Ruled by the Princess

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

An apple sat in the windowsill in the library. Kit noticed it when she came back from her ride with Reeve. She’d had to hurry to get ready for dinner because it had taken longer than expected to find her way back out of the forest and to the castle, but she had seen the red fruit sitting there and knew that Blankka had fulfilled her mission.

Either that, or this was all a set up, and Blankka was truly still loyal to the queen. She’d find out soon enough.

Dinner was full of the same nonsense as always, although her mother did seem excited about the archery competition the next day. She’d wondered aloud if Jaterius would be the winner in this official match or if one of the other Representatives would find a way to best him. “It was a close contest last time.”

“Yes, but Eliason was not part of that match,” Grandmother Junno noted.

Instantly, Rona’s nose wrinkled. “As far as I remember, he’s never been so skilled with a bow and arrow. I doubt he’ll be of any consequence.”

Kit kept her mouth closed on the subject. It didn’t matter to her who won, so long as it wasn’t Pierce. It was difficult to think of a way one could cheat in an archery contest, but she figured if there was a way to do so, Pierce would find it—with her mother’s assistance.

“Who have you invited to your chambers this evening?” her mother asked, taking a bite of beef.

“Danyen.” It was a one word answer, one that should suffice.

“Again? Hasn’t he just pleasured you, not long ago?” Rona set her fork aside and took a drink of her blood red wine.

Kit wasn’t about to tell her mother how many others she’d been with since she’d shared her bed with Danyen. “Drake was last. I’m trying to get to know some of the others, Mother. I should like to make my last selections soon so that we can get on with things.”

Her mother studied her for a moment before turning her head back to her dinner plate. “I don’t understand you, child. I have presented you with a fine young man, one who would serve you well. It’s as if you feel I have nothing to offer from my years as ruler of this magnificent realm.”

So many responses jumped to mind. Why would Kit take any advice about marriage from a woman who loathed her husband so much she banished him to his chambers? She bit her tongue. “Pierce is nice enough, my Queen, but I’m afraid he’s not for me.”

“Well, if he should win the archery contest tomorrow, you will have little choice.”

“It is my Choosing, Mother. I always have a choice.”

It may have been a step too far. The queen turned and looked at her, eyes narrowed. “You shall stand by our declaration and honor it. Once it’s been announced that the winner of the archery contest shall share your bed, you cannot take it back.”

“Then perhaps we should not make that announcement.”

The queen’s expression somehow grew even more irate. Kit looked away from her and happened to catch Eli’s eye. He shook his head so slowly, it was almost undetectable. She knew exactly what he was telling her, though. It wasn’t worth causing a fiasco over, not when she didn’t even know for sure that Pierce would win. If he did, they’d deal with it then.

“You will do as I say,” Rona began, and Kit’s head whipped back around to face her. “I am still the queen and shall be for many years to come.”

Once again, Kit found herself biting her tongue. She took a deep breath. “Yes, Mother.”

At the very least, the confrontation had the effect of ending any further conversation between Kit and her mother for the evening. The queen didn’t even bid her good night when she left the room. Kit tried not to dwell on the fact that the woman was her mother and should be her champion. After all of these years of rejection, she should know not to expect anything different from Rona.

After her mother and her entourage were gone, Kit finished her dessert in peace. She didn’t care that the only other people left at the head table were her three ladies, and they were all the way down at the far end. The pudding was delicious, and she was eating every bite.

Kit set down her fork and wiped her mouth, looking out at a crowd of smiling faces. They’d all been watching her and apparently found her insistence on cleaning her plate amusing. Setting her napkin aside, she rose, accompanied by a trumpet blast that rattled her bones.

Danyen met her at the door, and she took his arm, but before they got too far down the hallway, Eli was at her other side. She knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth, and she couldn’t blame him.

“You have to be more careful, Kit.”

“I know.”

“She realizes we are up to something, she just can’t put her finger on it. And we don’t want her to do any more investigating than she already has.”

“You’re right. I’ll try to control my tongue.”

He nodded and was quiet for a few steps. Kit glanced at Danyen, but he seemed content to let Eli say his piece. Eventually, Eli asked, “Do you mind telling me what you were arguing about?”

Kit honestly didn’t want to go over the conversation again, but she felt he had a right to know, and Danyen might need to as well since it involved Pierce. “The queen was trying to force Pierce on me again and mentioned if he won the archery contest I’d have no choice but to invite him. I said I always had a choice, which is what agitated her. I said perhaps we shouldn’t announce that I will be bedding the winner, and she grew even angrier and demanded I do what she says since she will be the queen for many years to come.”

“I can see why that would be upsetting. Just try to agree with her when you can, Kit. We’ll take care of Pierce.”

She caught his eyes and understood she really had been worrying for no reason. “I will try to be more careful.”

He nodded and went ahead of them, having said all he needed to for now. Kit hoped she could keep that promise. Something told her that all depended upon whether or not she discovered exactly what Pierce was up to.

Danyen was quiet all the way to her room. Kit could only imagine he was thinking about their plan, that or he was also worried she’d irritated the queen to no good end. Once in her chambers, her ladies dismissed for the night, they did not proceed the way she normally would when sharing her bed with a man. Instead, Kit sat on her chair by the window, and Danyen sat on the stool in front of her dressing table. It was the safest way to make sure they did not grow distracted by each other’s company.

“You do realize it’s not even the middle of the night yet, don’t you?” Danyen asked, his voice enlightening her to the fact that he was having trouble keeping his distance.

“Yes, I know. But I always grow sleepy after a good pleasuring, and I would hate to think I might be unable to get out of bed and carry out my plans.”

He chuckled. “What if I promise to keep it quick and to do all of the work?”

She joined in his laughter then. “I’m afraid I couldn’t trust you to do either of those things, Danyen. You will inspire me to give it my all.” Her thoughts went to their encounter in the library. That had been relatively quick, but she had certainly exhausted herself in the process.

“Let us lie on the bed then, and I’ll just wrap my arms around you. I promise nothing more.”

Kit was still hesitant, not because she didn’t trust him, but because she didn’t trust herself. She gave in to the gleam in his eyes, though, and climbed up on the bed. He did the same, and she rested her head on his chest. “Tell me about growing up in Farlington.”

“What do you want to know?”

He’d already told her much, but she wanted to know more. “Tell me of your childhood. What did you do? Where did you go? Who did you know?”

Danyen began to describe to her in great detail what it had been like for him as a boy growing up in Kit’s father’s province. Despite the late hour and how comfortable she was on her own bed, in his arms, his story held her interest until her clock across the room gently stroked two in the morning. Kit sat up abruptly.

“Is it time already?” Danyen asked, a bit of sarcasm in his voice as if he had grown weary of listening to his own stories.

In response, Kit leaned over and kissed him. “I should be going. I hope that Pierce does what he has been doing, and that our timing is correct.”

“It should be. Are you certain you do not wish for me to accompany you? If something should happen, and you’re caught, Eli and Cassius will skin me alive.”

“No. You pretend as if you’re asleep, and I’ve snuck off without your knowing.”

“And how do I explain my clothes?”

“You noticed I was gone and got dressed. Really, though, it’ll be all right. I should be back in half an hour’s time. If I’m not back by three, let them know I’m missing.”

Danyen nodded, but it held no confidence. Kit kissed him again and tiptoed over to the passage in the wall, not that the guards outside would’ve been able to hear her footsteps in her own room. Still, she needed to be careful, and she may as well start now.

The passage was as dark and dusty as always. Once the door was closed behind her, there was no light. She felt her way along, counting her footsteps and feeling along the walls. It wasn’t until she got close to where she thought the exit should be that she slowed down and really felt. Her hand came into contact with a small wheel. She moved it to the left three times, to the right four times, and then back to the right six more times and the door opened.

It wasn’t exactly a door. It was part of a wall. The room it opened into was mostly used for storage now, though it had been her nursery years ago. There were old pieces of furniture and linens stacked every which way. She knew that was because her mother wanted the room to look unimportant should anyone ever break into the castle hunting the princess. That way, if needed, Kit could potentially use this passage to get around them and escape.

Obviously, that wasn’t what she was using it for now. Opening the armoire, she saw the kitchen worker’s clothing inside where she’d asked Blankka to hide it. She’d purposely worn her stay backward so she could untie it, so it didn’t take long for Kit to change and hide her own dress inside of the cabinet. She unpinned her hair, thinking she should’ve done that before she left her room, and quickly pinned it up into a style more befitting the help. She would still be recognizable to anyone who gave her a careful glance, but at least she wouldn’t announce herself as royalty as she would have in her own clothing with her hair carefully pinned.

Kit glided around the discarded furniture, careful not to bump into anything. Unless her guards had caught wind of her plan, there should be none of them in sight when she opened the door. Careful not to cause a squeak, she turned the knob and pulled it open, glancing out into the hallway before she stepped out. She saw no one.

Moving from shadow to shadow, as quickly as she could go, Kit hurried down the hallways. The hardest parts would be ducking past the infirmary, where Armant’s staff would be up all night tending to patients, and the entry to the kitchen, which was always busy. She got to the infirmary and noticed a nurse hurrying down the hall in her direction. The older woman didn’t seem to notice her, and Kit stepped into an alcove as she passed. Checking to see if there was anyone else and finding the hall empty, Kit proceeded.

She kept her head down as she hustled past the infirmary door since there was a small window to the hallway. No one stopped her. The rest of the hall was clear. She saw no one else until she approached the kitchen. Two men carrying buckets of water were arguing about whether the temperature was warm enough for their lady’s bath. Kit had no idea who they served. It could’ve been a council member or a visiting dignitary. Whoever it was seemed odd for taking a bath this time of night, but it wasn’t Kit’s concern. She was just thankful they were too busy with their discussion to notice her.

Having gotten past those two obstacles, Kit prayed she was home free. She turned a corner, the second to last before she reached the room she was certain Pierce had been using, and the sound of heavy footsteps up ahead made her breath catch in her throat. Kit flattened herself against a wall, mentally begging the soldiers not to come down this hall. She could hear their voices now, their laughter, and was certain they must belong to the Queen’s Guard. If she saw scar face again, she might very well lose her mind, and that would be costly, particularly if he didn’t recognize her and treated her like an angry servant.

The footsteps moved on, and Kit hurried to the end of the hallway where they’d passed. To the left, she saw the trio, still laughing as they walked away from her. She waited until they turned another corner and then rushed down the hall in the opposite direction.

The door she wanted was just ahead on her right. Again, thoughts of the last time she’d come here filled her mind. Her mother’s anger. Her own fear—first of the storm and then of the queen. There was that last thought that always stayed just out of reach, one she couldn’t wrap her mind around.

The door was unlocked, which didn’t surprise Kit since Pierce had been using the room. She doubted her mother would give him a key since most of the keys in the castle opened multiple doors. Kit rushed inside, quietly closing the door behind her, and took a look around.

It was an old bedroom. Only a sliver of light snuck in from beneath the door, and the torch in the hall had been quite a ways down the wall, so it was dim at best. But she remembered exactly what the furniture looked like, how the bed was made.

It had been her great-grandmother’s chambers, Junno’s mother. Queen Irish. This was the oldest part of the castle, and at the time, the passage hadn’t led to the current queen’s opulent chambers but to an exit, in case Irish, who was more like Rona than Junno, needed to make a quick escape. In the daylight, the furniture was regal. A four-poster bed with elegant carvings decorated in gold at the headboard. Matching dressers and tables. A mirror, now rippled by time, that let the queen know if she was the fairest of them all. Kit remembered now, coming in here as a small girl to see the ancient queen before she passed away. It was no wonder she was terrified the last time she’d come in this room, even though Irish had long passed. The last time she’d seen her, the woman had pointed a finger at her grand-granddaughter and shouted, “This one will be our undoing!”

At the time, Rona had told her not to worry, that Irish was old and didn’t know what she spoke of, but Kit was certain part of that always stuck with her mother. If Kit had her way, Irish would soon prove to be an oracle.

She crossed the room, finding the opening quickly. She remembered the knob combination and went to spin it, but the door was slightly ajar. Pierce had been here recently. With a deep breath, Kit stepped into the darkness.

This passage was just as dark as the last, but it wasn’t as dirty. She wondered if Pierce had actually brought a rag with him and dusted as he went or if it was just from his form fumbling down the passage so often. She couldn’t imagine Pierce wanting to stand before the queen covered in cobwebs, so she wouldn’t have been surprised if he actually did clean the space as he used it.

Kit had been counting her footsteps, but when she noticed a light up ahead of her, she stopped. It seemed as if Pierce may have left the door at the other end of the tunnel ajar as well, which was surprising to Kit, considering it opened into the queen’s sleeping chambers. It wasn’t like Rona to be so careless.

When she reached the small sliver of light, she heard her mother’s voice coming from inside the room. Holding her breathe, Kit stepped over to the c***k, thankful that Pierce had been kind enough to leave the door ajar so that she didn’t have to risk opening it. While she was hoping just to overhear their conversation enough to know what Pierce was up to, seeing him would be even more evidence of his deviousness.

Only, when she peeked through the slit, she didn’t see him anywhere. The queen was sitting on the edge of her bed, her back to Kit, wearing her long black dressing gown. Her head was tipped up, and her arms were behind her so that she was leaning back on them. Confused, Kit tried to make out what her mother was saying, but most of it made little sense. It seemed like she was approving of something, and then she started to moan. Kit covered her mouth, realizing what she was looking at. She was just about to step away, when she caught her mother’s next words exactly, “Oh, Pierce, oh yes. Right there.”

Horror, shock, outrage, every negative emotion she had ever experience boiled up inside of Kit. She kept her hand pressed to her mouth, certain steam must be pouring from her ears. Now that she fully understood what the Representative from Metfirth was up to, she wanted to see him, wanted to look at his disgusting little face to see if he smiled at the queen the same way he smiled at her.

Kit had to let go of her mouth to cover her ears, but now that the initial shock was over, she knew she wouldn’t make a peep. Her mother cried out a few times, only slightly muffled by Kit’s palms, and then she seemed satisfied. A few moments later, Pierce stood, a smug grin on his face. Kit had seen enough.

As carefully as possible, she headed back down the passage, not letting her feet get ahead of her. In her mind, the outraged surfaced again. As if it weren’t bad enough one of her Representatives was pleasuring another woman, that woman happened to be her own mother! The fact that Rona would stoop to this level, that she would not only interfere with the Choosing but claim one of Kit’s men for herself, was the sort of betrayal Kit would never be able to forgive.

When she reached the exit, she considered closing the door, thinking it might lock Pierce inside of the tunnel, but she knew better than to draw any attention to her exploits, not until she’d had a chance to consider how to deal with her findings. She knew exactly what Eli would say, to let it go, that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have feelings for Pierce anyway. And he’d be right. But Kit was fairly certain she’d never be able to do that.

She checked the hall and found it to be clear. Drawing deep breaths, she tried to calm herself. If she lost her head, she’d end up doing something foolish and getting caught. Keeping control of her emotions seemed even more difficult, though, when Kit remembered why it was her mother had been so angry the last time she’d used the secret passage into her room. Kit had walked in on her then, while she was being pleasured by the man who had served as commander of her guard at the time. A small child, Kit had been confused, and Rona had attempted to terrify the memory out of her. It must’ve worked because Kit hadn’t thought of it again until that moment. Her poor father had been the victim of that betrayal. Kit shook her head, feeling like a fool for ever trusting her mother.

Guards occupied the hallway she needed to use if she were to go back exactly the same way she’d come. They were standing at the other end of the hall, talking. Kit waited, but they seemed content to spend their entire shift there. She thought of her alternatives but circling around would take too much time. She didn’t want to be late and have Danyen alert the others.

Looking around, Kit noticed a vase sitting in a cut-out in the wall just across from an alcove on the other side of a pillar. A plan entered her head, and even though it seemed risky at best, she decided to try it.

Picking up the expensive glass vase, she walked to the edge of the junction between the two hallways. With all of her might, she heaved the vase as far down the opposite end of the hall as she could muster. Her anger fueled her strength, and she managed to toss it fairly far before it fell to the ground and shattered on the marble.

“What was that?” one guard asked another. Kit hid in the alcove as she heard their footsteps come flying her direction.

They stopped at the intersection and glanced her way but didn’t notice her before they took off the other way. Kit ran as fast as she could down the hall and around the next corner, relieved that they didn’t seem to follow.

Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest by the time she made it past the kitchen and the infirmary, Kit thought she might need to rest a while in the storage room before she made it back down the second secret passage to her room. Just a few more steps, and she’d be safe inside of the room that led to her chambers. She’d already decided to take her dress with her and worry about disposing of the uniform some other time, after she had a chance to tell Danyen what she’d seen.

Her hand fumbled with the doorknob to the storage room. She was shaking, and the door didn’t seem to want to budge. She took a deep breath and tried again and managed to pull it open.

Kit stepped inside, leaning back against the door and slowing her breaths. Her head was spinning a little, and the room took on an eerie sensation, the shapes of furniture and containers morphing into things unknown in the shadows.

She closed her eyes and drew in more air, trying to calm down her pounding heart. When she finally felt back in control, she opened her eyes to see she wasn’t alone. The form of a man took up the space directly in front of her, and in the dim light and her shaken state, all Kit could do was scream as a hand reached for her in the darkness.