Page 122 of Settle Down, Princess

I had the names of some of the packets already due to Selene’s knowledge of their contents, but Mother outlined each one in far more detail. One after the other, I read through the list of each ingredient and its terrible side effects.

If I was desperate, I could throw lignan powder in the king’s face, but that was only as a last resort. It would kill me just as surely as it would him. If he decided to push for his husbandly rights to my body, I could touch his member with a salve tainted with gnarn seeds, which would have his manhood shrivelling before my eyes. I’d need to wash my hands off promptly, though, as it decreased blood flow to the area rather drastically. Then there were the slower acting powders that Selene mentioned. Combined into a concoction, they would cause a slow deterioration of the king’s mental and physical faculties, reducing him to a drooling idiot. That plan could only take place once we were married, so that I could move into the role of regent, bringing Khean under my control.

I could slowly ruin the king’s life for daring to try to do the same to me.

A sharp knock at the door had me glancing up, then shoving the letter under my pillow. When I opened the door, I saw it was several of the postulants bringing in a copper bath and some food. Their appearance was a reminder that despite all this plotting and planning, I was still just a girl, hungry and filthy from a long day’s travel, so I thanked each woman and then undid the laces of my dress when they stepped out of the room. My whole body shivered at the lovely warmth of the water as I sank down into it. As I smoothed the soap over me, I knew what I must do.

The next morning Selene appeared at my door, taking in my neat but simple dress with a nod.

“I’ve thought long and hard about this, and you have a choice.” She smiled. “We try to always make sure there’s a choice for those who seek asylum here, even if they don’t like either one of them. With what your mother, all the mothers, gifted you, I can use some of my agents to put into place a plan that will hopefully bring the king down before all-out war is declared, but…”

“If I cooperate, it’ll make the whole business easier,” I finished for her. Those canny eyes seemed to take my measure and find me suitable. “I can get closer to the king, use the pretext of our engagement to strike back directly. I agree to your terms, whatever they might be. Arik’s newfound zeal is a glorious thing, but I think he needs me to ensure that he has a throne to sit upon and a kingdom to rule once the dust settles.” I nodded. “I’m in.”

“Well, be on our way then,” Selene said with a wink. “On the first day of your holy vigil, we need to do as the goddess requires and minister to the poor.”

I nodded before we swept out of the room, then the temple compound with a gaggle of postulants in tow.

Chapter 71

Silas

Asking for anything from my father was an exercise in stupidity, and yet here we were, standing outside his office and waiting like new recruits facing discipline from the general himself.

“He’s making us wait for a reason,” I explained to the other two, not liking the faint tremor in my voice. Calm, always calm, with my father, lest he unman you completely. My lungs sucked in air much more slowly, my breathing trying to force my heartbeat to slow, but the moment I felt any peace, I saw that fucking bruise. Jessalyn’s arm was so pale, so slender. The girl was as tiny as a bird, and Magnus… I shook my head. “This is all just a mild form of psychological warfare. He wants us off balance. The bastard is probably sitting there at his desk, heels up, just idling away his time until we start to break.”

“So let's not break, brother.”

Roan pulled out a small flask he carried for just this sort of thing–battles usually, or tricky missions. He waggled it before me, smiling slightly when I took a long swallow from the contents. The harsh burn of rum hit me like a punch to the chest, but it soon had my muscles loosening.

“Not break.” I nodded. “Good plan. Good plan…”

But anything further I might have to say was cut off by the door being jerked open.

“A little birdie told me that you might be returning,” Father said with a smirk.

“Have your little birdies informed you that Khean hovers on the brink of war,” Arik said, pushing past my father and entering the Raven’s office like he owned the place. Princes. None of them seemed to possess an ounce of diplomacy. “And I won’t do anything to stop it, not until the king is deposed.”

“You needn’t have taken things that far, Your Highness,” Father replied smoothly, all while shooting me a meaningful look.

He’d sent me to Arik to manage the prince, position him where we needed him. An accident of birth allowed Arik all these privileges, it was up to us to ensure he used them correctly. But Father had always said that the best lie is one that’s mostly true. In pretending to be Arik’s friend, I’d become just that in reality. Arik, Roan, and Creed commanded my loyalty, not the avaricious old crow that came inside my mother’s cunt.

“No? If you had a much better plan to depose my brother, why haven’t you put it in place?”

Arik was going straight for the throat, but I knew the answer. Magnus met with my father before he ascended to the throne. The Raven had no doubt given him advice about how to slay the king and maintain control of the country. I hadn’t been present for those meetings, being too young, but it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. The old king had been largely immune to my father’s influence, but his ‘son’ wasn’t. Father just hoped Arik was equally as impressionable.

“And where would we be if I did?” Father asked him, walking over to a brandy decanter and then offering it to the rest of us. It’d go down smoother than Roan’s rotgut rum, but we all shook our heads. “Between a mad king and a prince that failed to claim his birthright, I’m forced to take my chances with the mad one. Magnus, for all his flaws, was able to take the throne.”

“Well, I’m ready to take it now.” Father and Arik’s gazes locked, staring on and on until Father forced himself to smile and look away. “But I won’t be your puppet. Tell me what the hell it is that you want, and I’ll negotiate in good faith now, but don’t go thinking you’re the one pulling my strings.”

But that’s exactly what Father would think.

There would be a period of upheaval following the death of Magnus, but the Bastard Prince taking the throne? Arik’s natural magnetism always shone through, no matter where he was. He’d swoop in, bring order to the capital, execute the worst of the nobility, and then use Creed to renegotiate terms with the wolf shifters. The country would be more peaceful than it ever had been. I hoped that my father would be able to see what a boon that would be.

“Exclusive rights to run my types of… establishments in the city,” Father said. “I care not for penny brothels operating out in rural idylls, but all control of gaming dens and ale houses within the city falls to me.”

“You wish to set up a cartel?”

Arik’s eyes narrowed.

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