by Willow Aster
“Let me out of here and I will be sweet as pie,” she says, her lips curling into more of a grin than a sneer. It still rings fake.
“Still feel like killing me?” I cross my arms as I wait for her move. One of the guards in the room clears his throat and sounds like he’s trying to cover a laugh. I shoot him a look. “Glad I can be your comic relief,” I say dryly.
He bows his head, pinching his lips together. “The days are long, King Jadon.” His voice is apologetic, but I hear his desperation.
Her doctors think the effects of the hallucinogens are clearing up, but the hypnosis she went through is another matter. Her hatred of me makes it harder to determine. My guards are ready for more exciting work spent somewhere other than these four walls watching the Queen Mother every day, but I don’t know what to tell them.
I stand abruptly, shoving the chair back and then righting it when it almost falls backward. “I’ll be seeing you, Kathryn.”
“Jadon?” She stands too and one of the guards moves closer to her, so she can’t make a move toward me without running into him.
“Yes?”
“Let me out of here and I will feel less like killing you.”
I smile and her eyes flash. “As always, it’s been an experience. Good day, everyone.”
I step out of the cottage and it’s like a thousand pounds immediately lift.
Duty #4,528 of a king’s day completed.
I’m almost to the door of the castle, my guards a nice distance away. They knew by my mood when I left Kathryn to let me have extra space. A pitiful whine stops me in my tracks and I turn around, looking everywhere for the source. I don’t see anything right away but move toward the sound. Under a tree sits a beautiful white dog, its large paw caught in a trap.
I get closer and she whimpers. “What have you gotten yourself into?” I ask, bending down. I carefully work on the trap, taking care to not hurt her in the process. When it finally releases, she licks my hand and face. “Oh my. Okay, that’s enough. You’re welcome.” I laugh. Her paw is a bloody mess and I slowly pick her up. “You’re quite heavy,” I groan and it looks like she’s smiling when she licks my face again.
I step out of the clearing and walk toward the house.
“See that she’s taken to the vet right away, please,” I tell Quincie, one of the guards. “I’ll take her to my office while you make arrangements.”
“Sir, the dog is bleeding,” Quincie says.
“Yes, I’m aware of that.” I laugh. “My hands are covered in said blood.”
“I just mean…do you really want to mess up your office?”
“Let me worry about that. Just please move quickly. I don’t want this pup to suffer more than she already has.”
I hurry to the office and pull a blanket off of the chair, setting it on the floor before carefully laying the dog on it. She looks up at me eagerly, her tail thumping loudly on the floor.
“I’m not getting attached until you get a clean bill of health,” I tell her, rolling my eyes at how cute she is, even a complete mess.
When Quincie comes in a few minutes later and carries the dog out, I already miss her.
A sure sign that life as a king is not all it’s cracked up to be. From death threats and meetings with future queens and murderous stepmothers…to a gaping hole in my chest where the loneliness constantly resides…this is my reality.
Chapter Two
Delilah
I hang up with Jadon Safrin, thinking that went about as well as could be expected. I am already on the outskirts of Alidonia, having told my family I am going to pick out a new wardrobe in Valence. I’m traveling with a guard, but I plan to ditch him in Valence. I will still see a designer while I’m here, but I don’t need several days to do it. I hope to be back before my guard even realizes I’m gone.
It’s the riskiest thing I’ve ever done. Not following my father’s plans and working on my own…it’s definitely the stupidest idea I’ve had. But I want my father to see me as an equal in the family. I love him more than anything or anyone and would love nothing more than to help him accomplish his lifelong mission. His time is limited. He’s been sick for a long time and when my mother passed away, my father became a shadow of his former self. I just thought that was a bad time. It was a thousand times worse when my brother died in a drowning accident two years later. The darkness consumed my father and nothing I did seemed to pull him out of it. When my cousin, Caulder, came to live with us, he was the only one who seemed to help. Now he and my father are as thick as thieves and it makes me happy that things have changed for the better with my dad’s health, but I’d like to do my part to help. I’d like to see him stay this happy.
Caulder and my father want nothing more than for me to live a life of luxury and to give me every desire of my heart. I don’t need all that, and I have a feeling meeting with my family’s greatest enemy will either put my life in danger, or it will give me leverage.
I’m counting on leverage…
I will help bring my family to its fullest power by bringing King Jadon to his knees.
I want my father to see what an asset I am to this family. Not just a pretty face but someone to be reckoned with…someone who has just as much at stake and just as much to gain from ruling all of the kingdoms. I’ve been ready for this day since I first heard about the Safrins and Catanos. They’re really the only two kingdoms standing in our way and with them now related to one another, if we bring down one, they both fall. Now that my father is healthy enough for me to travel, I can do my part.
I spend the better part of the morning doing what is expected of me: I pick out beautiful clothes. The attendant who brings each item I try on loves the outfit I arrived in and when I put it on before leaving, I see her looking at my jacket longingly.
“I’ll trade outfits with you,” I tell her.
“What?” Her forehead creases in the middle. “No, I couldn’t possibly.”
“Yes, you absolutely can. In fact, I insist!” I grin at her shock and she laughs, eyes wide. I take off my jacket and start unbuttoning my blouse before shooing her out of the dressing room. “I’ll leave my things outside the door. Put them on and then bring me your clothes.”
She clasps her hands together in excitement and nods.
“I might need an extra jacket,” I add before she leaves.
“Of course, I have one I think you’ll like.”
“Perfect.”
When I’m leaving in my borrowed clothes minus the jacket, I call my father and he answers on the second ring.
“How’s it going, little princess?” he asks.
“It’s going well. I’ve picked out a few beautiful pieces.”
“You’ll need more than a few to get through the spring. No one wants to see you wear repeated outfits. You are our kingdom’s icon. Make us proud.”
I sigh, making sure the phone is far enough to not pick it up.
“Yes, Papa. I just think our money could be better served—”
“You let me worry about our money, precious. You are the vision of what every woman wants to be, not just in our kingdom, but in every kingdom. It sends a negative message to the people if you’re seen in the same thing twice.”
“Do you really think they care that much? I find that so hard to believe…especially for the people in our kingdom who struggle to afford food.”
I normally don’t press this with him—I don’t like to upset him—but I know if we don’t talk about it, he’ll expect me to come home with no less than a dozen trunks. I try to pick accessories or accent pieces that will switch things up so he’s none the wiser when I wear repeats, but something tells me he’ll be watching to see how much I come home with.
For someone who has spent the past year in bed, nothing much gets past him right now.
“You give them hope. Yes, even more so to those who can’t afford it.”
He has that tone he gets when he’s closed the subject and I know I’ve pushed back enough.
I decide to call the designer later to add a few more outfits.
“You still think you’ll be home tomorrow night or are you going to need more time to shop?” he asks, chuckling.
“I’ll let you know if it looks like I’ll be later, but I hope to stick with the schedule.”
“Enjoy your trip, sweetheart. We miss you.”
“I miss you too, Papa. Love you.”
“I love you.”
Ditching the guard goes like clockwork. I made sure Diego was the guard who accompanied me because he has a weakness for alcohol and women. I ensured he had both while I was shopping. When I’m ready to go to the hotel, he’s already drunk and I make it a point of letting him know I’ll be retiring early and enjoying a relaxing day in my room before we leave tomorrow night. He doesn’t know I hired the beautiful girl he’s been flirting with all day. She’ll keep him drinking and happy until I return in time for our flight home. I watch him open his door and drunkenly tug her inside and then I get to work.
I throw on the jacket the attendant put in a bag for me and grin. The black nondescript jacket is perfect. Next, I put on the short black wig, careful to cover every strand of my white-blond hair. I put on more makeup than I normally wear and check my appearance one last time in the mirror by the door.
Pleased, I smile at myself in the mirror and turn at all angles to make sure my hair is completely covered.
The hardest part will be getting out of the hotel without anyone noticing me. I don’t expect them to since I barely recognize myself. My guard and I have the whole floor to ourselves and when I go down the back staircase instead of the elevator, that solves the problem of seeing anyone. The stairway is empty and each step I take echoes. I look in every direction as I step into the parking garage, not sure where I am. We never enter through the main lobby, so it takes a minute to get my bearings.
Not a single person stops me or does a double take like they normally do. My hair has always given me away; I’ll be using this wig a lot more often if it gives me this anonymity. Being seen as an equal by my father and my freedom are always just out of my grasp. I spend most of my time sheltered at home with guards twenty-four hours a day. I never do anything to cause my father worry, so doing this now gives me an incredible rush, but at the same time, I feel like I’m doing something horribly wrong.
You’re twenty-two and have never done anything wrong in your life, live it up for once, I try to tell myself. And while it does feel exciting, I know the guilt of all of this will eventually catch up with me.
I take the train to Ivalis and it’s around nine p.m. before I’m settled into my room for the night. The room itself would make Papa shudder, but it’s not bad. It’s not luxurious, but I’m sure there are far worse places out there. I think about the next day and how I’ll get out of here undetected. I think I’ll wear the wig and take it off right before I see Jadon. I want him to know exactly who he’s dealing with when we meet for the first time.
Chapter Three
Jadon
I arrive in Ivalis early and check into a quaint hotel by the mountain. Quincie checks in for me, so I can stay as hidden as possible.
“Do you need me any longer, sir?” he asks once I’m in my room.
“No, I’m good for now, thank you. I’ll be ready to leave tomorrow morning around this time.”
He lowers his head and leaves the room, most likely wondering what I’m up to but too much of a gentleman to ask.
I’ve only been to the Cave of Stars once and it was when my father was king. I was fourteen and the cave felt otherworldly, the type of surroundings you’d find in a fairy tale or see on a fantasy show. Just as it sounds, it’s a neutral location between royals in the caves of Ivalis with a ceiling of tarmagalcite that sparkles like a backdrop of endless stars. I arrive there an hour before I’m supposed to meet Princess Delilah, wanting to get a good look around.
I was surprised when she suggested this place. There are only a few territories such as this, where any of us could meet for as long as necessary without any threat to our kingdoms. Mostly used in a time of war, a noncombatant spot when it’s a matter of life and death, it feels strange to come here when we’re not in the middle of a crisis. But I suppose Farrow and Alidonia have been in a semi-crisis for years now. I’m still hoping it isn’t pointing toward war, but with the recent threat on my life, I know better than to trust anyone.
When I step into the last opening before the Cave of Stars, I feel a wave of nostalgia for my father. I can still see him standing here, his excitement and dread about meeting with Titus Catano giving his eyes a crazed glaze.
“I brought you with me to have a witness, son,” he said. “He cannot harm us here, but I’m sure the veiled threats will be flying. Just knowing you’re with me will keep me levelheaded.”
I remember my nerves rattling, the roar of my blood pumping in my head as we waited for his arrival. When Titus walked into the cave, he came alone but had enough swagger to fill a colosseum…sort of the way Luka was before he married my sister and she brought him down to earth a few hundred pegs or so.
Something Titus said stuck with me and I still think of it frequently. He told my father: “The problem with you, King Neil, is that you rule with your heart, not with your mind. You extend grace before justice and mercy before wisdom. If you keep it up, your kingdom will not stand.”
And my father said something then that has also stayed with me. It’s what I strive for as king. He said, “I’d rather die with my integrity intact and to love first, act later, than to inflict an iron fist on those who might have made a bad decision in haste. It might not always be the wisest decision, but it’s the reason I can sleep at night with a clear conscience.”
My father is dead now and I believe either Titus Catano or Vance Farthing was behind it—most likely the two of them were working together.
Do I still think my father was right? To rule with love first, thinking the best of people?
Yes and no.
I strive to love first, thinking the best of people, while also watching my back for them to do the worst.
So far, it is serving me well.
I hear her footsteps before I see her and I brace myself. Her tone on the phone was confusing, to say the least. Playful, but threatening? Almost like I’m a recreation she’s decided to indulge in.
But when she steps through the entrance of the cave and is illuminated by the light of the stones, my breath catches in my throat despite all of my bravado.
The legend of Princess Delilah Farthing of Alidonia’s beauty is no legend at all. It is unequivocally fact that she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Pictures don’t do her justice. In person, she is a force of nature with her shocking hair and violet eyes, and despite being petite, she looks like she could take on the whole world and still be the last one standing.
When she sees me waiting there, a small smile graces her lips and my fingertips dig into my palms to remind myself that I can’t let her beauty get to me.
“You look like you were born to be showcased in the tarmagalcite, King Jadon,” she says, her voice like music. “Perhaps I should’ve chosen another location where I would not be at such a disadvantage.” She’s teasing, but her appraising eye could almost make me think she likes what she sees as much as I do.
“Trust me, Lady Delilah, you are clearly in the advantage here. Your beauty quite precedes you. If we weren’t sworn enemies, I would be forced to admit that you take my breath away.”
Her chuckle is low and sets an explosion in my chest. “I wonder how candid you would be as a sworn friend.”
“It’s a shame we won’t be allowed to know,” I say softly. The words make me sad even as I say them in the same playful tone she’s using. I shove those thoughts down deep where they can’t surface again and clear my throat. “Why did you call this meeting, Lady—”
“Please, call me Delilah. That should be the one benefit of this divide between us…titles can surely be set asid
e here in the stars, no?”
“Very well. I’ve never been much for titles anyway.”
She stares at me for a long time, long enough that I want to squirm but manage to fight it. I could force my agenda, but she called this meeting and I respect her for it…no matter what manipulation may lie behind it.
“It’s no secret that my father hasn’t been well and my cousin is becoming more of a leader in my kingdom every day. I have wanted to do my part for so long, but my father insists on protecting me.” She shoots a rueful look at me and walks to the wall that has the most light bouncing off of the tarmagalcite. “I don’t want him to have to work so hard. Keeping him healthy is very important to me and my cousin has taken on enough responsibility…that’s why I’m here. I would like to extend a peace treaty among our kingdoms and have your assurance that you will forge the way with not only your people but the people of Niaps. The two of you are our biggest adversaries and if I had your word that we will not come to war, it would put my mind at ease.”
She looks at me as if waiting for me to say something, but I’m too stunned by what she’s saying to form a clear thought just yet. Either she is extremely naïve or she thinks I am; I have a feeling neither is true. I just don’t know what game she’s playing.
When she doesn’t say anything else, the silence between us grows until it’s an uncomfortable itch in the air.
Finally, she says, “Will you not respond to what I’ve said?”
I clasp my hands and press my lips together, willing myself to say this as clearly as possible.
“I have reason to believe your father was conspiring with Titus Catano in the murder of my father. I also believe your family is behind the recent kidnapping of my sister and stepmother, and the result was a murder attempt on my life. Now, if you want to discuss a peace treaty, you will have to convince me that your family really knows the meaning of peace and that the decree will be followed to the letter. Since it is you coming forward with this instead of someone who has the authority to do so, such as your father, I’m afraid I cannot agree to anything.”
