Page 53 of A Tale of Treachery

We stepped backinto the office, cutting King Drake and Redmond off mid-argument. I appreciated that Redmond was fighting for me, but he had to know as well as I did that arguing with the king was futile. Regardless, I could always count on him to rail against anything that wasn’t in my best interests.

All eyes in the room were on Aiden and me when we walked back in. I settled into the chair next to Redmond, my shoulders hunched.

A heavy stare landed on my back, and I couldn’t resist glancing at Ryken. I felt drawn to this fae, unable to fight the forces of attraction. His stance was rigid, and flames danced in the shadows of his eyes.

Aiden spoke, and I shifted my attention back to the room. “She agreed. It’s settled. She will be moving into my wing tonight.”

“Very good.” The king smiled and clapped his hands together. “We will have her fitted tomorrow with new outfits, and she will start taking etiquette classes, first thing. The Princess of New Hazel will be here next week, so we will start preparing her on how to treat her superior.”

I rolled my eyes at the comment. The king was acting as if he approved of the situation, but anyone who knew the man understood this was all manipulation. He was letting Aiden dig his own grave.

This is temporary, I reminded myself. I would play along for now, but the situation would not go on forever. The last thing I wanted was to get in the way of Aiden’s betrothal or compete with the future queen. I wanted him to be happy, and over the past few weeks, I’d realized I wouldn’t be the one to do that.

I hoped this Princess of New Hazel was worthy of his love.

Redmond interjected, “I will need her help with studying the portal. We need to figure out what is keeping the portal locked and ensure it stays that way.”

The king leaned back in his seat, steepling his hands together. “Yes, of course. She can assist you in the afternoon and tag along on your expedition to the portal this week. She will need a guard, of course.” He rubbed his chin with his thumb and pointer finger like he was deep in thought, his eyes lighting up with a new idea—a new manipulation. “Ryken! You seem to enjoy watching her”—a slight jab at his unmanageable assassin—“so I’m sure you can be trusted to watch her every move. Of course…I will need you for a few things, from time to time, but we can have someone else watch her in those instances.”

Ryken grunted his acknowledgment, and Aiden cut in, his voice sharp, “No, absolutely not. Pick someone else.” The two men’s eyes clashed, and even beneath the hood, I could see a smirk stretch across Ryken’s face. “What about Thomas?”

The king raised a brow at his son. “You can’t get everything you want, Aiden. Thomas is busy with the guard, and Ryken has the most available schedule of my men. Besides, there is nobody I would trust more to keep a continuous eye on her. You said you wanted her protected, and there is no one more capable or deadly than my assassin.”

“That’s the problem,” Aiden muttered.

I had to give the king credit for his machinations. He’d found a way to both upset his son and put his assassin in his place. He was undoubtedly a master of manipulation; it was how he had gotten his crown and how he would continue to keep it.

“It’s settled, Aiden. Need I remind you that this is exactly what you wanted?” King Drake mocked his son, then shifted his attention to Redmond. “You can keep your ward for the rest of the day while my men finish packing her belongings.”

Redmond really needed to change the warding on the sanctum to exclude the king’s soldiers.

With a wave of his hand, the king ended the meeting. “You are dismissed.”

Aiden stormed out of the room without so much as a goodbye, and I seethed for a moment. It would have been a good time for an apology. I was owed endless apologies for this little scheme of his.

I shook my head as Redmond bowed, and I curtseyed next to him, though I didn’t want to. The king smiled as I followed Redmond out of the office, Ryken joining alongside me.

Redmond trailed ahead of us through the corridors and down the stairs, giving Ryken and me a chance to talk, but not a word was spoken until we were out of the palace.

The fall air chilled my skin as we walked through the courtyard, Ryken silently glowering by my side. Once we were safe and away from prying ears, I spoke, trying to find a positive in the situation: “Well, at least we still get to see each other and work with Redmond. It’s not all that bad.”

Ryken scoffed. “Do you think I care?”

I recoiled at the dark tone of his voice. “Well, yes.”

A bone-chilling laugh slipped loose from his lips, and he came to a stop in front of me, towering over my height. I suddenly felt small and unimportant, and when he spoke, his words cut me to the bone. “The last thing I want to waste my time on is you. I have other, more important things to focus on than shadowing the prince’s whore.”

And with those words, he turned his back, leading the way toward the sanctum. His footsteps hit the ground with a thundering force, and I followed him, speechless.

It seemed our truce had come to an end.

CHAPTER20

Aweek had passed with me occupying my new role in the palace. Mornings were spent being primped by a team of ladies-in-waiting, who slathered my face in makeup and fitted me with dresses that consisted of thick, suffocating materials. The morning torture, as I called it, was followed by intense etiquette lessons under the instruction of a stern tutor, who seemed to find hitting my knuckles with a ruler entertaining.

Afternoons were spent in the sanctum with Redmond, studying the gel from the portal. We didn’t have as much time to study it as we would have liked, though, because as soon as the sun went down, I was forced to return to the palace, where Aiden would try to talk sense into me. I wasn’t having it and wasn’t ready to speak with him yet. Anytime he tried, Ryken sent him away.

Aiden had promised to be patient, but I could see his patience wearing thinner by the day.

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