Page 34 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

Anger and mortification surges through me, and I know if I do not get away from her soon, I am going to lash out and say something I should not. Gritting my teeth, I turn to my guards and gesture for one of them to approach me.

“Take Princess Alyx back to her palace, and make sure that she is reunited with her guards.”

Seeing the understanding in the guard’s eyes, I turn and begin walking away without another look at Alyx, my remaining guards hurrying to catch up. The second I step out of the shelter of the building, I feel eyes on me. There are too many people around for me to feel this way. I need to retreat and find somewhere to calm down.

Stalking towards my palace, I leave Alyx behind.

It’s been hours since I saw Alyx, the sun long since having set, yet I am still furious. I should be sleeping, or at least preparing for bed, but that is impossible while I feel this way. Pacing the length of my bed chamber, I attempt to think of anything but her, yet it is impossible. Her words continue to ring through my mind.

Yes, it was stupid of me to get stuck on whether those rumours were true or not. She created the persona, and therefore the rumours were never going to be real. I was foolish, and upsetting her was the last thing I wanted to do, but her reaction was also unexpected.

How dare she speak to me like that? I am her king. Even if she were a princess, she would not be allowed to get away with speaking to me like that. My ego has been bruised, and I want to lash out. Hiring her and concocting this plan was my idea. This is my attempt to take back control, to make a stand with as little bloodshed as possible, yet somehow, I am still being manipulated by a woman.

Is it fair of me to think of her that way? Probably not, and I do not want her punished in any way for speaking to me like that. She was right. My head was not in the game. I got caught up in the ruse and being around a beautiful woman such as her.

I must remember we are different.

The king and the assassin.

My insides are churning, and my mind is a mess. I barely ate anything at supper, something Orion noticed with a frown, but he didn’t comment on it.

Alyx did not attend the meal, claiming a headache.

For some reason, this only made me angrier. At this point, I do not know if I’m angry at her or myself. Probably a bit of both, yet her final parting line haunts me.

Maybe you are a puppet king after all.

Of all the things she could have said, she went straight for the jugular, choosing the one thing that was bound to cripple me.

The thing is, this is not the first time I have heard those words—maybe never to my face, but they have not ever affected me in this way. When she said them, it made me question everything and want to tear the world apart in the same breath.

Taking a deep breath, I walk into my bathing chamber and turn on the cold tap, filling the sink basin. I splash my face with the frigid water, gasping as it touches my skin. I stand to my full height, my reflection catching my attention. Usually, I use the mirror to admire myself, yet tonight, I do not recognise the person staring back at me. My fingers brush the mirror as if to check it is real. The cool glass confirms that it is, and I’m forced to admit that the wide-eyed, angry-looking male is me.

Am I a puppet? Am I ridiculous for believing that I could ever stop being controlled by others? I thought Alyx could help me with this, but perhaps I am just a fool.

A call from outside alerts me to the changing of the guard, meaning that it is much later than I thought. Sighing, I rub my hands across my face before reaching for a towel to dry it.

I should go to bed, yet I know I will just be tossing and turning for hours, my mind too active to shut off right now. Glancing over to my closet where I keep my sword, I stride towards it.

I am too angry to rest, and I need to get some of this out of my system before I see Alyx again. Now is the perfect time for me to slip from my rooms: while the guard is changing over and they are distracted. Orion will be cross with me for leaving in the middle of the night on my own, but I need to do this for my sanity and to prove to myself I am not a useless puppet king.

Chapter

Nineteen

ALYX

Nighttime is my favourite time. The darkness shields us assassins like a cloak. It’s when we do our best work, moving between shadows and eavesdropping on whispered private conversations, and here, in the palace, it is no different.

To everyone else, I am Princess Alyx, the new, perfect queen-to-be, and that restricts me slightly. They all think I’m dumb and easy to manipulate, but they don’t want to speak outright treason in front of me. A coup would change everything, and even an airhead would recognise conversations of that as a threat to her husband-to-be. As soon as the sun set, Princess Alyx went to bed and assassin Alyx came out to play.

I’m still annoyed about what Joha said. He practically accused me of being a whore, which I have no problem with. Many of my friends are whores and it’s honest work. They have to work harder than most to survive, but it was the way he said it, like I was dirty and I had used my body to get where I am, not trained for years to make my way to the top. Yes, it infuriated me. I don’t even know why. I never usually care about others’ opinions of me, especially not a spoiled puppet prince. However, Joha has looked at me with nothing but awe and a healthy dose of fear since the moment he met me . . . but today, he looked at me differently.

I don’t like that, which annoys me even more.

Hence, I’m stalking around in the dark, hoping to kill someone to let off some tension. Feelings are confusing and downright annoying, but killing is much easier, so I’ll stick to that. His Majesty can go fuck himself. I’ll complete this job and get everything I want.

It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me as I do it. I have been called worse, much worse.

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