Bound To The King She Hates

Closer Than I Thought

Chapter 3

Ella did not sleep that night.

She lay on the big red bed and stared at the ceiling for hours. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Augustine's face. His dark eyes. His fingers touching the edge of her mask. His hand wrapped around her wrist like a warning.

"Something about you does not add up."

She turned onto her side and pressed her face into the pillow.

He was smart. She had known that before she came here. Every spy report she had read about him said the same thing. Augustine of Valdris was not just powerful. He was sharp and patient. The kind of man who watched and waited and would attack immediately only when he was absolutely sure.

She could not afford to make a single mistake. Not one.

She pressed her hand under her pillow and felt the blade still there. Cold and flat and real.

"Stay focused," she told herself quietly. "You did not come this far to fall apart now."

---

Morning came slowly.

Flora knocked on her door just after sunrise. She was young and quiet and seemed genuinely kind. Ella had decided last night that Flora was not a spy. She had the eyes of someone who was just trying to do her job and go home safely.

Ella knew that look. She had worn it herself for four years.

"Good morning, My Queen," Flora said as she came in with a tray of breakfast. "His Majesty has arranged a royal gathering this afternoon. All the noble families of Valdris will be attending. He wants you to be ready by the second bell."

Ella stopped breathing.

A gathering. All the noble families.

"Of course," she said smoothly. "Thank you, Flora."

The maid smiled and left.

Ella sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed both hands flat on her knees.

A royal gathering meant people from everywhere. Lords and ladies from all corners of the kingdom. People who travelled. People who had connections across borders. People who might have visited Arrendale before Augustine destroyed it.

People who might have seen her face before.

"He planned this," she realized.

This was not a normal gathering. Augustine had arranged this specifically for her. He wanted to put her in a room full of people and watch. Watch how she moved. Watch how she talked. Watch if anyone recognized her or if she recognized anyone she should not.

He was testing her.

Already.

Ella stood up slowly and walked to the mirror. She looked at her masked reflection for a long moment.

She checked the mask. Firm and in place. She checked the blade in her sleeve. Still there. She lifted her chin and looked herself straight in the eye.

"Alright," she said quietly. "You want to test me, Augustine? Fine."

"Let us see who passes."

---

The gathering hall was full by the time Ella arrived.

Hundreds of nobles filled the enormous room. Men in expensive coats. Women in beautiful gowns with jewels on their necks and wrists. Servants moved between them carrying trays of drinks and food. The sound of conversations and laughter bounced off the tall stone walls.

Every single person stopped talking the moment Ella walked in.

They all stared at the masked queen.

She kept her chin up and her steps even. She had practiced this walk for months in the small room she rented in the city of Brennan during her years in hiding. The walk of a queen. Shoulders back. Head high. Eyes forward.

Augustine was standing near the center of the room. He was surrounded by a group of lords but his eyes moved to her the second she appeared. He said something to the men around him and excused himself and walked toward her.

He looked her over once from head to toe.

"You look well," he said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

He offered his arm. She placed her hand on it. Together they walked into the crowd.

And so it began.

---

The first hour was manageable.

Augustine introduced her to lord after lord. Families from the north. Families from the east. Merchants who had become nobles. Generals who had fought beside him in past wars. Ella smiled and nodded and said the right things at the right times.

None of them knew her.

She began to relax just a little.

Then Augustine stopped in front of an old man standing near the window.

He was short and thin with white hair and a long grey beard. His clothes were expensive but old. He held a wooden cane in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. His eyes were pale blue and they looked very sharp.

"Lord Harmon," Augustine said. "Allow me to introduce my wife."

The old man turned and looked at Ella.

And immediately something changed in his face.

It was not small this time.

His eyes went wide. Just for half a second. Wide and completely unguarded in a way that no amount of court training could have hidden. His hand tightened visibly around his cane. The wine glass in his other hand tilted slightly before he caught himself.

Ella's heart dropped straight to the floor.

He knew.

There was no question anymore. No maybe. No perhaps. Lord Harmon looked at the masked woman standing in front of him and he knew exactly who was behind that mask.

"Does he recognize me?" she had wondered before.

Now she had her answer.

And it terrified her completely.

"A pleasure," Lord Harmon said. His voice came out steady. Calm. Far calmer than his eyes had been one second ago. He bowed his head politely.

"The pleasure is mine, My Lord," Ella replied. She kept her voice light and her face completely blank behind the mask. She held his gaze for just long enough to send one silent desperate message.

*Please. Do not say a word.*

He looked at her for a second that felt like an hour.

Then he smiled at Augustine. "You have chosen a beautiful queen, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Harmon," Augustine said.

They moved on.

Ella kept walking beside Augustine with her chin up and her expression perfectly calm. But underneath she was falling apart completely. Her heart was slamming so hard against her chest she was convinced the entire room could hear it. The sweat on the back of her neck felt ice cold. Her fingers on Augustine's arm were gripping just slightly tighter than they should have been.

She forced herself to loosen her grip.

*Breathe,* she told herself. *Just breathe.*

"Did Harmon recognize me? Of course he recognized me. I saw it on his face. The question is what he is going to do about it."

She did not have the answer.

And not having the answer was the most dangerous thing in the world right now.

---

Two hours later the gathering was still going.

Ella was exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with being tired. Pretending was hard work. Every conversation was a performance. Every smile was calculated. Every single word she spoke was chosen carefully before it left her mouth.

She excused herself quietly and stepped out onto the stone balcony at the far end of the hall.

The evening sky outside was dark blue and full of stars. She gripped the stone railing and breathed slowly.

"You are okay," she whispered to herself. "You are still standing. Your mask is still on. Harmon said nothing. You are okay."

She did not feel okay.

"Beautiful night."

She spun around so fast her hand nearly slipped off the railing.

Augustine was standing in the balcony doorway. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the frame like he had been there for a while already.

Watching her.

Always watching her.

"I needed some air," she said. Her voice came out steady. She was proud of that.

"I know," he replied.

He walked out onto the balcony and stood beside her. Not too close. But close enough that she could feel the warmth of him in the cold night air. For a moment they both just looked at the sky in silence.

Then he spoke.

"Lord Harmon is an interesting man," he said. Casually. Like he was just making conversation.

Ella's blood went cold.

"Is he?" she replied. Just as casually.

"He has travelled a great deal," Augustine continued slowly. "He has been to many kingdoms over the years." He paused just long enough to make her heart stop. "Including some that no longer exist."

The words landed like a blade between her ribs.

Ella did not move. Did not blink. Kept her hands loose on the railing even though every single instinct inside her was screaming to run.

He knew.

Or he was so close to knowing that the difference did not matter anymore.

"How fascinating," she said quietly.

Augustine turned his head and looked at her directly. She could feel his gaze on the side of her face like heat pressing against her skin.

"He said something interesting to me just before you came outside," he said.

"Oh?" She turned to look at him. Kept her eyes steady. Kept her voice calm. She was more terrified than she had ever been in her life and she did not let one single drop of it show on her face.

Augustine looked at her for a long moment.

Then he smiled.

It was a slow, quiet, dangerous smile that did not reach his eyes at all.

"He said you remind him of someone he met a long time ago," Augustine said softly. "Someone from a kingdom called Arrendale."

The night air felt like ice.

Ella held his gaze and said absolutely nothing.

Augustine leaned just slightly closer. Close enough that she could see the gold flecks in his dark eyes. Close enough that she could see he was not guessing anymore.

He was sure.

"Tell me, my Queen," he said quietly. Each word slow and deliberate. "Have you ever heard of Arrendale?"

The stars above them were cold

and bright and completely indifferent.

Ella looked straight into the eyes of the man who had murdered her father.

And she smiled.

"Should I have?" she asked softly.