Whatever It Takes: The Royal Romance (Excerpt)

The royal carriage slowly drove through the encampment. The tents, evenly spaced on the large field, seemed to go to the horizon and beyond, each housing several soldiers. How could it ever occur to her father that this was a fight Levanta could win? This was madness, there must have been at least ten thousand soldiers here, camped right at the border, ready and eager to cross it. Levanta could gather how many, five, six thousand? And more than half of them died in the battle a few days ago, along with their foolish king. The war was lost before it even began. All that was left was for the victor to come and claim his prize. In other words, to burn, loot, pillage, r**e, and murder. To turn people into slaves. Her father’s people. Now her people. They stopped in front of a small building that must have been a farmhouse some time ago but was now claimed by the Orellian king as his temporary headquarters. The banner of the kingdom of Orellia, proudly placed in front of the primitive building, flapped quietly in the evening breeze and princess Karina hesitated with her hand on the carriage door handle. No, she couldn’t turn back now, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself she could. “Whatever it takes,” she mumbled to herself, scared beyond measure, but the door opened and she got out onto the muddy road. They were waiting for her, a group of guards in shiny black and red armor, sizing up her ridiculously small escort. Under normal circumstances, whenever a member of the royal family left the palace, it would be with a large entourage. Dozens of soldiers, people from the court, important lords and ladies. Cooks, hunters, entertainers. Hairdressers, seamstresses. A crowd of maids and servants. But these were not normal circumstances. Karina didn’t come here for a friendly visit. In fact, this could barely count as a negotiation, because she had hardly anything to offer. No, she came here to beg and there was no reason to pretend otherwise. From what she knew of King Hayden, he preferred the straightforward approach. The Burning Fury, that’s what they called him. Not to his face, of course. The tales of his conquests circulated the lands, magnified by the folk creativity several times no doubt, but the truth still remained. The kingdom of Orellia was the largest and most powerful force on the continent, thriving under his strict rule. He might have been hot-headed, ruthless, and even brutal to his enemies, but his people were well taken care of. Karina’s maid Laina joined her, along with the captain of the royal guard and six soldiers. A pitiful group. Laina was just as terrified as the princess but wasn’t as good at hiding it. Karina was used to wearing a stone-cold expression masking her true feelings and it became more than useful now. Still, she felt like the heavy pounding of her heart must give her away, regardless of how calm her face looked. “The king is ready to receive you,” one of the red and black guards nodded at her when they finally approached him. “Just you, princess.” He stopped them, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips. It was an insult on more levels than one, no doubt just the first of many she would have to swallow tonight. Even though she was from another country, she was still royalty and, as such, he should be addressing her as ‘Your Highness’. Also, it was unacceptable for her to go unaccompanied anywhere, let alone to spend time with a man, without the presence of at least her maid. “What the hell are you talking about, you little worm?” Captain Markos growled, hand on the hilt of his sword. “We aren’t leaving her side.” Karina moved forward and grabbed his wrist before he could get them into even more trouble than they were already in. “Wait outside, Captain Markos.” He opened his mouth to protest, but knew better than to resist a direct order, especially in front of their enemies. She walked past them towards the building, her lean and tall body moving gracefully, maintaining a calm and dignified expression, even though she felt like a scared child about to be scolded for breaking a window. The room was lit by several lamps and there was a fire crackling in a corner fireplace. The beautifully carved chair, table, and a large bed looked strange in a simple place like this, inhabited by some poor peasants not long ago. King Hayden was comfortably seated at the table facing away from her, obviously unhurried to finish his dinner. A childish insult, humiliating her by letting her stand there like an i***t while his teeth tore the last meat off the bone, making her wait until he wiped his fingers clean, before finally standing up and acknowledging her presence. His eyes looked over her body as if she was a piece of meat, all the way from her muddied boots (to be honest they were perfectly clean before she set foot into his dirty camp), over a long silky dress covering her lean figure. His sight stayed fixed on her cleavage for quite a while, a corner of his mouth twisting up in a foul smirk. He paid little interest to her long brown hair, twisted in an intricate braid falling over her shoulder, adorned only by a couple of small pearls. She wore little to no jewelry and her clothing was simple. She didn’t come here to look pompous, she came here to plead for mercy. Their eyes met, her green with his dark, almost black. Karina tried to calmly endure his intimidating stare for as long as she could but ended up looking down first anyway. He leaned against a pole holding the roof construction, arms crossed in front of his body, slowly sipping something from a cup. He didn’t offer her a drink or to sit down or any of the other things etiquette commanded him to, just stood there staring at her, the smirk fixed on his face. Maybe he was waiting to see whether she would start complaining, demanding to be treated properly? He was going to wait a long time for that. Karina was determined to do whatever it takes and endure whatever insults and humiliation he would throw in her direction. Swallowing her anger and staying calm seemed like the only way to have at least a chance of saving her people from suffering at the hands of the Burning Fury and his armies. She raised an eyebrow in a silent question, allowing a slightly ironic smile to appear on her lips. It was his turn to say something. “Princess Karina,” he finally opened his mouth after realizing she was not going to throw a tantrum like a spoiled child. “What brings you to my humble temporary palace?” He was mocking her, obviously. “What do you think, king Hayden? Could it be your army camped at our borders, ready to cross them?” She could do some mocking as well. His mouth laughed but his eyes didn’t. “Well, that is what happens when you are at war. Armies cross borders, there are battles, blood, suffering, people dying. Even important people, generals, kings. The blade doesn’t discriminate.” “There was no official war declaration issued,” she said, ignoring his mention of the kings dying. Yes, she knew he was the one who slew king Harold, her father. And that he was going to rub it in her face. Her words were a lame argument and she knew it just as well as he did. “And here I thought that taking an army and invading someone else’s territory, claiming it as your own, counts as a declaration of war. What kind of laws do you have in that country of yours?” His voice was overflowing with irony. He was right. Her father screwed this up monumentally, poking a lion for so long until it finally woke and bit him. Then he heroically died in a stupid battle over a swampy piece of disputed land and left her to clean the mess. Karina sighed. They could throw ironic condescending remarks at each other all night and achieve nothing. It was time to get to business. “King Hayden, I’m well aware of your military dominance over us as well as of your intentions to invade Levanta.” “Well, I wasn’t exactly being subtle about it.” He waved his hand in reference to the huge military camp around them. No, that he wasn’t. “I know. That’s why I came here to negotiate the terms of our surrender.” It took all her mental strength to say those words out loud, looking into his dark eyes. Of course he started to laugh. Karina expected it and still felt disappointed and ashamed. “Why would I want to negotiate something I can easily achieve? There is nothing you can offer me that I don’t already have, princess.” He spat out the last word like an insult. “We still have an army.” A few hundred men scattered around the country. “People will resist you, fight against you. You will lose soldiers. Wouldn’t a peaceful takeover be easier?” She couldn’t believe she was actually trying to convince someone to invade and take over Levanta, her home. The king sneered and rolled his eyes. “Empty threats, empty words. What exactly are you suggesting?” There was a dangerous subtone in his voice. He was losing his patience. Whatever it takes. She took a deep breath. “I want you to incorporate Levanta into Orrelia and grant its citizens equal rights your people have.” He wasn’t going to back off the invasion and this was the only way she could think of to protect her people from looting, pillaging, and s*****y. “What?” If anything, at least she managed to surprise him. “Why would the Levantians suddenly want to become loyal citizens of Orellia?” “They would if they saw their princess do the same thing,” Karina said quietly, unable to look him in the eyes. He walked over to her, putting his index finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. His lips curled in disgust. “So that’s what this was about. You want to be a queen. And since your dear father f****d up your own kingdom, you thought you would jump at mine. And crawled here to… ask me to marry you?” He scoffed and for a second she thought he was going to spit into her face. “NO!” How the hell did he jump to the conclusion this was all about her wanting to be a queen? “I honestly don’t care about being a queen. I don’t care what happens to me at all.” Her voice was gaining intensity, she was desperate to convince him he was wrong about her. “All I want is for my people to be safe and spared from the suffering from the hands of your soldiers. I understand this matter has gone too far for you to just leave peacefully. And yes,” she interrupted him as he opened his mouth to answer, “the blame is totally on our side.” On her father’s side. “King Hayden. I’m here to plead for your mercy. For my country, for my people.” An angry snort was his only response. This was not going well at all, but Karina was still glad she had come here. This meeting, no matter how rudely he treated her, still bore at least a resemblance to a diplomatic negotiation. Her position would have been way worse if she let them conquer Levanta and storm the palace first, being dragged in front of him like a slave in chains. He looked like he probably would have preferred it though. "Your Majesty, please." She was here to beg, wasn't she? "I'm willing to agree to whatever terms you have and pay whatever price you name." The corner of his mouth curled up in a foul smirk. "Even if that price is your life?" The king's hand moved faster than Karina would have thought possible and the finger under her chin was replaced by a tip of a dagger.