Whatever It Takes: The Royal Romance (Excerpt)

Chapter 12

The noble lords on the ground were nervously watching Lamar, the few guards that remained in the courtroom, and especially the princess, unsure if it wasn’t some cruel joke. The Orellian captain himself wasn’t certain either.

Did she really say these people were her new council? The ones who opposed her father and herself, insulted her even? It made some sense though, her father’s advisors kept forcing him to provoke Orellia until Hayden had no choice but to react with brutal force. These men were against it, which, in some twisted way, made them a great council for this situation. And she had this all planned out? What a foxy woman. He doubted Hayden would be able to keep the ruse up for so long.

"You may stand up, gentlemen, you will not be harmed in any way." Her voice was calm and friendly again, a stark contrast to her earlier tone. "I do apologize for the way this had to transpire, but you see I had to resolve some loyalty issues before moving forth with this plan."

The men exchanged more nervous looks, but slowly rose up to their feet, general Rand among the first. He sized Karina with an angry stare, but there was reluctant respect in his expression as well.

"My lady, I…" Jansen hesitated, trying to guess her reaction. The princess must have looked approachable enough because he continued. "I'm honored by your offer, but I'm not sure I'll be of much use to you. I do stand behind what I said, I disagree with your plan.”

He flinched when the princess approached him and raised her hand with the dagger. A frown appeared on her face as if she had completely forgotten she was still holding it. “Oh, sorry.” She sighed and wiped the blood off the blade into her already ruined dress, sliding it into the hidden compartment on her back. Absent-mindedly she gazed at her bloodied hands for a few moments and Lamar was starting to get worried about her, but fortunately, she managed to snap out of it.

“You are an honorable man, lord Jansen.” The princess put her hand on his shoulder, looking straight into his eyes. “If you truly do not wish to be here, of course, I will not force you. That goes to all of you.” She looked over the rest of the still startled men. “You all have the same choice I gave to the rest of that flock of chickens. You may go home freely, or, if you choose to do so, you can leave the country. And, lord Jansen, rest assured that I’m not planning to hand the country over to king Hayden and just hope for the best.”

Jansen watched her curiously for a few moments and then bowed his head. As he made no notion to leave the room, Karina looked at the others. One of the lords named by Huxley reluctantly stepped forward, his eyes glued on the tips of his shoes. “My lady, I too, am very honored by this opportunity.” He glanced up onto her face before lowering his head again. “But I’m afraid that I have no other option than to leave the country if I want to keep my life and protect my family.”

Princess tilted her head to the side and her brows furrowed as she motioned him to continue. “Over the past years I have been, as ordered by the king and lord Dalton,” his eyes darted to the body on the floor, “an instigator of several trade disputes between Levanta and Orellia, most of which did not end well for the Orellian treasury. King Hayden knows I was personally responsible for those actions and once he takes control of our country, there is nothing stopping him from finally having me arrested and executed.” There was shame and fear mixed in his expression and he didn’t dare to look her in the eyes.

Lamar had to hold back a smirk. Oh yes, Hayden had a list of all the Levantians that kept annoying the s**t out of him. Lord whatever-his-name-was was very much right to be afraid, the king certainly wasn't forgiving.

"Ah, yes," Karina nodded in understanding. "I figured a lot of people here would be in a similar position as you, lord Oldstone. That is why I made a deal with king Hayden that all of these past transgressions will be forgotten and everyone will start with a clean slate. As long as you all abide by the Orellian law from now on, you have nothing to be afraid of.”

Lamar was normally very good at controlling his expression while on guard duty, maintaining that blank face of a living statue, but for the second time today, he had to stare at her in total astonishment. How the hell did she manage to do that? There were very few people who had ever managed to persuade Hayden to give up revenge. Lamar noticed that Markos had returned to the room and gave Karina a slight nod. She bowed her head a little in response before turning her attention back to her unruly council.

General Rand had been glaring angrily at the princess but remained quiet until now. “Seriously?” he scoffed, shaking his head, arms crossed in front of his body. “You are just going to take the word of the Burning Fury for that? You are naive, princess. The second he takes over the country, streams of blood will run through these halls.”

“I understand your reservations and worries, general.” Karina’s voice was far calmer than Lamar would expect given the general’s disrespectful tone. “Captain Lamar, you have known king Hayden for a lifetime. Has he ever broken his word?” Her eyebrow rose up as she turned to him.

The answer didn’t require any deeper thinking. “No, my lady. My king does have certain shortcomings, but breaking a promise is not one of them. If he truly gave you his word, he will honor it.” The men didn’t look very convinced, and why would they? Lamar was Hayden’s man and as such was expected to praise him wherever he went.

The princess, however, seemed satisfied with the answer. “Thank you, captain, I thought as such. Orellia will honor this deal and so will I, which I assume is very good news for you, lord Tallis.” She turned her gaze towards the man hiding behind the still smiling lord Huxley. Lamar didn’t like either of them, Tallis looked nervous as if hiding something and Huxley was too smug and overconfident

“My lady?” Tallis tried to act surprised, but it wasn’t very convincing.

Karina's eyes narrowed. "Don't f**k with me, Tallis. You've been an Orellian spy for years. And," she stopped him just as he was opening his mouth to answer, "think twice about lying to me about it. My men have searched your chambers and found evidence."

The man stood up straight, eyes darting between the princess and the guards that approached him. "I do not expect you to understand." His voice was quiet but he managed to look her in the eyes. Huxley stepped aside from him, the smile finally gone from his face as he stared at his friend in disbelief.

"You are right, I don't understand." Karina shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And I don't care about your motives. The deal I made with king Hayden is the only reason you get to keep your head on your shoulders. Be sure to thank him in your next report. For as long as I'm in control here, I don't want to see you anywhere near this room again. Now get the f**k out."

Tallis gave her a slight bow and hurriedly left the room, throwing side glances at the guards, no doubt expecting to get stabbed in the back the second he walked out of the door.

Huxley's composure was no longer confident and there was a hint of fear on his face, realizing that his friend being a traitor was most likely going to shine a bad light onto him as well. "Karina," he took a step towards the princess but stopped upon Lamar's angry glare. "I swear I had no idea."

"I believe you, Oscar," she responded with a sad smile. "And even if I didn't, it doesn't matter anymore. Or it won't matter in a few days. Otto?" She walked towards the gray-haired man who was standing aside, alone, looking sad more than anything. "Otto, I'm truly sorry for what I said to you and I want you to know I didn't mean it, I would never doubt your loyalty. It was just words that needed to be said to flush out the real traitor, and they were not meant to hurt you. Could you please forgive me?"

Karina's words were heartfelt and Lamar had to wonder what was so special about this man and what kind of a relationship these two shared. Otto raised his eyes to meet hers, barely holding back the tears. "There is nothing to forgive, princess." There was pride and almost fatherly love in his expression. "You have done well today, I’m really proud of how you handled things.”

“Thank you.” She seemed truly pleased by his praise. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my plan, but while you are an excellent lawmaker, you are a terrible liar.”

General Rand scoffed. “As opposed to lord Huxley here, who is a terrible lawmaker, but an excellent liar.” Huxley sneered at him but didn’t respond. “This is all very nice,” the general continued, “I like how you based your rule on deception, lies, threats, and humiliation.” He glanced at Dalton’s body, but didn’t add “and murder”. He might have been a brave and straightforward man, but he wasn’t suicidal. “But you still didn’t tell us exactly what your plan is and how you intend to protect our people. What sway could you possibly hold over king Hayden?”

“Not a single lie left my lips tonight, general,” Karina’s eyes narrowed, “and I dare you to prove otherwise. And yes, as a Levantian princess I have little to no influence over the king. But as a future queen of Orellia, I will do whatever I can to ensure our people are treated well.”

Huxley chuckled as he walked over to her and reached for her hand, raising it to his lips. “Congratulations, my lady.”

Karina was smiling but also shaking her head, one eyebrow raised. “Careful, Oscar. I’m engaged to a very jealous and very dangerous man now. I know you like to joke around, but I’m not sure king Hayden is going to appreciate it very much.” Yes, Lamar had to agree. Hayden didn’t share. And this smug lord was bound to get in trouble.

“Yes, congratulations.” General Rand joined in, irony in his voice was unmistakable.

Karina lowered her head and exhaled deeply before looking him in the eyes. “Feel free to speak your mind, general.”

“I didn’t say anything, my lady.”

“No, but you are thinking it. And I’m quite certain you are not alone, most people will probably jump to the same conclusion when they hear the news.” She looked over the rest of the men, but most of them kept their heads down so she returned her gaze at the general. “I betrayed and sold my country in order to become the Orellian queen. That is the first thing that comes to your mind, isn’t it?”

A hint of shame appeared on Rand’s face, but he didn’t back off. “With all due respect, princess, I do not really know you, but you have already proved to be cunning and… ruthless enough to come up with such a plan.”

“I don’t deny I’m willing to do whatever it takes. To save our people.” She still sounded calm and Lamar had to admire her patience. Hayden would have at least punched that man several times already. Her eyes skimmed over the rest of her newfound council. “And you are here to help me figure out how to deliver the news to our citizens without them immediately jumping to the same conclusion and starting some stupid rebellion that will turn our streets into rivers of blood.”

The men looked at each other hesitantly, it certainly wasn’t an easy task.

Karina took a deep breath before continuing. “We will meet here in the morning. And as I said, I’m by no means holding you here.” Huxley, Otto, and Jansen stepped forward to talk to her, but she just clenched her fists and turned around, quickly striding out of the room.

Marcos turned after her, his eyes darting between the princess and the general. It was quite obvious the Levantian captain wanted to stay and talk to him, but couldn’t abandon his charge.

“Stay. I’ll go with her.” Lamar had a pretty good idea of what she was going through right now. Markos nodded thankfully and approached the general. Yes, Lamar certainly didn’t need to be present for that conversation.