Ruled by the Princess

Chapter 13-2

He knew something. Kit could tell by the way he was breathing, unevenly, like he had something to say. His eyes flew across the dance floor, back to where he had been standing before he’d come to her aid. Eli was observing them, which was no surprise, but he looked away after having met Cassius’s gaze. “I think... you should speak to him about it.”

A red flag went up in Kit’s mind. “All right....” She took another sip of her wine before deciding she’d had enough. Whatever it was, she wanted to know. Setting her goblet on a table on the perimeter of the dance floor, she crossed between dancers, glad to hear the song was coming to an end so she could have a moment with Eli in relative privacy.

He looked like his former self. Even in the dim light from the lanterns that created a soft glow in the room, she could tell he had his color back. He didn’t seem to be having any trouble standing. Kit greeted the others, Jate, Landon, and Drake—whom she needed to speak with as well—before she said, “Commander, I would be honored to share this dance with you.”

Once again, Eli and Cassius exchanged glances. Part of Kit hated the fact that they always seemed to have information she knew nothing of. But at least she would be enlightened as to what the situation was with Blankka.

The feel of his hands on her temporarily caused all thoughts of the servant girl to flee her mind. It had been a few days since she’d been with him in any sort of an intimate capacity. Now, holding his hand, her palm pressed against his shoulder, she only wanted to drink him in.

Eli noticed her staring. A sheepish grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. “It’s been too long.”

“It has. How are you feeling?” She had inquired of others even as recently as earlier that day but hadn’t asked him directly. She knew he didn’t like to discuss it.

“Better. How have you been? Cassius told me of your encounter yesterday.”

She dropped her eyes, not wanting him to see the rage that boiled up every time she thought about Vin. He was there—she’d seen him earlier but did her best to ignore him. “I’m well.” She met Eli’s emerald green eyes. “I’ve been keeping busy with my assignment from the council.”

“And is it complete now?”

“It is.” She kept the rest of the information she’d discovered to herself. She imagined Cassius had already passed on what he knew. But he didn’t know about the passage, not unless he was clever enough to figure it out on his own, which wouldn’t surprise her, despite the fact that he had very few clues to go off of. There was the possibility Eli was already aware of it since he seemed to know every last detail of the castle.

“Blankka is not the woman she used to be.” His voice was low, and she was grateful he was answering her initial question without her having to pose it. “She was severely punished for... disloyalty.”

“Disloyalty? To whom? To me?” Kit could feel herself angering again. Eli reached up and smoothed back her hair, running his fingertips down her cheek, which helped, but Kit could still feel a flickering flame of rage down deep inside.

“I believe the official sentence was disloyalty to the crown, but I think the truth of the matter is that Rona didn’t want her talking to anyone about what had transpired between them, when Rona’s objective was to use Blankka to disrupt your Choosing and find reason to do away with me.”

“When you say severely punished... what does that mean?” Kit wasn’t completely sure she wanted to hear. A lump formed in her throat before he even answered the question.

Eli’s tone was gentle. He leaned in close to her ear. “Blankka was separated from her tongue.”

Kit looked up in shock. Her eyes immediately flew to the queen, who was standing on the dais with her cohorts, laughing about something. As awful as Blankka had been to Kit, the idea that her mother had removed her tongue made Kit furious.

Eli spun her around so that he was between Kit and her mother, likely to block her view and prevent the queen from noticing the daggers shooting out of her daughter’s eyes. “As awful as it is,” he continued, “it could’ve been far worse.”

“How?” Kit wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question.

“Kit, have you ever noticed how many of the servants walk with a limp? Or have missing digits? How so many of them have facial deformities?”

She was embarrassed to say she hadn’t ever noticed. The only deformity she could think of was Vin’s scar, and she doubted that had come from the queen. She glanced around now and noticed one of the servants nearby dragged his leg a little when he walked. Another, a woman, was wearing a glove on her right hand. Why hadn’t she ever detected these oddities before?

“She does that? Lames her own servants? Why would anyone....”

“It’s better than ending up in the dungeon indefinitely. Or the chopping block.”

Kit shook her head and then rested it on his shoulder, not sure what to say. If she had noticed this before, it would’ve been a point of contention between herself and the queen. Now that she knew another of her mother’s despicable secrets, Kit felt sick to her stomach.

Eli continued in a low voice. “Blankka came to me a few days after it happened and handed me a note. She didn’t stay for me to read it, so I didn’t have a chance to say anything to her about it, but she realizes her mistake in betraying you. She said she feels far worse about that than anything else—even the loss of her ability to speak.”

Shocked, Kit looked up. “Do you believe her? Do you think that could possibly be true?”

“I do. That was almost a full month ago. Since then, she’s passed along quite a bit of information, snippets she’s overheard, discussions from those who are visiting the castle or the delivery drivers coming in, even the military and the Queen’s Guard. No one thinks twice about speaking in front of her because they assume she can’t tell anyone else.”

“So she’s proven her loyalty to our cause.”

“Yes, and to you.”

Kit was glad to hear it because it entered her mind that Blankka was the perfect person to help her and Danyen with the plan they were about to undergo the next night. Of course, she still couldn’t say anything to Eli about that because he would prevent her from going through with it.

The song ended, and Kit was reluctant to leave Eli’s arms, even though she was certain she’d feel comfortable with any of her other suitors. Reeve was waiting for her, so she released the commander with a fond smile and turned to the other man. The Representative from Erast Hollow wasn’t one to call attention to himself, so she imagined the fact that he was waiting for her meant he was desperate for some time with her. It had been a while, and she knew she needed to remedy that.

“Are you enjoying your evening? You look troubled,” he asked as they began a slow waltz.

“Not anymore troubled than usual. Yes, it’s been lovely so far, thank you. And you?”

“It’s better now.”

Kit smiled at the compliment. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to spend much time with you recently. So much has been going on. I’ve missed you.”

“Don’t apologize, Princess. I understand. I’ve missed you as well, but when you have several duties to perform and many men to spend time with, it’s bound to come to this from time to time.”

“Still... I want to see you again. Soon.”

Reeve’s face lit up. “I’m glad to hear it. I was wondering... if you have time tomorrow. Would you like to go for a horseback ride? I know you declined the invitation to go with all of us the other day, but perhaps a short one? Just the two of us?”

Going over her schedule for the next day, Kit realized she had a few hours in the afternoon. “That would be delightful. Perhaps after the midday meal?”

His smile widened. “Perfect. I look forward to it.”

He didn’t say anything else for the duration of the song, only held her and moved around the dance floor expertly, Kit’s blue dress billowing around her, and she felt free of all of her concerns for a small moment in time.

When the dance was over, she sought out Jate because she knew he wouldn’t ask her to dance otherwise and then spun around the floor with several other Representatives before she made her way to Drake, who was standing on the outskirts of a group, not really participating in the conversation, his arms folded, and his expression thoughtful. It changed when he realized Kit was headed straight for him. His brown eyes softened, and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

Kit said hello to the others, but they could see who she was there to speak to and didn’t impede her. She stopped in front of Drake, who was a good foot and a half taller than her and looked up into his dark eyes. “Drake, I’m growing weary of all of this dancing. Would you mind accompanying me to my chambers?”

He looked around for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly, and then stooping asked, “Did you say to your chambers, Princess?”

“Yes. I’m ready to retire for the evening. I would like for you to join me. If you have no other plans.”

There was a snicker behind her, and though she wasn’t sure who the source was, she thought it might’ve been Zane. She didn’t pull her eyes away from Drake to find out.

“I... uh... no, I don’t have any other plans.” He unfolded his arms, looking embarrassed that he’d been standing that way in front of the princess to begin with, and offered her his arm.

Kit wrapped her hand around his bicep, difficult as that was, and let Drake lead her from the room. She tried not to catch any of the other men’s eyes because it always seemed a bit awkward to her on their behalf, but when Cassius called, “Good night, Princess!” in a sing song voice, she couldn’t help but turn his way. He waved and smiled, and her face turned bright red.

“He is... an unusual one, that Cassius,” Drake noted, pushing through the door and holding it for her.

“I agree, but what do you mean?”

“I mean, he always seems to be in a jovial mood, even when it seems slightly unreasonable to be so.”

Kit would have to disagree with that to a degree. If Drake had seen Cassius in the kitchen when Vin made that remark about her, he would know that Cassius wasn’t always so lighthearted. “I think he just enjoys making other people laugh and smile.”

“He’s very good at it.”

“Does it surprise you that he’s so easily able to accept me going off with another man?” Kit wondered how much it had bothered Drake to see her with the others all of this time.

He was quiet for a moment, only the clicking of their shoes on the marble filling the hall. “A bit, I suppose. That is, I understand that is the agreement we have entered into. And I have never found it difficult to bear, personally. But it seems to me that Cassius was your favorite until Eli became an option. Now, I wonder how he continues with a positive disposition knowing he may lose you.”

“That’s easy enough.” Kit glanced around and saw two members of her guard following at a distance. There was no one else in the hallway. She still kept her voice quiet when she responded but let the words flow freely between her lips. “Cassius knows he’ll never have to give me up because I don’t intend to choose.”

Drake almost stopped walking. He turned to look at her. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I will keep them all—the seven I designate. If there are seven. I think there shall be. Maybe more... but probably seven.” A few of the others she hadn’t decided upon yet came to mind. She still didn’t know what to do with Zane, Gavin, and Asher. Or Drake for that matter.

He was confused but he picked up his pace slightly. “Then how will you become queen?”

It was her turn to stop and look at him. “You already know the answer to that question don’t you?”

Slowly, Drake nodded his head. But he didn’t look distraught at her mention of the revolution. Kit saw a familiar flicker in his eyes, a flame that said he was ready. And the fact that he was smiling let her know she had renewed his hope that he, too, could be chosen by the princess.