Kingdom of Crowns and Glory

by Laura Greenwood et al.

  "Is there an easy way to get one?"

  "Not without risking someone's life." That was my problem with the whole rebellion. I wanted to overthrow Katya and take my place as the queen, but I loathed the idea of risking other people's lives in order to achieve that. It felt callous and very much like I didn't care about the people whose lives I'd sworn to protect.

  "Perhaps it's time to consider infiltrating the palace ourselves?"

  "You'd come with me?" He was full of surprises today.

  "Of course. It's my deception that got you into this mess."

  "I wouldn't say that," I assured him, taking a sip of my tea to give myself a moment to think. "Even if you weren't here, we'd need to do something about the threat to your life. It doesn't matter if its Gideon in your place, or if it was you there, we'd need to do something."

  "So you believe that the Duke will go ahead with his plot anyway?"

  "Almost certainly. He hasn't shown up here, and that's telling enough. We'll get reports that he's either killed an imposter, or that he's ended up dead at some point, and I fear that there isn't anything we can do about that."

  Jonathan scraped his chair back and stood up, rounding the table so he was beside me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, but didn't try to initiate any more intimate contact. I appreciated that. Not all men would act the same in his position.

  "Then we should warn Gideon," he told me. "And if that fails, I'll write to my father and assure him that I'm not at the palace, but am working on what he wanted. It's only partly a lie."

  "That you're not at the palace, or that you're not doing what he wants you to?" I turned so I could face him, surprised by how close the two of us were now he was standing behind me.

  "What he wants me to." He pulled away from me and went over to stare at the ever-lit fire. I wasn't even sure who tended it anymore.

  "Dare I ask what that was?" I had some ideas, but I didn't want to think the worst until he told me to.

  "He wanted me to secure a marriage alliance. Preferably with you, but I suspect he'd have been happy with Katya too. And if you weren't going to come easily, then I was to try and seduce you."

  I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. "Seduce me? Does he think we live last century? Even if you'd succeeded, that wouldn't have meant automatic marriage."

  The firelight reflecting off his face revealed a small smirk. "I know that. But for some reason, he thought that would work."

  "At least that means you might be able to convince him that you're fine if we can't get news to Gideon."

  And if they foiled the Duke's assassination attempt, then perhaps Katya would be able to forge a letter in his handwriting, she'd always been good at that. Though I supposed that would depend on if she knew about Gideon impersonating him or not. She had to, though why she was still going along with the charade, I wasn't so sure. Knowing Katya, there'd be an excellent reason.

  "Can I ask you a question?" I blurted, following my train of thought through and coming to something I needed to know the answer to.

  "Of course." He turned to face me but stayed standing by the fire.

  "Why didn't you stay and try and forge the alliance with Katya?"

  He chuckled. "Would you forge a marriage alliance with someone who you aren't sure could hold the throne? Even from the few whispers I heard in my time at the palace, it was clear that more than half the people in the kingdom hate Katya's rule. My father wouldn't be pleased if I went ahead with that one and lost the alliance."

  "Do you always do what your father wanted?" I found it oddly comforting to know that he felt that way, and it warmed me to him more than I wanted to admit. Now that he'd dropped the brash and entitled act, he actually seemed nice. Not that I was going to tell him that.

  "The honest answer? Up until a few weeks ago, yes. But then I came here, and for the first time, I felt like I had a chance to be my own person. With the huntsman in my place, I felt like I should seize my chance. Perhaps that's selfish, but..."

  "I get it," I said before he carried on. "I feel the same way about being here. There's something freeing about it."

  Sapphire cawed from up above, as if trying to support my point. Just like she got to fly free of any constraints here, so did I. And by the sound of it, Jonathan felt the same.

  "It is. No matter what happens, I'm glad that I ended up here."

  I was too. But I wouldn't say that aloud. I wasn't completely sure I could trust him, and until then, I was going to hold him at arm's length.

  Something told me it might not last as long as I first thought.

  Chapter 5

  "Your Highness, this package arrived for you today," Hannah said as she pushed her way into my tent. "It appears to be a dress, I thought you might want to wear it today."

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I hadn't meant to sleep in as long as I had, but the warmth of my blankets had been hard to ignore.

  "They arrived? That's good." I'd been waiting for my latest order for weeks. It was hard to fight in the traditional style dresses that were easy to buy, so I'd ended up ordering some new ones from the tailor she'd suggested. I'd have to remember to thank her once I'd made sure they all fit right.

  "It only looks like one," she said, setting it down on top of one of the wooden trunks that served as a table. The lantern she'd brought in with her flickered over the canvas of the tent, giving the whole place an eerie glow that I was certain would look even worse on the outside, particularly in the early morning light. I might have slept in, but that didn't mean it was much past dawn.

  I threw the blankets back, letting the cold air rush around my body. I shuddered, but pushed on. I couldn't let the cold weather defeat me. If I did, then the army was never going to follow me like they should.

  Hannah moved around the surprisingly spacious tent. I hadn't believed it was possible to have a tent with so much space in it until it had been erected and I'd walked in. Most of our tents were this size, though a lot of them were shared by more people than just one. I'd tried to insist that I could share too, but Brutus and Rita had told me there was no chance of that happening. I was the princess, the leader, the queen, and I couldn't be seen as less than that.

  I pulled the lid off the dress box and pulled out the dress beneath. It wasn't like any of the others I'd ordered. Perhaps the person who'd made it had done so with a different pattern in mind. I had to trust them though, I knew next to nothing about dressmaking. Or fighting, for that matter.

  I tugged it out and held it up against me. At first glance, it looked like it would fit, but I wouldn't know until it was on.

  "It's beautiful," Hannah said, admiration hanging onto every word.

  "It is," I agreed. The dressmaker had toed the line between the beauty of it, and the practicality. The skirts had slits that would let them flare for me and not obstruct my legs, and there were hidden pockets throughout it for me to hide knives and other useful items in. The long sleeves ended in fingerless gloves, they even had leather pads on the palms to protect me from the twang of the bowstring.

  I placed it back on the bed so that Hannah could do her thing. It had taken me a while to get used to not having a lady's maid, and now I'd managed that, I'd employed one again. It was difficult for me to let her do things for me.

  My nightdress came off first, and I tried not to shiver in the moments between taking it off and my underskirts going on. The moment the soft fabric hit my skin, I felt better. While there was no one in the tent but me and Hannah, it was impossible not to feel exposed when we were in the middle of a camp like this.

  "Can you step into the skirts please?" she asked.

  I nodded and did as she asked, even though she should have put the corset on first. No doubt she'd realise the mistake at some point, but I didn't want to make her feel inadequate while she was going through the new motions.

  The canvas at the tent flap rustled, calling both of our attention to it. Sapphire swooped in.

  "It gets me every time," Hannah sai
d, clutching her hand to her heart.

  "I know, me too," I admitted. It might not have been smart of me in regards to the army at large, but when it came to my lady's maid, I felt pretty safe letting her know I felt the same.

  Sapphire preened from the new position she'd taken up on one of the cot posts.

  "Can you hold out your arms, please?" Hannah asked.

  I did as she asked and she slipped the bodice up my arms and into place. Now I understood why she hadn't put the corset on first. The dressmaker had built it into the dress, probably so he could reinforce it with a kind of armour. That was smart. I'd have to see about having more like this made.

  Hannah moved around behind me and her deft hands started to lace up the back of my dress.

  I pressed a hand against my stomach. It felt tighter than normal, perhaps that was because of the extra protection built into the dress. She wasn't even tugging that hard on the strings, it shouldn't feel like this.

  "Stop," I commanded, the word coming out like little more than a whisper.

  Hannah's hands stilled instantly. "Is everything alright, Your Highness?" she asked.

  I waved a hand in front of my face, suddenly too warm. That shouldn't be possible. I tried to tell her that I needed the dress to come off, but I couldn't get the words out. What was happening?

  Small spots of white swam across my vision, making it difficult to focus on what was in front of me.

  "Your Highness?" Hannah asked, her worried face popping up in front of mine.

  The spots grew darker and the rest of the world turned blurry. I swayed back and forth before falling to the ground. I was dimly aware of the impact, but consciousness escaped me and I was no longer able to make any sense of the world.

  Chapter 6

  "Lucia, are you alright?" a familiar voice asked.

  I groaned and lifted my hand to my head. "Jonathan?" I asked, my voice croaky and weak.

  "It's me. Just take it easy." He slipped an arm behind my back and scooped me up. He laid me down on my cot and pulled the blankets up to my chin. My hands grazed against the thin fabric of my shift. Where had my dress gone?

  "What happened?" I asked. In those words, I realised it wasn't my throat that was a problem, but my lungs.

  "We're not sure. Your maid screamed and when I got in here, you were barely breathing. It wasn't until I cut your corset off that you started again."

  "My corset?" My brow knitted together as I stared up at him.

  Genuine concern marred his face. He really did care if I was well or not. Perhaps we'd gotten off to a rocky start, but things seemed to be getting better between us.

  "Yes." He held it up and I saw the slash marks of his knife. "I'm sorry. I don't think it's saveable." He grimaced.

  I chuckled, but stopped within moments as I realised how much it strained my chest. "I don't think I want it to be saved."

  He smiled despite his worry. "We can take it to one of the bonfires later and burn it," he offered.

  "After we've discovered what the problem is with it." As fun as burning it would be, I had to work out if it had just been an accident, or if there was something more serious at play.

  "Where did it come from?"

  "I'm not sure. Hannah brought it in. I assumed it was one of the ones I'd ordered."

  "Your maid?"

  I nodded.

  "She's been detained at the moment."

  "What?" I sat bolt upright. My vision began to swim and I realised it probably meant I'd moved sooner than I should have done.

  "It's alright," he assured me. "It was Brutus who insisted. But she's the only person who knows anything about this so far. She'll answer some questions and be released shortly after, you know how it goes."

  I grimaced but said nothing to dispute him. I was certain that Hannah knew nothing about this, she'd been as much of a victim of this as I had. I just had to prove it.

  "I need to get up," I told him.

  "Not until you're rested. You might have hit your head when you fell."

  I scowled at him, but mostly because I was annoyed that he was making sense. "Can you at least bring the dress box over and we can look through that?" I suggested.

  It was a long shot. If someone had done this on purpose, then it seemed unlikely that they'd have left proof in the box.

  He picked it up and placed it on the bed. I shuffled backwards, but realised almost too late that there wasn't a headboard for me to lean against. One of the many disadvantages of being in a tent.

  Jonathan seemed to realise what I was trying to do, as he moved some of the pillows to act as a prop behind me. I smiled my thanks at him.

  I opened the box and ruffled through the contents. To my surprise, I found a note at the bottom of the box. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands.

  "Anything stand out?" Jonathan asked, perching himself on the side of my bed.

  "Not that I can see." I handed it to him and he went through the same motions as I did.

  "There's a note here." He passed the piece of paper back to me. "I don't think it gives us any more information."

  I read the one scribbled line and frowned. "It does," I said after another moment.

  He frowned, but didn't voice his confusion. That made sense. As far as he was concerned, the note said nothing more than please prepare the order we discussed. But to me, it revealed far more.

  "This is Katya's handwriting," I whispered, not wanting to admit it out loud because of what that would mean. My former best friend was officially my enemy. I'd known that. Kind of. But this was an act of war. She'd tried to kill me and I couldn't let this slide.

  "Are you sure about that?" he asked.

  I nodded. "I'd recognise it anywhere." We'd learned to write in the same class, which meant I was accustomed to the way she formed her letters. "But it's odd. She's the best person I know at forging other people's handwriting. If she wanted to, she could have used a different one to cover up the fact she had anything to do with this."

  "It's almost like she wanted to get caught." His words echoed the thoughts in my mind.

  "Which doesn't make any sense."

  "Maybe she just thought she wouldn't. It seems foolish to have trusted the dressmaker to do that," he said.

  I was trying not to think about what that could mean. "It doesn't make any sense," I admitted.

  "But that doesn't mean it isn't true."

  "Hmm. Can we not tell the others about it quite yet?" I asked. "Something more is going on here, and I want to have a better idea of what it is before I say anything."

  He nodded. "Of course, you're the one in charge here."

  I chuffed. "You hold the same rank as me."

  "Not true," he countered. "If you listen to most of the people here, you're a queen. And even if you're only a princess, you're the crown princess. I'm the third son of a minor king. That hardly puts us equal." There was an unmistakable bitterness in his voice that I didn't think had anything to do with my position and everything to do with his.

  On a whim, I reached out and placed my hand over his.

  Jonathan started, but relaxed when he realised I was simply offering him some comfort.

  "Thank you for letting me stay in your camp," he said softly.

  "Thank you for your help here," I responded, finding my words were truer than even I'd realised. Perhaps it was because he was a prince and was the closest in rank to me here. But I doubted it. There was something more going on. I found myself enjoying his company and wanting more of it.

  "You're welcome, Lucia. I know I came here announcing that I wanted to marry you, but I've come to care about your cause. I want to see you on that throne and not because I want to trick you into marriage."

  I chuckled, my breathing a little bit evener now that I'd had some rest. "No one would trick me into marriage full stop. When I wed, it'll be for love and nothing more."

  "Spoken like a true queen." He dipped his head.

  "And accepted like a true prince," I respo
nded. He was nothing like I'd thought in the beginning and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

  Time would tell. But for now, I was going to stop push him away. We were going to build some kind of bond between us, even if I wasn't sure what that was yet.

  Chapter 7

  "I'm not sure this is the best idea, Your Highness," Brutus reminded me as we stared up at the castle.

  "I know you don't think that. But it's something we have to do," I pointed out. "We have to do something symbolic to show the people that we're going to defeat Katya, and this is what we're going to do."

  Jonathan’s idea of stealing the crown used to coronate our royalty had been playing around in my head for weeks, and I'd finally decided that it was time to do something about it.

  "I understand what you're trying to do, Your Highness, but I think it's foolhardy to go yourself," he insisted.

  "I know how you feel about that, but I'm not going to ask my men to risk their lives when I'm not willing to do it myself."

  "If you die, Your Highness, the rebellion will lose its figurehead," Rita chimed in. She wasn't too happy about me entering the palace either.

  If I was honest, there was a small part of me that was terrified about going inside myself. The assault was well planned and I didn't expect there to be much bloodshed, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared. But what I'd said was also true. I couldn't ask dozens of men to risk their lives if I wasn't willing to myself.

  "I wish you'd let me go with you," Jonathan said, placing a hand on the small of my back. A month ago, I'd have shrugged him off and stepped away from his touch, but now I'd changed my mind. It was an odd change and one that I didn't like thinking about too much.

  "I know, but we can't risk anyone recognising you," I pointed out. "If they do, then it could put Gideon in danger and after all he's done to help you, I don't want to do that." I spoke quietly enough that Brutus and Rita wouldn't be able to make out quite what I'd said.

  "Your logic is sound, but that doesn't mean I wish it wasn't."