laelia after him? How can either of you expect things to change when you won’t do anything to initiate it?”

  “Might I remind you,” said the Prince in a testy voice, “that I actually abandoned my village and traveled several days south for an undetermined amount of time?”

  “You ran away, you mean,” said Viola.

  His shoulders stiffened. “You little minx, I did not run away! My reason for coming here had nothing whatsoever to do with Laelia or Cassian! They have no business following me, either!”

  For a long moment Viola studied him. He had, ostensibly, come to study the Prince’s records of the nifaran, but she suspected that that was not the true reason. At least, for as much as he read on the subject, none of it seemed to be new material to him. He was looking for something in particular, she knew, but she could not claim to understand why he had really come to Lenore, and he seemed to have absolutely no inclination toward disclosing that information.

  So, rather than prodding him on that subject, she turned the conversation down a slightly different path. “When do you plan to visit them?” she asked quietly.

  “I beg your pardon?” His regal expression fit in rather well for the persona he was supposed to be playing.

  “They came to visit you,” Viola clarified. “If you just leave them at Dr. Grayson’s, they might take it into their heads to come searching for you—or rather, Laelia might take it into hers, and then Cassian would be forced to come along. I don’t want them on the palace grounds asking after your whereabouts. In the worst case, they—she—might convince Dr. Grayson himself to bring them up to you, and then the Prince’s secret spreads unnecessarily. So I’m asking you again, when do you plan to visit them?”

  “I hadn’t really—”

  “I can send word to Dr. Grayson’s home that you’re coming this afternoon if you’d like, your Highness,” said Viola, primly falling into her feigned role as his secretary.

  The Prince studied her closely. “You know,” he said at last, his voice quiet and controlled, “I couldn’t help but notice that in that last journal entry of yours, and ever since that one sarcastic instance yesterday, you haven’t once called me Aureus.”

  Viola kept her own gaze trained on the book in her hands. “You don’t call yourself that,” she said lightly. “I don’t see how I could dare. Besides,” she added in a very businesslike fashion, “as Charlie says, if we get used to calling you anything other than ‘your Highness,’ it may be our undoing at some critical moment.”

  The expression on his face was unreadable, somehow wistful and sad and happy all at the same time.

  “Viola,” he said, “would you slap me if I kissed you?”

  “Yes,” she replied, determined not to let him fluster her again today.

  He hummed. Then, “I’ll take the risk,” he said, and he moved forward on the sofa.

  Self-defense kicked in. She scrambled out of her chair and away from his reach. It took her a moment to realize that he was laughing—laughing—at her, that he had never even gotten up from his seat.

  “You—!” she cried angrily.

  “Too easy,” he said between chuckles. “You really are too easy to fluster!”

  “I really don’t see why I have to come along,” Viola complained as they strode together down the narrow streets of Lenore.

  “Punishment,” said the Prince. “If I have to go—and you’ve seen to it that I do have to—then I’m certainly not paying the visit alone. No one told you to send them a note saying I would visit this afternoon.”

  “I already told you that I don’t want them sneaking around the palace grounds looking for you,” Viola replied. “It’s your brother, and your would-be lover. I don’t see why I have to come along!”

  “Because you don’t want me telling them my current role in the palace,” he replied cheerfully. “They believe that I’m sleeping in a closet under the stairs at the Prince’s whims, remember?”

  Viola looked up at him with a cloyingly sweet expression. “And what was I supposed to tell them?” she asked.

  He threw one arm around her shoulders in a cavalier gesture. “No, no. You did well enough.”

  “Would you kindly unhand me?” she said as she tried to shrug off his semi-embrace and utterly failed.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Laelia and Cassian just turned the corner there, see? Smile at them, Darling.”

  Instead, she thrust her elbow into his ribcage.

  Laelia had stopped short upon seeing the pair. Curiously enough, Cassian passed by her and continued forward, a faint smile on his face. “Good afternoon,” he said pleasantly.

  “Hello,” said Viola, and the Prince mustered some weak greeting from his hunched position. “You came to meet us.”

  “Laelia insisted,” said Cassian with a backward glance to that person.

  His words jarred Laelia from her stupor. Her face twisted into a scowl and she strode forward as though entering a battleground. “What is she doing here?” she asked the Prince, and she leveled an accusing finger at Viola to emphasize her point.

  “I made her come,” he replied quite readily. “Actually, I’m afraid that if I leave the palace grounds without her, I won’t be able to get back in.” His smile was disarming, and Laelia wilted under it.

  “We’ve been exploring,” she confided as she looped her arm in his and pulled him away from Viola and Cassian. “There’s strong magic here in Lenore, just like the stories say. We wanted to go looking for the reservoir, but I can’t tell which direction the magic is flowing. I swear it’s stronger today than it was yesterday.”

  “Why would you want to find the reservoir?” asked the Prince with a clandestine glance back to Viola, who followed close enough to eavesdrop. “Surely you don’t intend to bond with the land.”

  “Why not?” replied Laelia with a pout.

  The Prince’s pleasant expression grew brighter, a sure sign that he was starting to get very annoyed. “Because you’re not staying, that’s why not. You’re going back home to the village soon.”

  “I’m staying as long as you are, Aureus,” said Laelia stubbornly. “Now are you going to help us find the reservoir or not?”

  “I’ve already been there,” he replied, “and no, I won’t take you there. It’s ensorcelled, and I don’t think the guardian would appreciate you poaching on her bond. Isn’t that right, Viola?” he added over his shoulder.

  Laelia bristled. “What’s she got to do with it?”

  “I told you yesterday,” said the Prince, impatience laced through his voice. “Viola’s the guardian of the land. You can’t go to the reservoir, because it’s ensorcelled under her. You won’t be able to find it unless she takes you there herself, and she won’t take you because there’s no need for you to go mucking about in the magical reservoir of Lenore!”

  He pried himself away then and turned in the opposite direction. To Viola’s surprise, he caught her by the arm instead and pulled her along
with him.

  “What are you talking about?” she whispered. “There’s a limit to how many lies you can tell before people start seeing through them.”

  “It’s not a lie,” he replied calmly. “That well is ensorcelled—I suspect it is to the Moreland family as a whole, and not just you—but the only reason I stumbled across it is because it had grown so weak. As it is now, gaining in strength every day, it will hide itself from any outsiders as a means of protection.”

  Viola marveled at this information, wondering if it could be true. Her father had never said anything about the well being ensorcelled. It had gone undiscovered by outsiders for centuries, though, and Viola was fairly certain that someone must have ventured into the forest during that time. She suspected that Lord Conrad planned such an expedition, if he had not already carried it out—Victor had been snooping around the hedge door, after all, and it was only a small matter to go over that wall.

  She was called back to the present circumstances when Laelia tried to worm her way between Viola and the Prince, who promptly rebuffed her with his free hand.

  “What are you trying to do?” he demanded. “Are you a child?”

  The coldness in his voice surprised Viola, who looked to him in alarm. The Prince, however, had his gaze fixed upon Laelia, and his eyes that were usually so warm had gone hard.

  Laelia cowered for a moment, but then her temper flared. “I’m trying to get you away from the influence of that demon, Aureus!” she cried. “She’s bewitched you!”

  “She’s done nothing of the sort,” he replied. “Watch this.”

  Without warning, he swung Viola into a low dip, and his mouth came dangerously close to hers. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed, fearful to struggle too much lest he drop her on the pavement, but all the same determined that he would not kiss her in public like this.

  The Prince grinned, then swung her back up to stand on her own two feet again. “You see?” he said to a gaping Laelia. “She doesn’t even want my advances. She doesn’t encourage me in the least. In fact, I can’t count the number of times she’s threatened me bodily harm for being overly familiar. I imagine that I am just as much a nuisance to her as you are to me.” He flashed Laelia a frosty smile. Even though that expression was not directed at her, Viola’s blood ran cold. She shivered at his frozen cordiality.

  “That’s too much,” she said quietly.

  The Prince started and turned, his eyebrows arched in feigned surprise.

  “I’m sorry,” murmured Viola, barely able to meet his gaze. She felt responsible for this sudden turn—hadn’t she told him only that morning that he needed to make some sort of definitive change in his behavior if he ever wanted to be free of Laelia’s advances? This was not what she had meant, though, this cruel civility.

  “Whatever for, Darling?” he asked, and he reached one hand toward her shoulder.

  She instinctively recoiled. “Stop that,” she said sternly. “That aloof expression, I don’t like it. Is he often like this?” she asked of Cassian, who wordlessly shrugged.

  “It’s your doing,” said Laelia with tears in her eyes. “What have you done to my beautiful Aureus?” Without any warning, she suddenly launched herself at Viola.

  She was arrested midair when Cassian caught her by the waist and dragged her backward. “Stop it, Laelia,” he said, and the firmness of his voice seemed to snap some sense of fear into the distraught girl. “You are wholly out of line. You’ve been nothing but abominable to Viola, and she’s been nothing but accommodating to us in return.”

  “That’s true,” the Prince spoke up in a drawling voice. “If it weren’t for Viola, you’d have had to sleep outside last night. Actually, if it weren’t for Viola, I wouldn’t even be here visiting you. She’s the one that pulled me away from my studies and told me I had to come see you, if only out of courtesy.”

  “You’re not the Aureus I know!” Laelia cried, and her tears spilled down her cheeks.

  The Prince’s expression didn’t falter, but his voice took on a softer tone. “The Aureus you know only ever existed in your own mind, Laelia,” he said. “You’ve always done what you pleased without any regard for the feelings of others. Perhaps,” he added, and he turned his gaze skyward, “we should part ways for today. There are clouds gathering, and I don’t relish the idea of getting caught in a downpour.” He looked to his brother to ask, “Can you take care of her?”

  Cassian, who still had a firm hold on Laelia, nodded curtly.

  “Then I leave her to you. Let’s meet again tomorrow, shall we? I want to try one of those patisseries over near Market Street.” He smiled, falsely pleasant. Without waiting for a response, he abruptly strode up the street, away from them.

  Viola hesitated to follow. Her gaze shifted between the Prince’s retreating figure and the pair he left behind. “I’m sorry,” she said, and she ducked her head penitently toward Cassian and Laelia. “I’m terribly sorry.”

  Then, she hurried up the street in the Prince’s wake. One glance back over her shoulder before she turned the corner showed the pair still standing there, Laelia still in Cassian’s arms. They looked good together, Viola thought. If only Laelia could see past his brother, she might realize how very lucky she was.

  She caught up to the Prince halfway up the next street. He didn’t acknowledge her, and Viola felt that the atmosphere was entirely too tense so she dared not speak. As they approached the palace gates, the stiffness in his shoulders gradually ebbed.

  “I went too far, didn’t I?” he asked quietly.

  “You certainly got your point across.”

  He paused then, his golden eyes upon her. Viola felt distinctly uncomfortable under that scrutinizing gaze. “Am I like that to you?” he asked. “Am I a constant nuisance, always infringing on your personal space?”

  For some reason, she hesitated to answer. “I don’t think I’ve known you long enough for you to become a constant nuisance,” she said carefully. “You know perfectly well that you get on my nerves sometimes, but you’ve also taught me so much—I don’t know that I can ever repay you for that—”

  “I don’t want you to repay me,” he interrupted, suddenly fierce. “Is gratitude the only positive emotion you feel toward me?”

  Again she hesitated. Her heart beat a strange rhythm in her chest. “I… what do you expect me to say?” she asked a little helplessly.

  Her question hung in the air between them, increasingly awkward as the seconds ticked by and he merely studied her. At last, his lips parted and he said, “I don’t want to be like Laelia. She has a good heart, but she’s also very selfish. I don’t want to be like that. I never thought I was before.”

  “Well,” said Viola, perturbed, “the moment you start throwing yourself all over me, I’ll be sure to tell you to stop it. Laelia adores you, and I strongly suspect that that was the only way she knew how to show it. Since you’ve experienced the discomfort that comes from being on the receiving end of that sort of stifling adoration, I should think you would do your best to avoid giving it.”

  “So,” he said slowly, “as long as one respects the other person’s wishes with regards to showing affection, then everything should be fine.”

  She wasn’t certain where he was going with this, but, “Yes,” she said.

  “Viola, don’t you wish I would kiss you right now?” he asked with a charming smile.

  “No,” she said scornfully. “Honestly, I thought we were having a serious conversation for once,” she muttered, and she stalked off toward the waiting palace gates.

  Chapter 11: Historical Truths and Lies

  I shouldn’t be at all surprised if Laelia despises me. I mean, of course she hated me already (she made no secret of that) but since I really am responsible for the Prince’s sudden shift of behavior, her hatred can only have grown. Then again, even if I wasn’t responsible, she’d probably blame me anyway. I suppose it’s a hopeless situation and I shouldn’t worry about it at all.

  It’s
a little disappointing, though. I only recently learned about the nifaran (as real, living creatures instead of merely myths, I mean), and of the first pair I meet (aside from the Prince, of course, for he doesn’t count), one of them holds the utmost loathing for me. And to make matters worse, it’s the girl of the pair. I’ve never really had any female friends, because Father and Mother had me tutored here at the palace. I didn’t go to school alongside the lords’ and magistrates’ daughters. I see girls my age on occasion, but I’ve never had an excuse to socialize with them. I suppose I have no knack for making female friends. Or male ones, at that. Charles and Edmund don’t really count because we’re related. How depressing.

  Now that I think about it, I’ve been isolated most of my life. Father must have made it so because of what I am, and I’m sure he meant well in that decision. I’ve never had cause to regret my upbringing before now. I will admit to some curiosity about the existence of a village out there where everyone is just as I am, though. Part of me wants to ask the Prince more about it, but I don’t think he’ll answer me because he’s very close-lipped about himself and his past (you know you are, your Highness).

  Maybe I could get Cassian to tell me more. Laelia is out of the question, I’m sure.

  “Fish,” said Charlie from the alcove below where Viola sat. “Tough luck on that one. Throw another.”

  “What do you mean, ‘tough luck’?” the Prince inquired.

  Edmund’s voice piped up in answer. “Fish are hard to use. All they are is scales and fins. You can’t get any good chimeras with fish.”

  “What about mermaids?”

  “Off limits,” said Charlie. “That’s already an established creature, so on the chance that you also hit both the human square and the blank one, you’d have to do something different.”

  “Like a fish head with legs,” said Edmund cheerfully.

  “Nope,” said Charlie. “It’s already in the book.”

  “What book?” asked the Prince.