Page 192 of Settle Down, Princess

“I will never deal with the thieves’ guild!” I snapped, that zeal the first casualty in the war that raged between myself and Magnus.

“Pity.” He tossed a bunch of letters tied together with string onto my bed. Ariel’s leg shifted restlessly at that. “That there is enough information to confirm that your brother is not the true-born son of your father.”

“A bastard…” I’d stared at the letters like they were a handful of precious diamonds, my fingers itching to snatch them up.

“Pretty funny, isn’t it? That he’d call you that all this time, but he’s the one that’s a result of a mother who can’t keep her legs closed. But…” My eyes found his. “If your father warned you about me, he’d have told you all of my information comes at a price.”

I lunged for the letters, leaving Ariel to flop down on the bed, snuffling and burying her face back in the pillow, but before I could get close, the Raven had the letters back in his hands.

“What price?” I hissed. “What do you want? Gold, gemstones—”

“Nothing as precious as that.” His tone took on the wheedling one of a stallholder at the markets. “In a lot of ways my price will help you.”

Beware the man bearing gifts, my father had told me. They expect to be paid in a coin you might not wish to part with.

“Help me?” My jaw locked tight. “Perhaps you could start by leaving my room.”

“I can…” The Raven unfolded, growing taller and taller by the second. “But the letters come with me.”

I looked down at Ariel, her face a perfect picture of tranquillity and was struck by the importance of those letters. If I got possession of them, if my father brought charges of infidelity against the queen, then… No war would need to be fought. All of the aggressive conversations lords were having in the Duke’s war room to support my ascension to the throne would stop. The queen would face charges, Magnus would be removed from court, sent back to his mother’s family perhaps. The way would be clear and most importantly, I would be freed of Magnus’ poisonous influence.

“What’s your price?” I asked.

“Just advice,” he replied with a smile.

“What advice could I possibly give you?”

“None.” His smile grew wider. “It’s how I could help you, young prince. A word in your ear here, some information about which courtiers you can trust there. It would all be for your benefit.”

“My benefit?” My eyebrows shot up. “How would it be beneficial to me to allow you to make me your puppet?”

“Saw that, did you?” The Raven chuckled. “So perhaps you’re not as empty headed as that idiot who claims to be your brother. Well, think on it, lad, because I’m not here by accident. Prince Magnus gave me good money to come and… retrieve your lady. I went to her room, ready to drug her and whisk Lady Ariel away, only to find her here.”

“Ariel…” I said her name then as reality reasserted itself, revealing one of the Raven’s tunnels under the city, I saw her.

Standing near a burning torch set into the wall, the red flames turned her dark hair to burgundy, her blue eyes to purple, it wasn’t the change in her colouring that disturbed me, but the fact the sight of her had my mind churning. I had to wonder then what would’ve happened to her if I’d made that deal with the Raven. Would I be sitting on the throne, years into my reign? Would Ariel sit by my side as queen? A sad smile curled her lips, and she turned then, waving for me to follow her. My feet moved of their own accord, heading towards a tunnel that branched off from the main one, something that had everyone stopping and staring after me.

“Not that way.” Weasel’s smile, his reaction was a little twitchy, just like the animal he was named for. “That’ll take you straight to the palace.” His words washed over me, the meaning barely taken in as I took another step, then another. Ariel turned to look over her shoulder at me impatiently. “The Raven said to take you to his office.”

“But he’s not there waiting for us,” Silas said, his eyes flicking from me to Weasel and back again. “And for some reason you really don’t want us going to the palace. Must mean my father has business there. Business he doesn’t want us messing with.”

“I’m not taking you to the bloody palace,” Weasel said, taking a step backwards.

“That’s fine,” I said, my eyes locking with Ariel’s. I grabbed a lit torch from the walls and used it to set the one in this tunnel alight. The flickering flames did little to dispel the darkness though, the passageway dark as a wolf’s throat. “I know where to go.”

“You do?” Roan appeared by my shoulder. “You’ve been this way before?”

“No, but…”

I didn’t bother to finish that sentence because Ariel walked deeper into the tunnel and for some reason I couldn’t bear to let her out of my sight. That made no sense. Every other time I saw her had resulted in me bearing witness to her death, over and over again, but it wasn’t that I saw right now. Just darkness, more darkness, as I pulled the torch from the wall and followed after her.

But it became clear we weren’t the only ones in the tunnel.

When Tiana stepped out from the shadows every part of me stiffened. My feet stumbled, then stopped at the sight of her. Those keen grey eyes, that raven dark hair, that I remembered, but not that imperious look.

“So you’re finally doing something about your brother?” The princess sneered that last word. “After all of these years…” She nodded slowly. “Of course, not when I needed you.” Then her hand slapped down on her neck, that regal expression shattering as I saw something very familiar. Her fighting to breathe, her hands clawing at her throat. My feet moved faster, the sounds of her frantic breaths, her thin whimpers filling the space until Silas interrupted her death rattles.

“You think my father is at the palace?”

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