I’m going to make him.
Unfortunately that starts with Bastian. Why Tristan doesn’t see Keenan as a threat I don’t know. He is the biggest threat I’ve ever faced. He is the most dangerous because he knows me so well.
I spent the last four months praying to avoid Bastian Beaugrand at all costs and now I’m seeking him out.
I find him in his throne room, speaking to the Commander of the Vakrovian Guard and some of its men. I only enter because the doors are wide open and because, oddly, the guards outside don’t stop me.
Bastian looks up and, to my eternal surprise, he gives me a smile. He mutters something to the Commander and he and the others disperse.
Bastian beckons for me to come forward and I obey, hoping to maintain an air of innocence. “Amara, I’m sorry. Did we have a meeting I wasn’t aware of?”
“No, Your Majesty. I was just hoping to talk to you for a moment.”
“Well I was just about to break for lunch.”
“It’ll only take a moment, I promise.”
To this, Bastian laughs. “No, Amara, I was asking you if you’d like to join me.”
“Oh.” I say stupidly. Oh? The very last thing I want to do is share a meal with this man, but unfortunately I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Tell him no, Tristan’s voice echoes in my head and my breath catches.
“Amara, sweetheart, are you alright?” Bastian asks me gently.
Tell him no and walk away, Tristan demands. I take an uneasy step forward and he rebukes me again. Leave. His voice gets louder, angrier.
“I…I’d love to.” I tell Bastian, swallowing hard, knowing this is going to anger Tristan. Good. Then maybe he’ll show himself to me. I need to see him.
Bastian’s smile returns. “Terrific. Follow me.”
Instead of leading me out of the throne room like I expect Bastian leads me through a door in the back. We enter a long, narrow corridor with doors on each side every so often. He doesn’t stop until we reach what appears to be his study.
As soon as we enter two male servants follow, bringing concealed trays of food to the table across the room. They quickly set it for two and then turn to the king for further instruction.
“That’ll be all gentlemen. Thank you.” Bastian dismisses them, blue eyes falling on me. “Please my princess, have a seat.”
Princess. I damn near scoff at the word, but I am trying to gain the king’s trust through cooperation and charming innocence so instead I have a seat.
Alone with the king once again. Stupid girl, the inner voice—mine, not Tristan’s—chastises me. You should turn and run, while you still can. What my inner voice can’t seem to realize is I’m done running.
Leave, Tristan sneers at me. I arch my back and sit up straight in defiance. I haven’t had the courage to answer back. I’m not sure how this whole ghost thing works, but somehow I know he can see me even if I can’t see him. It is a surreal and eerie feeling.
“You aren’t a vegetarian, I hope, princess.” Bastian says while taking a seat across from me.
“I’m not.”
“Good. I’ve had a craving for a good steak recently.” He removes the cover to reveal dripping meat with a few different side dishes to accompany it. “Have you ever had steak, Amara?”
He knows a village girl like myself would be lucky to taste something so rare. But I haven’t lived a village girl’s life in quite some time. “Back in Limacore.”
Bastian scoffs. “Limacore meat is shit compared to the buffalo we breed here in Vakrov. You’ll like it, I promise.”
I don’t tell him that I didn’t love it the first and only time I tried it. I’m trying to gain his trust. Not piss him off.
For a while we eat in silence, though I feel Bastian’s stormy blue eyes on me every so often, gauging my reaction to the food or being alone with him, I don’t know. Finally he breaks the silence, much to my great relief.
“So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about, beautiful?”
Beautiful? The word stings. Kol used to call me that. Well, a lot of people have I suppose, but none had made it feel as personal as Kol had. No matter his betrayal, he was always real with me, I think. Playing a part, but never when it came to the core of him. Kol has—or at the very least had—feelings for me. That he hadn’t faked. Keenan, on the other hand, I may never know how he truly feels. If he can feel, somewhere deep down at the center of that frozen heart of his.
“I wondered if what I told you about the Nexus was of any help to you.”
The mention of our care and share brings that smile of his back. “It was incredibly helpful, Amara. I haven’t had a chance to thank you, but I want you to know how grateful I am for what you told me. I know that must have been terribly difficult.”
Spending so much time with Haven I have learned many things. She is terrified of this man, she misses my brother about half as much as I do, and finally, and possibly the most important, that pretty, little brunette is filled with knowledge. Much more than I have with my poorly limited education. And she knows much about politics, which she has been teaching me since I told her I needed to tell Bastian something to get him off my back. She’s taught me many things and with my already learned abilities with manipulation colored as nothing more than innocent curiosity, this man is no match for the two of us.
“I haven’t been in this world long.” I begin, twisting the conversation in the direction I want it to go. “And if I’ve learned anything it’s that I have much to learn about how this world works. One thing that I have become well versed in is the treatment of my people.” This time when Bastian looks at me he doesn’t see the pretty lost princess he simply stumbled onto, but a future ruler of House Serpentarius, a role he intends to groom me for. “Now, it’s clear that you, like many others, do not like what you can’t understand. It’s why you lock away any Borderlines you find in your kingdom. It’s why even King Theron turns a blind eye when Hunters come around and eradicate my kind. But as we both know those differences can be useful. Theron knew that. It’s why he used me to find Theon Beleros’ mole. You use the Borderlines you come across as tools for torture and you’re using me as a statement, to reunite the old Houses. You certainly have no love for Serpentarians. No one does, but like Theron, you can use us to get what you want. Because of that we’re on the same side.”
Bastian regards me with interest. He’s always been interested, but it’s with a newfound respect when those eerie blue eyes rake over me. “Are we now?”
“I didn’t think I cared before.” I still don’t. I don’t want to be anybody’s princess, much less their queen, but for the sake of survival I’ll play along. “But my people aren’t just dying. They’re being persecuted, and the nether users? They are born into such hatred that they inevitably grow up to use their magic for the wrong reasons. If they had even a chance to be born into a world where it doesn’t hate them before it’s even gotten to see what they could be, they might not have to fall.” Bastian must be buying this. I’m almost buying this. I’d love a world like that to be possible for my little niece or nephew. But I’m one of three. Me, Aaric, and Aaren. It doesn’t have to be me who gets the job done.
“So what you’re saying is, you’re finally accepting your role as the future queen of Llìria?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Not accepting it. Anticipating it.” Bastian smiles mischievously.
“Well alright then. This is the princess I can work with.”
This princess, the girl who’s heart breaks for every wounded animal and boy she comes across. This princess who appears innocent, yet strong. For years I pretended to not be in love with Keenan Volterra. For years I pretended I didn’t notice Kara’s inferiority complex with me. For months I knew Aaric was sleeping with Braylie and said nothing. I’m not unfamiliar with performances. I can be the lost princess he wants me to be.
Just long enough for me and Haven to get the hell out of here.
Now that Bas
tian and I have an understanding, he believes me on his side. So any interrogations on information cease completely. He asks me if Kara has given me anything new from time to time and I give him slivers. Theon has been quiet the last few days, or Theon is restless and Kara doesn’t know why. Never anything solid, but never a straight no. It keeps him off my back, but what’s more, the way Bastian looks at me sometimes, I can swear he’s interested in much more than a strategy partner. Still, working together gives me insight into what his plans are and that’s really the only reason I’m doing this. If he’s got any plans that involve leaving the palace I’m going to make sure Haven and I are there so we can escape.
Today Bastian and I are inside the war room discussing a trip he’s planning, to Zakaria. My cousin Grayson told me that he’d only had the sit down with Bastian because he had favor with the queen of Zakaria, but now she’s agreed to meet with Bastian herself so I’m not so sure the queen is opposed to an alliance with Vakrov. It would not do well for us given that Zakaria is a very rich country. The last thing we need is Bastian’s cause funded even more than it already is, but a meeting does not an alliance make.
“I want you to come with me.” Bastian says suddenly, peering down at me as his warlords pour over some sort of plan to persuade Zakaria to our side.
“Me?” I ask innocently. Always playing the innocent, yet ambitious little lost princess is tiring, but it is taking me places. Getting me invited to a meeting with two rulers from two different countries, in fact. I should have done this a lot sooner.
“Yes, you. You’re Amara Boudelaire, lost princess of Lliria, and future queen I might add. Everyone is intrigued by you, Amara. She’ll want to meet you.”
“But doesn’t Zakaria hate Serpentarians as much as they hate Borderlines?”
“Zakaria is…impartial. Let’s just say that. They don’t condemn them, but they don’t welcome them with open arms. Now, obviously I have the final say, but I would like to discuss you coming with me with Keenan first.” To ask him if he thinks I can behave myself most likely. “But would I be right in saying you’re interested in going?”
“Absolutely.” I keep the eagerness out of my voice. If I come across too eager he might mistake my excitement for a plan to try and escape. No. Not on my first outing with him. That’ll come later.
“Terrific. I’ll finish up here. Why don’t you go get a decent meal? I’ll find you later.”
“That’s a good idea, Your Majesty.” I give him a small smile before I exit the war room with a renewed sense of purpose.
I’m on my way to getting out of here. It’s just a waiting game, building up what trust I can so that by the time Bastian notices the betrayal Haven and I will be long gone.
When I find Haven in the dining hall she’s sitting alone. Not in the literal sense of the word. She’s surrounded by nobles. Not her own, but nobles nonetheless. And yet, the way she sits, at a distance, her hands in her lap, peering around with terrified golden eyes, she’s entirely alone.
I know the feeling.
I slip into the seat across from her and I am immediately served a plate full of food. I pay it no mind. “How is it going?” I ask her.
“Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing.” Her eyes land on her plate, but it is not because she’s interested in anything that’s there. It’s because she’s afraid to meet my eyes.
“Hav, what is it?” I ask.
“I don’t know whether to be relieved or scared for you, Amara.” she whispers.
“What do you mean?” I ask, doing my best to read her, but she is so quiet and reserved, so not her. I can’t make out what she’s thinking.
“Ever since you started working with Bastian he’s been paying barely any attention to me. It’s the first time since we’ve been here that I’ve had any sort of peace.”
“So what’s the problem then?”
“I don’t like the way he looks at you, Amara.” She keeps her gaze down when she says it, never meeting my eyes.
From anyone else I’d think she was saying this out of jealousy. Not Haven. She’s saying it because she’s afraid Bastian is romantically interested in me, though I doubt romance would have anything to do with what he wants from me. But that’s not why the insinuation scares me. It scares me because it confirms everything I have suspected all along. He’s touched her. There is no longer a doubt in my mind.
Finally Haven meets my eyes and when she does I find confusion there. “You don’t look surprised.”
“I…suspected he might be developing some sort of affection. It’s not a concern.”
“It’s not?” she snaps and I know it’s because she thinks me a fool. She thinks I don’t know what he’s done. I may not know details, but I am no fool.
“No. We won’t be here long enough for that to be an issue. We’ll be getting out of here soon enough. Bastian asked me to accompany him to Zakaria to meet the queen. It’s only a matter of time before I gain his trust enough to get us out of here.”
“I hope so, because I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
Gone is the sweet, confident princess Haven Novak used to be. She’s been replaced with a fearful, paranoid girl afraid to close her eyes at night.
“Can I talk to you for a minute, please?” Suddenly Keenan is there, ripping me from the dining hall to a space in the hallway outside where we won’t be overheard by looking guards. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asks after throwing me into the wall behind me.
I know exactly what he’s asking, but I need to make Keenan believe my innocence as much as Bastian. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Keenan.”
“Oh please.” he scoffs. “You forget, I know you, Amara. Bastian may be fooled by the innocent act, but I’m not. Whatever game you’re trying to play, Mara, it won’t work.”
“This isn’t a game to me, Keenan. It’s my life. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to survive.” I try to push past him, but he grabs onto my upper arm in a bruising grip. “Keenan, you’re hurting me.” I say innocently.
Those electric blues soften and very slowly he releases me, eyes on the part of my arm where I’m massaging away the pain. “We will be married, Amara. You must know that. We’re not in Baal anymore. We…here we have to do what’s expected of us, to survive, like you said.” It’s the first glimpse of the old Keenan I’ve seen in a while. It’s also the very first indication that there may be a method to Keenan’s madness. A button I can press at a later time.
“That is all I’m trying to do, Keenan. I won’t survive another day under Missy’s ice.” It’s an easy card to play. He believes me so easily. Because he still loves you, the snide inner voice prods me. But she’s wrong. By definition boys with their hearts removed cannot love.
Keenan stares at me for so long it feels as though he’s trying to memorize my face, commit me to memory, like perhaps I won’t always be here with him. “Well then I suppose our trip to Zakaria just got a little more bearable.” It’s supposed to be a compliment, but it feels like a final nail in my coffin. More time with Keenan means more time for him to figure me out. I cannot let that happen.
—CHAPTER EIGHTEEN—
KARA
PROPHECY
Fire bleeds through my fingers, scorching nothing, but the air. Steam recedes from it.
Theon smiles as he takes a seat across from me. I pay him no mind. His very presence disgusts me. Mostly because when I see him I see it all again, the night we spent together. Exposed skin and bated breath. I can’t even explain what came over me that night. Before him I’d only ever been with Kol, my first love, whom I had just seen again for the first time since he’d left. It is the only excuse I can think of for such promiscuous behavior. I’ve always been a little wilder than the other girls in my village, but not reckless. What I’ve done is reckless indeed.
“You missed it.” Theon says, eying the fire curling around my hand, ignoring my clear attempt to deny his existence. He means using my magic
openly, not having to worry about him discovering that I never lost it.
I drop the magic and my fire dissipates in a thin cloud of smoke. “Of course.” I say sharply, straightening in my seat. I’ve only recently gotten my appetite back after all the morning sickness and so I attempt a bagel. I smear cream cheese all over it, paying it no mind when I look down and see maggots. Dozens of them crawling in and out of the bagel. I drop it immediately, making my fork clatter with the plate.
“Kara, what is it?” Theon demands, suddenly at my side.
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, fine. No bagel. Can I eat a damn Danish? Can I at least do that?” I snap in frustration.
“Kara…” Theon prompts evenly.
“It’s your hellbaby.” I respond. Big blue eyes regard me with confusion. “He really doesn’t like bagels.”
“He? It’s a he? Are they both boys?”
I’m sure my eyes must bulge out of my head. “That’s what you’re taking away from that? Not that your little nether spawn literally has the power to dictate what he prefers I eat, but the fact that it’s a he?”
The look he gives me next is as innocent as I’ve ever seen him. “I’ve never been a father before, but I had hoped for a boy.”
“Never?” You’d think I’d learn not to be surprised by this man. “What have you been doing for a thousand years?”
“Waiting for you.”
It is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said, probably ever. And despite my hatred for the man who ordered the death of what I thought was the father of my baby, it softens me some. It’s terribly sad, a man wandering our world alone, century after century, waiting for one girl that would change the game for him. I pity him, though that is all I can muster for the makeshift king.
“It’s one of each. One boy. One girl.”
Theon, close enough I can feel his breath on my lips, smiles without force. “Well, it seems you and I have our work cut out for us then, don’t we?” he says, returning to his seat.
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