Lexi Monarch

by T. K. Perry

  Talis chewed the inside of his lip angrily before speaking. “I did,” he admitted.

  “All right,” Pol said, nodding sagely as he looked at Tiger. “Mr. Swallowtail, is it?”

  Tiger nodded grimly.

  “You’ll come with me,” Pol directed, and then turned to look at the guard that had remained hidden behind him. “Lance, you take Mr. Sulfur to the infirmary. He can spend the first day of his sentence guarded there.”

  “Wait,” Talis protested. “That reeking tramp broke my wing, and you’re not even going to punish her?”

  “I broke it,” Tiger growled, stepping towards him menacingly. “And I’ll happily break another.”

  “That’s enough,” Pol said, taking Tiger’s arm.

  “This isn’t justice!” Talis yelled before Lance clapped a heavy hand over his mouth.

  Lexi followed along behind Tiger, ignoring the stares. The murmurs of the crowd were a palpable thing, weighing her down in their disapproval even as the crowd parted before their single-file procession. As soon as they entered the castle, she drew alongside Pol, keeping pace.

  “You can’t lock him up,” she whispered.

  “He was fighting, Your Highness,” Pol answered in a soft tone.

  “Tiger let that man hit him twice without defending himself. I doubt Tiger would have hit him at all if he hadn’t said such vile things about me.”

  “Lex, stop,” Tiger commanded.

  “No,” Lexi snapped at Tiger, then turned back to Pol. “And then he leapt at Tiger, and I shoved him away. He stumbled over a stool, and then fell into a table. You can’t punish Tiger for it.”

  Pol's grip shifted uneasily on Tiger’s arm. “Is that a command?”

  “Yes,” Lexi said at the same moment that Tiger said, “No!”

  Pol stopped their march to the dungeon and released Tiger’s arm.

  “Ignore her,” Tiger insisted, offering his arm. “Take me to the dungeon.”

  “No,” Lexi said, trying to press his arm back to his side.

  “Lex, you can’t have it both ways. You can either be Raven Fritillary the farm girl or you can be the princess. You can’t take the perks without the responsibilities.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lexi demanded.

  “Do you want to run the Mating Mountain?” Tiger asked.

  “No.”

  “Then you should stop interfering with the way your brother-in-law runs it,” Tiger argued.

  Pol cleared his throat. “I’ll just go report to your brother-in-law now, if Your Highness has no objections.”

  Lexi focused a particularly blank expression on him. “I will accompany you,” she said regally.

  Tiger sighed and rubbed his stubbled cheeks as they changed directions and ascended several staircases. “How can you think you don’t want to be a princess?” Tiger whispered from behind her. “You live to boss people around.”

  “I do not!” Lexi swatted at him without looking and missed entirely. “Why did you break up with Coli?”

  “I don’t know. Why did you break up with Cam?”

  Lexi turned to frown at him around her wing, and he gave her a little shove in the middle of her back.

  “How did you know?” she demanded, stopping and turning to stare at him defiantly.

  “How did you know I broke up with Coli?”

  Lexi blushed and turned away as she mumbled, “I was watching you.”

  “Well, maybe I was watching you, too,” Tiger answered, his grin evident in his voice.

  Lexi sneaked a look at him, blushed when he caught her, and resumed climbing the steps. At the top, Beck stood guard beside a partially-opened door.

  “Great! Are we doing this again? Should I go get Talan from the dungeon so it’s more fun?” Beck asked with a wry grin.

  “No, thank you, Beck. Mr. Admiral is best enjoyed from a distance," Lexi quipped while giving Beck a shrewd examination. “Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

  Some of the amusement faded from Beck's face as he shook his head. “Somebody had to pick up Avell's shifts."

  “Sorry," Lexi said, patting his arm as she passed into the Governor's room.

  Limen stood when they entered, a table covered with a dozen different dishes strewn in front of him. His cheeks flushed their two spots of color when he noticed her gaze resting on his elaborate meal.

  “Your Highness,” he said with a strained smile. “Please join me.”

  “No, thank you, Limen.” Lexi politely waved away his invitation as she looked askance at Pol. “Has Pol informed you of our little problem?”

  The Governor’s tight smile grew more strained still. “Which one?”

  Lexi’s shoulders squared as her smile become more pleasant, but less genuine. “The fight in the courtyard.”

  “Ah yes, you don’t want Mr. Swallowtail here punished,” Limen said, acknowledging Tiger for the first time.

  “He doesn’t deserve it, Limen. He didn’t begin the fight, and he allowed the man to hit him twice without defending himself or retaliating. No guards were present to stop the fight, so I attempted it. The other man verbally assaulted me, and kept trying to hit Tiger, so Tiger hit him once. When the man came at him again, I told him to stop, and pushed him away from Tiger. The man stumbled over a stool, then fell into a table, breaking his wing. The man insisted I broke his wing and must go to the dungeon.”

  Tiger rolled his eyes, one of which was rapidly swelling shut. “I’ll take the punishment for the broken wing. Just lock me up and get this over with.”

  “No,” Lexi said emphatically, but calmly. “That isn’t right.”

  Limen held his breath and stared at the table, his lips pressed together. “What was the fight about?” he finally asked, directing his question to Tiger.

  Tiger blushed slightly and cleared his throat. “He felt I had mistreated his sister.”

  “Ah,” Limen said, returning his gaze to the table with a grim smile.

  “It’s not what you think, Limen,” Lexi said.

  “Hmm,” Limen answered. “One night in the dungeon for fighting, then,” he ordered, nodding his command to Pol, who hesitantly walked over to take Tiger’s arm. “The punishment for wing breaking, however, is a month in the dungeon. Are you certain you want to take that punishment?”

  “Yes,” Tiger affirmed.

  “I won’t allow it,” Lexi said simply, her face blank.

  Limen grimaced, again studying the meal before him. “Pol, take Mr. Swallowtail to the dungeon while the Her Highness and I discuss the length of his stay.”

  Pol nodded and left with Tiger, while Lexi watched them with a tightening jaw.

  “Beck, Tryp, out,” Limen commanded with a curt nod to his guards.

  Lexi shifted uneasily. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be alone with you.”

  Limen waited until the door shut behind his guards, then shot her an exasperated glance. “I will stay right here and hopefully this won’t take long. Your Highness, you’re creating chaos. My guards are all second-guessing my orders, I’m fielding constant questions as to your identity, negotiating bribes for silence, and now the most basic rules of the mountain have to be flouted for your sake. I can’t order you to go, but I’m asking you to, please.”

  Lexi met his request with a stony silence.

  “Now even Anna West is here. She wants a lady’s maid, a private bath, and a private dining room.”

  “Anna is here because of Van,” Lexi objected.

  “Do you really think Lady Nessa would have sent her if you hadn’t been here?”

  Lexi folded her lips together in begrudging agreement.

  “There are good reasons nobles don’t come here. It just doesn’t work,” he finished, emphasizing each word.

  “You would have me leave before my escort arrives?” Lexi asked calmly, a single dark eyebrow raised.

  Limen blew out a long breath and laid his hands on the table. “Are you certain they are coming? Have you sent for th
em?” At her lack of answer, Limen shook his head. “What if they don’t arrive for a week? Or they never come at all?” he asked as he walked around the table.

  Lexi stiffened at his approach, and he stopped, frowning. “Van, Anna, her servant, and Talan are a sufficient escort,” he said, retreating back to his stool.

  Lexi stretched taller still and eyed him as he turned. “I disagree with you.”

  “Of course you do,” Limen mumbled, pinching his lips together as he stared down at his unfinished meal. After a full minute of silence, he met her eyes again. “I don’t understand why you’re still here.”

  “I told you why I came,” she answered steadily, her voice almost monotone.

  “I won’t marry you to a peasant,” he snapped, then dropped his eyes self-consciously. “You’ve rejected your choices here. Back at the palace, there’s sure to be another in-season nobleman...eventually.”

  Lexi stared at the top of his dark head, the unruly curls indifferently cut. Sensing her gaze, he slowly raised his head, two spots of color burning in each cheek.

  “Do you intend to blackmail me into marrying you?” he asked quietly.

  “Would it work?”

  Limen shook his head obdurately. “I don’t believe you’d do that. You love your sister too much. You’ll tell her or not as you think best. You wouldn’t genuinely bargain to keep my secret.”

  Lexi smiled faintly before her mouth faded back into its blank mask. “Then we are at an impasse.”

  “There’s nothing to be gained by staying here!” he blurted, then added in a softer tone, “and much to be lost.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said blandly. “Now, let’s discuss Mr. Swallowtail.”

  “Fine,” Limen agreed, nodding tightly. “Someone needs to be punished for the broken wing.”

  “It was an accident. There should be no punishment.”

  “Without punishment, they would all be carelessly breaking each other’s wings and the number of life servants would quickly become unsustainable; it’s barely sustainable now!” Quieted by her steely gaze, he continued in an undertone. “With such a public fight, even the transfer of the punishment will afford me endless complaints and insubordination. The punishment must be quick and severe.”

  “Then punish the man who began the fight,” she said, her posture rigid.

  “Did he break his own wing?” Limen demanded irritably. “There’s no justice in that.”

  Lexi trembled a little as she fought to control herself. “You will not punish him.”

  “Are you ordering me?” he challenged, stepping towards her again.

  “I am.”

  “Then we have a new governor,” he declared sarcastically, returning to his seat. “Congratulations. I suppose I can go home now.”

  Several emotions flickered across Lexi’s face as the silence dragged on. “Would you go if I sent you?”

  Limen turned a startled gaze on her, his mouth hung slack, his body shocked to rigid attention. “You can’t...it isn’t...I hold this position for the duration of my life.”

  “I was at the ceremony, Limen. He said, ‘unless relieved by a higher authority.’”

  Limen’s breath came rapidly and his eyes darted around the table before returning to Lexi’s face. “I don’t remember that.”

  “Mona joked that she was going to follow you and relieve you of your duties. She might have done it if she hadn’t been pregnant.”

  “They would have let me stay longer if she hadn’t been,” Limen said absently, his gaze falling back to the table. “Why would you? Why do you even suggest it? Are you tormenting me?”

  Lexi shook her head with the slightest movement. “If I go home, Mother will find a way to make me marry Talan. If I try to hide with my...fiancé, she will find me and bring me home.”

  Limen blew out a heavy breath like a cork leaving a bottle. “In such disgrace, perhaps she would let you go.”

  Lexi’s eyes narrowed as she shook her head. “The marriage certificate Talan mentioned; do you know the lie he told to obtain it?”

  Limen’s attention was riveted to her face as he shook his head.

  “He claimed we had already mated,” Lexi intoned, her voice cold.

  Limen’s jaw tightened as a mottled red began to suffuse his skin. “You should have told me. I never would have let him out of the dungeon.”

  Momentarily pacified, Lexi’s face softened. “I know, Limen. He only told me yesterday.”

  Limen’s nostrils flared as he shook his head. “That’s unforgivable. If you leave, I will keep him here.”

  Lexi smiled slightly. “Where would I go? She is going to assume I am carrying a noble heir to the throne. Even if you did agree to marry me to someone else, she would only force my father to annul it.”

  “The royal flying guard will come. I’m actually surprised they’re not here yet,” Limen mumbled to himself as he returned to his scattered peas.

  “I think she hoped Talan and I would work it out quietly, and no one would be the wiser.”

  Limen shook his head with new determination. “I still can’t marry you. And she’ll only make me come right back if I return to Mona.”

  “How long have you been in season, Limen?”

  “Eleven months, two weeks,” he responded without hesitation.

  “You’ll be lucky to make it down the mountain before your season ends.”

  Limen laughed: heavy, startled guffaws that made his diaphragm bounce beneath his robe. “You’re not serious? You can’t be serious.”

  “Limen Viceroy, I hereby relieve you of your position as governor, and command you to return to my sister, immediately,” Lexi said loudly, a smile playing about her lips. “And beg her forgiveness, so I won’t have to keep wondering whether I ought to tell her or not.”

  Limen abruptly sobered, his laugh dying in his throat. “She won’t forgive me.”

  Lexi nodded. “She might not, but she’ll never forgive you for staying after I relieved you. Go. Tonight.”

  “But you can’t run the mountain. You don’t know the first thing. You can’t perform the marriages, and you’ll have to tell everyone who you are in order to rule.”

  “Fine. Call an assembly in one hour. I will publicly relieve you. As to the marriages, Erynnis can perform them.”

  “Yes,” Limen said excitedly. “I had forgotten. He was grandfather’s officiant, too. He performed all the marriages after grandfather died and before I arrived.”

  “You can give an officiant the authority to perform marriages?”

  “Yes, but Erynnis...”

  “Is old. Appoint a second officiant before you leave,” Lexi commanded easily, her forehead wrinkled in thought.

  “You can’t really be doing this.”

  “I am. You will leave the mountain directly after the assembly. An escort will take you as far as Scio.”

  “Who will agree...?”

  “I’ll pay them,” Lexi said, cutting him off. “Now get ready; you don’t have much time.”

  Lexi barreled out the door, ignoring Beck’s exclamation as he jumped aside. “The Governor has orders for you, Beck. Go talk to him,” she called over her shoulder as she flew down the hallway, dodging the returning dinner crowd. She could hear the whispers, and even see a few pointed fingers, as she made her way to the clerk’s office and flew through the door.

  A young man with horribly tattered white wings looked up at her with a relaxed smile. “In a hurry, Miss Fritillary?”

  “Ryp Leafwing’s room number, please,” she requested, her face pleasantly blank.

  He looked at her curiously, one eye wrinkling up as he examined her.

  “Quickly, please,” Lexi added.

  His smile tightened as his gaze dropped to the pages before him. “He’s in 211.”

  “Thank you,” Lexi said, already out the door. She flew slower this time, watching the crowd beneath her for vivid red wings. In the hallway outside his room, he stood joking with a
fuzzy-haired girl with an annoying laugh.

  “Ah, the girl who has no scent,” Ryp greeted her as she landed beside them. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need to speak with you privately,” Lexi said, trying not to bristle at the annoying titter of the girl beside her.

  “He’s a little busy just now,” she drawled out, her eyes narrowing as her gaze swept over Lexi.

  “Thank you for sparing him,” Lexi said pleasantly as she took her cousin’s arm and dragged him into his room.

  “Hey!” the girl yelled when Lexi shut the door in her face.

  “Relax,” Ryp yelled back. “She’s my cousin.”

  Lexi spun to look at him, her wings grazing the door as she turned. “Yes, I am your cousin,” she whispered.

  “Then why the big denial show?”

  Lexi swallowed, her blank mask failing her as the consequences of her rash decision fell upon her. “My father asked me to keep my mother’s secret. She didn’t marry the Governor’s illegitimate son, she married the heir to the throne. My father is the king. Your Aunt Ami is the Queen.”

  Ryp smirked. “Is this a joke?”

  “No, it’s not. Look at my wings. I’m a Monarch. Princess Lexi Monarch.”

  Ryp chuckled. “You almost had me. I do believe you’re not a Viceroy, because the Governor’s illegitimate brother can smell you. He’s interested, by the way.”

  “How many people have you told we’re related?” Lexi demanded, her irritation bringing back the smooth, blank mask.

  Ryp shrugged. “Why do you care? Are you ashamed of me?”

  “No, but my mother is. She would lose power if people knew she wasn't of noble blood.”

  Ryp chuckled. “Power with your father? The neighbors? This is absurd.” He shook his head as he stood to go.

  Lexi held up one hand to stop him. “The Governor will announce my identity in front of everyone in less than an hour. Then I will relieve him of duty, and become the new governor.”

  “What? You’re insane.” Ryp no longer looked amused as he tried to pass by her.

  “I need your help,” Lexi said, stepping in front of him.

  “With what?” he asked irritably, looking around her at the door.