by Neha Yazmin
She narrowed her eyes. “And then?”
“Then, we only look out for ourselves.”
They shared a long look.
When he thought that she’d made up her mind, he walked up to her and held out his hand. “Deal.”
She burst out laughing. “I will not make deals with rebels,” she said. She jumped to her feet, walked around him to the table, and set down her full cup of tea. “And I will not spy for you.”
“You obviously need our help more than we need yours.” Micah saying this clearly meant the opposite. “Mother is the one person who knows everything you want to know about Seth’s condition. And she’ll be discreet.”
“I’ll find another way to win Wyett over,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t need to dirty my hands—”
“I’m his best friend,” Micah said, a plea in his voice. “I know how you can get close to him. Which buttons to push, you know? All you need to do for me in return is inform me of my uncle’s movements and so on.”
“You know, this will only work if you have something rather major over me,” Aaryana said in a patronising tone. “Or something I can’t do without. You have neither.” She shook her head, unimpressed.
“Tell me what you want in return.”
“You won’t be able to deliver it.”
“Try me.”
“I want to send a letter to my friends in Adgar.”
“What?” Micah asked. It sounded like he meant, “Is that all?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “It is prohibited for an exile to write home,” she explained. “The King of Roshdan is bound by law to execute me for doing it if I get caught. But I need to get a message to them. It’s very important.”
She walked right up to his face.
“If you can sneak my letter onto the ship that Wyett is sending to Adgar… Then, we have a deal, and my allegiance shifts to you.”
If it had been any other night, Aaryana would have been an hour into her shift now. But she didn’t know where she stood when it came to her employment situation, so she headed straight to her chambers after returning from Micah’s cottage.
The rebel leader’s lovely home had been left to his mother by his late father; in the second brother’s will, it had seemed like a kind gesture to the nurse that had cared for him. Not a gift to the woman he loved, the mother of his child.
Micah had agreed to smuggle her letter onto the seabird and had asked her to compose it right there and then.
“I’ll write it when I get back to my room,” she’d retorted. “It needs proper thought and clever wording. Have one of your lackeys collect it from me before lunch tomorrow.”
Micah had clenched his teeth. “And how are my men supposed to infiltrate the Palace?”
“Please.” Aaryana rolled her eyes. “Do you really expect me to believe that you don’t have other eyes and ears in the castle?” Micah had opened his mouth to refute it, but she cut him off with, “Before lunch tomorrow.”
Then she’d curtsied to his mother, placed the second brother’s sword on her lap, and walked out of the house without a glance at Micah. She heard his mother chuckle behind her. The walk back to the Palace had been annoying. Her boots were coated in soft mud and she’d started sweating from the humidity. It might not get hot in the summer, but on rainy days like these, the air turned thick and moist.
Halfway through the trip, she’d taken her jacket off and felt a little self-conscious in the short, sleeveless garment that was underneath. It didn’t even reach her naval and the neckline was lower than she was used to. Princesses in Adgar didn’t reveal so much skin to the public. Thankfully, she didn’t cross anyone on her route, so she didn’t feel awkward enough to put her jacket back on.
By the time she made it to the Palace, she’d forgotten how skimpy her outfit was. The castle was quieter than usual, but the guards appeared to be a lot more relaxed now. Lady Rozlene was back; the residents of the castle were probably lining up to see her, leaving the rest of the building empty.
The guards outside her chambers opened the door for her as she approached.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” she said with a nod as she entered her lounge. They never opened the door for her—what made them do so tonight?
The answer came in the form of a figure sitting on her chaise. She halted abruptly. Her jacket and crossbow fell to the floor from the shock of seeing the Crown Prince in her rooms. None of his bodyguards were in or outside her chambers...
He eased to his feet and faced her, before quickly averting his gaze. Her guards closed the door behind her, and the sound made her jump. She didn’t know why.
“You’re back,” the Prince said, eyes on the crossbow and jacket on the floor.
It reminded her that her tunic was rather revealing. Was that the reason Wyett seemed… shy? Embarrassed? Uncomfortable? Because of the flesh she was displaying? She crouched down and picked up her things and struggled into the jacket whilst trying not to let the crossbow fall down. She should have picked up the jacket first. Why was she as nervous as Wyett seemed to be?
No, she wasn’t nervous; she just didn’t want him to call her a whore again. Fastening the buttons of her jacket, she walked over to the low table and set the crossbow down on it. Wyett stepped away from the chaise and walked to the door.
“Yes, Your Highness, I am back. How is Lady Rozlene?”
“She’s fine,” he replied without turning to face her. “Father will speak to her in the morning. You are to join us in his private office after breakfast.” He didn’t sound hostile, just detached.
“As His Majesty wishes.”
Wyett reached for the doorknob and said, “You did well tonight.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” But Wyett was already gone.
There were times when people got what they wanted without asking for it, and they hadn’t dared ask for it because it was something that they didn’t think they were supposed to have. This meeting in the King’s private office was one of them.
Rozlene was sitting opposite the King, Erisa standing behind her, her hands on her mother’s shoulders. Both women were in simple, pale-coloured gowns, making them look more shaken than they were. Wyett, Seth, and Aaryana stood in a loose circle around them, all three in tunics and pants, listening as the King asked Rozlene about her abduction.
The situation had already made Aaryana flash back to the time when she’d been interrogated by the Chief of Justice about Farzah’s murder. Why King Keyan hadn’t asked his Chief of Justice to lead the proceedings, she didn’t know, but she suspected it was because he didn’t trust the man that was in charge of law enforcement. He didn’t actually need anyone to do this for him; King Keyan was very good at interviewing people.
So far, he’d asked enough questions for everyone in the room to get a good picture of what had happened on the day that Rozlene was taken. Which was: Nothing out of the ordinary until she’d entered a cubicle in the tailor’s shop that had a secret exit. She had just changed into her normal clothes—after trying on the dress that was being made for her to wear to the King’s birthday ball—when a man opened a door at the rear of the cubicle, entered the small room, covered her mouth with his hand, and grabbed her.
At that point, Aaryana had eagerly chipped in with, “Oh no! Does that mean you’ll need a new dress for the ball, Lady Rozlene?”
Rozlene turned to her slowly. “I don’t think so,” she replied in the same quiet voice that she’d been speaking in all morning. “I’d put the thing on the hook while I changed back into what I was wearing before. I assume the dress is still with the tailor…”
Aaryana heaved a sigh of relief. Wyett gave her a bewildered look.
Seth said, “I think the last thing Rozlene cares about right now is a dress for the ball.” He didn’t sound rude or judgmental, just perplexed. He shook his head and flashed her a quick grin. “What an odd creature you are, Aaryana.”
She smiled and looked down at her feet. When she glanced
up, Wyett was still looking at her, his green eyes narrowed.
“I’m sorry, Lady Rozlene. It’s just that if my sisters Sarsha and Ash were in your place, the first thing they’d have asked after being rescued is whether their dresses were alright.”
Seth and Wyett burst into laughter. Wyett stopped almost immediately, horrified that he’d laughed at something she’d said. Seth chuckled for a few moments, shaking his head indulgently.
She shifted her gaze to the King. “I apologise, Your Majesty.”
The King pursed his lips to keep from smiling. “Who else knew you were going for your fitting that day?” he asked Rozlene and Erisa.
“The guards that accompanied us,” Erisa replied. “The maids that helped us get ready. The tailor, obviously; he’d sent word the day before, inviting us for a fitting.”
“I told some of my lady friends at Court, of course,” Rozlene added. Then, to her daughter, “You must have told some of your friends.”
“What friends?” Erisa sounded a little bitter.
“Did anyone outside the castle know?”
“No, Your Majesty,” Rozlene answered. “As per your wish, we no longer write to anyone outside the Palace.”
The King nodded in approval.
“Who delivered the message from the tailor?” Aaryana asked Erisa.
Rozlene replied for her. “His assistant. The man that always brings the messages.”
The nods from everyone in the room suggested that the tailor’s assistant was trustworthy, had been vigorously tested for his loyalty, and had been approved by the King to exchange correspondences between his Courtiers and the tailor.
Wyett said to Erisa, speaking for the first time, “So, whoever tipped them off about where you’d be is living inside these walls.” He had an intense look in his eyes, ready to throw every single Courtier out of the castle. “We have to speak to everyone.”
Aaryana turned to the King. “Your Majesty, if I may say something?”
“Please do, Aaryana. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. That’s why you’re here.”
Aaryana bowed her thanks. “What if the kidnapping wasn’t premeditated, Your Majesty? What if the rebels just happened to be nearby when Lady Rozlene’s carriage showed up at the tailor’s and they decided to take advantage of it?”
“What evidence is there to support that?” Wyett snapped.
“Well, they couldn’t have known that Lady Rozlene would enter the cubicle with the secret door. They got lucky there. And if they’d been waiting, why didn’t they take her the first time she entered that room to try on the new gown? I hardly think rebels would wait for their victims to finish their business with the tailor before making their move.”
The Crown Prince didn’t have an answer for that—no one did. But he had that look on his face from before, like he was trying to figure something out and not quite getting there.
The King said, “Aaryana makes a good point. But we must think the worse. That someone in my Court informed the rebels of where Rozlene and Erisa were going. Wyett is right: We need to speak to everyone.”
Wyett nodded at his father.
The King looked at Rozlene and asked, “While you were with them, did you overhear anything that—”
“No, Majesty,” Rozlene said. “They were very careful.”
“They didn’t ask you about the King?” Aaryana probed. Surely, they’d tried to learn as much as they could from someone who sat on the King’s Council.
“No, they left me alone,” Rozlene murmured. “Laurenie even apologised to me on her son’s behalf.” She was teary now, her head bowed.
“Lady Rozlene,” Aaryana pressed, “did they hurt you or threaten you?”
Rozlene shook her head, shaking. “They didn’t… they weren’t… it sounds strange saying it, but they were surprisingly gentle.”
“They didn’t hold a blade to your throat or chest?”
“Aaryana!” Seth cautioned her, a frown on his face. “I think we should let Rozlene rest now,” he said to the King. “There’s nothing more we need to ask, so—”
“Aaryana,” the King said, “do you have any questions for Lady Rozlene before we let her go? Questions that aren’t about clothes, that is.” He winked at her.
Aaryana felt her cheeks heat up. “No, Your Majesty. Though I do have a request for you…”
King Keyan nodded for her to make it.
“I think it would be wise to increase the security around Lady Rozlene and Lady Erisa—”
“My thoughts exactly,” the King said. “And there will be no need for the two of you to return to the tailor. I’ll have my men pick up your gowns when they’re ready.”
“Your Majesty is too kind,” Rozlene murmured.
“If Your Majesty could also assign a nurse to their rooms, that would be beneficial,” Aaryana suggested. “In case the events of the last few days have a detrimental effect on Lady Rozlene’s wellbeing. It would be good to closely monitor her health while she recovers.”
“Aaryana, how thoughtful,” Seth said, beaming at her.
“Yes, well, my sisters might worry about their dresses, but any sane person would be afraid to leave their rooms after being kidnapped like that. You’re incredibly brave, Lady Rozlene.” Aaryana bowed to the woman in reverence.
“Indeed,” agreed the King. “And you’ve been brave for long enough now. Thank you for answering my questions, Rozlene. Erisa, take care of your mother, will you?” That was the King’s dismissal to them.
“I’ll come with you,” Seth said as Rozlene rose to her feet.
When it was just Wyett and Aaryana in the office, the King said, “Shut the door, Wyett, and sit down. Both of you.”
They did as they were told, and then they listened as the King asked them to work together to weed out the traitors in his Palace.
“Micah has spies in my Court,” he said, “and I want the two of you to find every single one of them.”
Last Monday, Rudro had been in a rage and it hadn’t been the best way to start a new week. This Monday, his anger had simmered down, but it still wasn’t the right way to start a new week.
“Military training for Academy students?” he’d repeated over and over during the meeting this time last week. “But why?”
The answer that the Chief of Defence had given him was, “Why not?”
The man was the unexpected attendee at the meeting, a meeting that had turned out to not be about the implementation of military training at the Royal Academy. The Academy had been set up to complement The Contest, and prepare students for Royal Guard training if they wished. When students enrolled, they weren’t signing up for military service, which was what all graduates would have to agree to when their training was complete.
“Why not?” Rudro had retorted. “Because we’re not going to war and our neighbouring Islands are not threatening to invade us! There has been peace between the southern Islands ever since the Vijkantis came into power.”
“Nothing is guaranteed,” the Chief said in an incredibly calm voice. “We should always be prepared.”
His tanned skin was almost as dark as his light-brown hair, and his eyes were only fractionally darker. He was an imposing figure in his military attire. Only Rudro had dared to speak out against his plans for the Academy.
“Adgar already has a standing army and a navy,” Rudro argued. “And the proper channels in place for anyone that wants to enlist for them. Why should my students be forced to join?”
“They won’t be your students any longer.”
Rudro jumped to his feet. “I beg your pardon?”
“Well, due to the change in direction, it only seems logical that the Academy should be overseen by different personnel,” the Chief said. “People that support the shift in its purpose. I recommended to Her Majesty that you should remain in charge, but if you’re not on board with these plans…”
“Of course, I’m not on board with these preposterous plans!”
�
�Then consider yourself demoted,” the Chief said as he stood up. The huge man was so relaxed, it made Rudro’s blood boil. “Unless the idea of staying on as an ordinary teacher is also preposterous to you?” The tall man raised an eyebrow, probing and challenging.
Rudro had been about to storm out of the room when he suddenly thought of Myraa. The girl serving the Queen she never wanted. The girl could have left the Palace and lived a quiet but luxurious life in her family’s estate. But she hadn’t. Aaryana’s friend had remained in the castle, agreed to attend to a woman that had needlessly been cruel to her for her entire life, to spy on the new Queen and King. For Aaryana. Myraa was a loyal friend to the exiled Princess. Well, Rudro was the man that loved Aaryana; he could teach at the Academy and unearth the real reason behind its new agenda.
So, he said, “No, I’ll stay and teach. If Her Majesty will have me.”
The Chief of Defence nodded.
“Who will be taking charge of the Academy?”
“I will,” the man replied and left the building.
In the following days, there was much commotion and confusion amongst the teachers and students, but eventually, the Chief of Defence spoke to everyone and somehow convinced every single student to stay and enlist in the army after their training ended.
Rudro later learned that the students had been promised generous salaries. Taxes would rise to fund them. Many families wouldn’t be able to afford the inland living tax if it went up, and so, they’d be forced to move to the Outskirts where the taxes were significantly lower but the danger considerably higher. This made Rudro sad. And angry. The Old King would never have increased taxes to pay for something so unnecessary—a larger army when there was no threat of war.
Unless, Queen Leesha knew something he didn’t…
Chapter 5
The thing about keeping a close eye on the Queen of Adgar and her husband was that it also meant they could watch you. And he did—Parth watched her like a hawk watched its prey before skydiving to make the kill. And like a man watched his secret lover during the day when he couldn’t touch her. It made Myraa’s skin crawl, that intense gaze of his, made her feel sodden and muddy.