by S. K Munt
‘Sex, and the need to express love with someone you love…’ I let my finger trail down his jaw. ‘And the need to keep it hidden. You understand THAT kind of need, don’t you? Please… tell me you can help me!’
Karol stared at me. ‘Are you CERTAIN that I’m not dreaming?’
I leaned in and kissed his cheek, aware of the energy misting around us, and though I’d intended to create such a charge, I was a little startled to know that I could be this close to him without throwing up. I’d counted on my skin crawling to be close to his, and yet there was nothing repugnant about his aura. In fact, he was warm, and his scent was pleasant enough to make my nostrils twitch. ‘No, your highness,’ I whispered. ‘You are very much awake…’ I trailed my finger along his sharp jaw. ‘And if you tell me that you can find a way to take a servant along, I will show you just how grateful I am, by making another dream of yours come true...’ my voice was soft, and my touch softer yet and a slight green glow blazed along the underside of his jaw, making me feel powerful. Actually, it made me feel like Scarlet O’Hara.
‘Fuck…’ Karol looked down at me and groaned. ‘So help me but I’ll find a way, if that’s what you want.’ He rotated and pressed me to the door, resting one hand on either side of my shoulder to pin me under him. ‘Actually, there’s not much I wouldn’t do, to make you look at me the way you’re looking at me right now, little swan...’
I wet my lips as his leaned closer. ‘Really?’ He was about to kiss me, and damn it, but my heart was pounding.
‘Really…’ he whispered, and there was coffee on his breath intermingled with the scent of peppermint toothpaste, sharp and warm. In another life, as rankled as I was with Kohén and hell-bent on vengeance, I could have lifted my mouth to his beautiful older brother’s, just to feel something. And as it was, the way he touched his lips to the corner of my mouth in a prelude to a kiss was smooth enough to momentarily distract me from the fact that I hated him.
But not smooth enough.
‘Thank God…’ I wrapped my arms around his neck and then leaned back and said brightly: ‘In that case- I need you to take a servant, a guard and their two children! And if anyone tries to change your mind, you need to stand your ground like the powerful man you claim to be, okay?’ I paused, smiling winsomely. ‘And then some!’
Karol pushed off me, looking like I’d just dumped a bucket of ice water on his too-big erection, and I tensed, prepared for the fight of my life.
2.
I’d never had someone look at me the way Karol was looking at me before- like I was so asinine that he was going to rip the meat off my bones with his teeth.
‘Excuse me?!’ he barked. ‘Are we having the same conversation here?’
‘Of course,’ I said loftily. ‘I told you that I needed you to take a servant across the country and YOU said that you could take a few!’
‘I thought that you meant you!’ he snapped, and his eyes were forest-black now. ‘Why would I take another? And how DARE you bait me with the offer of sexual rewards only to… for fuck’s sake Larkin!’ He zoomed in and smashed me back against the door. ‘Do you think I’m the kind of man you can just toy with?!’
‘I don’t know why you’d assume that I’d have sex with you when that would be against the law,’ I said, holding his gaze steadily even though I was trembling with fright. ‘I came to you for help, but it’s not for me... it’s for my maid, Lindy.’
‘What?!’
‘She’s pregnant,’ I whispered, and his eyes bulged again so I began speaking rapidly. ‘Yes, with her third and yes that’s against the law and yes you could have me banished for trying to get you to break that law for me but… but I meant it when I said that I needed you! And if you help me get her out of Arcadia so that her poor child won’t be taken from her and Coaxley I will return the favour with one of my own! And I have something you want!’
‘Something I’m tempted to take for free right now to set you straight over who needs whose favour here!’ he ranted, and I shushed him, but he gave me a rotten look and turned away. ‘No, okay? I’m sorry that you’re upset about your friend and I must admit that I’m rather fond of the Trevasse family, and it will hurt me to have to hold them accountable for this… but the law is the law, and a prince has a responsibility to his nation!’
‘But it’s not just Lindy and Coaxley who are in trouble here!’ I protested, my eyes filling with tears as I followed him. ‘It’s a baby, Karol! A poor little baby! What they’ve done was an accident and it’s illegal but it’s not immoral, or every kingdom in Arcadia would have a two-child law- but they don’t! If you get her transferred to Janiel or Yael before the child is born then they won’t be law-breakers, the kid will be raised with parents who love her the way I wasn’t, and you WILL be my hero.’
‘Your heroes get cold beds, big debts and dashed hopes,’ Karol muttered, motioning out the window and towards my statue.
‘They also get devoted friends,’ I whispered tearfully. ‘And Lindy is the only mother I’ve ever known. Karol… please…’
He looked back at me and frowned. ‘You think I’m going to drown in your tears after being blinded by your feigned attraction?’
I sniffled. ‘We’re taught to seduce you, your highness, but to keep the tears in at any cost. I assure you, these are genuine, and if her baby is taken from her, or if she dies…’
‘Dies?’
I leaned against the edge of the desk and hugged my book tightly. ‘She’s only six months along and she’s been having complications for days. If she doesn’t get help soon-’
‘The problem will be solved!’
I shot him a look and he actually lowered his eyes. ‘There’s that skeleton of yours again,’ I said, and pushed off the desk. ‘Serves me right for believing that maybe you had at least one redeeming quality. How you manage to heal with an ice-cold heart is beyond me!’
‘Don’t…’ he said, and he sounded tired. ‘Honestly, Larkin, you just don’t get it. Yes I can get her out of here but I couldn’t do so with a good conscience- not only would I have to lie to my parents, but I’d be making an exception that I couldn’t repeat for someone equally as kind and equally as devoted to someone else, as Lindy is to you.’ He stepped towards me and held out his hands. ‘And if I could wriggle anyone out of the binds of our kingdom’s laws, little swan, it would be you I released anyway- not Lindy.’ He crossed his arms. ‘But the end result is the same- I can’t break a law that’s been put in place to benefit Arcadia.’
‘You’ll just bend the ones to fit them into your harem?’ I accused. ‘Not two minutes ago you were willing to screw me from here to Janiel-’
‘I wouldn’t have slept with you, or come onto you out of loyalty to Kohén and to adhere to your contract,’ he retorted, and managed to look me straight in the eye when he did. ‘I was just excited by the opportunity to make you fall for me so as soon as you turned twenty-one, you’d come to me as I’ve asked and with a bounce in your step.’ He sat on the desk next to me, looking weary. ‘But I have to be a leader, Larkin, and a fair one, to honour Miguel Barachiel. For every third born child handed over to us, there is one less hungry mouth to feed and one more job being done by someone who has been fed and cared for. I know it doesn’t seem fair but I’ve read about countries that existed before us where the people bred like rabbits and produced millions of starving children. And whether my father likes to acknowledge or not- Calliel is already struggling to feed those we have allowed to be born so far, and nowhere more than Yael, where they have no farming industry to speak of to support their relaxed laws.’ He looked me in the eye and said: ‘Lindy will lose her child to the Given, but that child would be cared for. And hey…’ he slapped my shoulder. ‘There are no Barachiel’s being born this year, so at least you don’t have to worry about it ending up in a Harem, five years from now.’
‘Do you think Kohl would agree that being fed was compensation for being loved?’ I demanded, taking his hand off my shoulder. ‘
Because I don’t!’
‘You’ve never been starving, and neither has my indentured little brother. And to answer your question from earlier, yes we’ve been eating plainer food up in this wing lately, so that you ladies don’t cease to be spoiled. It’s not love, but it is consideration.’
‘You’ll still be the last ones to starve and you know it, and if you are a true leader, you’ll seek no comfort from that,’ I said standing and turning on him, ‘unless you help me.’
Karol gave me a condescending look. ‘You think Lindy’s unborn child is going to solve the locust issue?’
‘The locust issue is solved!’ I said. ‘But I’m only going to give you that solution if you get that entire family out of Arcadia. Tonight- before you leave. And I won’t hear you begging slippery roads or blizzards either- your royal ass will be safe, and so if they go with you, they’ll be safe too with no ‘accidental,’ carriage accidents.’
Karol ran his hands through his hair, looking exasperated. ‘What’s this new nonsense?’
‘It’s not nonsense, and if you don’t believe me- listen and decide for yourself, for I received a very interesting letter this morning.’
Karol sighed again. ‘We don’t get mail on Sundays.’
‘I know. This wasn’t posted- it was left for me by a dead girl six months ago.’ Karol’s brow rose again and I smiled tightly, opening the book. ‘Would you like to hear Martya’s final words to me Karol? Or shall I post it to Elbert Yael instead? Because I won’t be going to your father if you can’t help me, and the letter explains precisely why.’
Karol sat back down on the desk. ‘Read it,’ he said tersely. ‘Now.’
I smiled and looked down at the page, wondering if I was about to become a hero, or be cast into the Wildwoods forever.
You’ve got a royal flush honey- so sit then show!
‘Dear Larkin…’ I began, my voice trembling. ‘I hope this letter finds us both in a position where we can laugh off my paranoia, but as I write it, I am frantically packing to leave Eden forever, and I am feeling equal measures of triumph, paranoia and hysteria, so forgive me if I sound a little crazy but… but just in case I don’t make it to St Miguel, here is a copy of the real formula for the locust panacea, because the one I have handed to the king is missing one crucial ingredient and-’ I glanced up at Karol and saw that he was staring at me with wide eyes, ‘-it’s yours. Look, this is going to come off as confusing but… You should know that King Elijah threatened me before I left.’ I heard Karol breathe in sharply, but I went on. ‘It may very well be an empty threat and should be, because my formula will work, and I know it will work because it’s not just this field I practiced it on, but my grandmother’s as well.
My mother, as you knew, grew up on their farm near Rachiel, and the fact that they’ve been so devastated by locusts is my driving reason for curing the problem. So after I worked out this formula, I sent the ingredients to them in concentrate to try, and learned this very afternoon that it worked- their farm was the only one spared in that entire region after these past two weeks. Theirs, and our dear little garden.’ I looked up at Karol again and was greeted with wide green eyes. I cleared my throat and went on. ‘So I have created a cure to end the last of God’s apocalyptic wrath, and something tells me that it’s a cure that the king needs more than he’s let on. When I saw our garden this afternoon I realised what a valuable secret I had, and that handing it over to one man could be an error… and the way that he just treated me for misspeaking, well, I fear that I am too smart for my own good.’
‘I’ve never been one to mince words but I will do so now- Elijah took me aside and whispered that if I was lying, I would pay for it dearly, and that there is a room in the harem where such punishments can be carried out- a room in which no one will think my screams amiss or of terror, rather than pleasure and it wouldn’t matter if I had a contract or not so long as he had charges to lay against me.’ My voice trembled and when I glanced at Karol again- my suspicions were confirmed because he looked positively sick. ‘But then he added that I wasn’t the kind of girl whose screams he craved, so I should be very careful about who I embarrass in the future- because exceedingly-rational girls tend to make the most ill-advised choices when they finally give in to their emotions; choices which turn out to be their last.’ Karol groaned but I went on, my voice shaking now that I’d put myself in the position to end up in such a room with three out of four of the Barachiel men. ‘Needless to say this rattled me but I’d been prepared for such a thing- clever little duck that I am, I’ve written down the formula for this cure only twice. One is missing two key ingredients and is in Elijah’s hands now that he’s torn up my contract, and the other is written over the next page. If I make it to St Miguel alive, I’ll send a correct formula to King Elijah immediately and hopefully, become a renowned scientist in the next few years- one who knows that she has earned her King’s respect rather than his ire. But if I do not, and my forthright way of talking has already sealed my fate, then you need to take this formula and guard it with your life because it is your ticket out of here.’
‘Oh my God…’ Karol whispered.
I swallowed, and there were tears in my eyes now. ‘I know that you and Kohén are in love, and I know that one day, you will believe it will work out and sometimes, I think it could too. Sometimes, I watch you and Kohén play and think that the world would have been a perfect place if it had been you and he alone in the Garden of Eden, for your souls shine so brightly when you are together that it can blind even the shrewdest mind into believing that it has seen a miracle,’ my voice broke but I went on. ‘I do not question why he loves you dearly, for I love you dearly, and your ability to maintain your self-possession all of these years while being Kohén’s clear favourite has inspired me. Truth be told, were it not for you, I would have given up the books and taken up the lipstick long ago, but if the ugly duckling can become a swan, maybe the smart girl can learn to have faith in more than mathematical formulas.’ My voice wobbled but I breathed past it. ‘But listen to me carefully Larkin; if our kind king could talk to me the way he did, then there are no limits to what these so-called angelic Barachiels are capable of doing in order to maintain control, so if I do vanish off the face of the earth and find this please, don’t take it to any of them- they cannot be trusted, not even Kohén for he has more to gain from your imprisonment than anyone, even if he does not feel that way right now. Make a copy of it, hide it somewhere, and then go to King Elbert, or Elliot Bronx, for they will be the most desperate for it. And then get the hell out of there before my influence rubs off on you, and you become too smart to survive within a man’s paradise as well!’ I looked up again and Karol had his face in his hands. ‘I must go now for Coaxley is coming for my things but please Larkin, try to laugh this off if you find it after I write you to tell you I am fine, and do not judge the king too harshly for making such awful threats. These men carry the world on their backs, and God’s faith in mankind and they must do it while closing their hearts off to love and being besieged by energies that we cannot fathom as pure mortals. I am probably only being foolish, but if I’m not… think the absolute worst, and save yourself.’ I wiped at my nose. ‘Love always, your best friend, Martya L.Rice.’
There was an awful silence after I’d finished, but Karol’s laboured breathing could not be mistaken.
‘Is there a room in a harem where a girl could be expected to scream in pain masquerading as pleasure?’ I asked.
‘Yes.’ Karol looked up at me, and his eyes were brighter than any emeralds. ‘Did you make a second copy of that formula and hide it before you came up here?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Are you going to give THAT one to me?’
‘Are you going to get Lindy out of here? Coaxley and their children too?’
‘Yes.’ He paused, as I wilted in relief, studying me gravely. ‘Do you believe that I will? You must know that I can’t agree until you give me that book: letter, for
mula and all to protect my family.’
‘I know,’ I said.
‘But your best friend, who did die en route to St Miguel just told you not to trust me. Opting to save your friends instead of yourself would make her most unhappy- and for all you know, I could have you killed the moment that book is in my hand, or them.’
‘I trust you,’ I said, lifting my head.
‘But not Kohén?’
‘No.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re not in love with me,’ I answered simply. ‘And for all the sins man can commit in hatred- the ones they will do for love are the worst.’
Karol stared hard at me. ‘But… but you could save yourself with this!’
‘That would be selfish.’ I moved towards him. ‘And not the smartest choice for me. If I stay here there’s a chance- a real chance- that I could do something great with my life. But Lindy… family is her only happiness, and I can’t bear to see her go through what my mother did.’
‘So that’s it?’ he demanded. ‘You throw away your only chance at freedom to save a middle-aged woman who treated you kindly?’
‘No, not just that. I do have one more stipulation.’
Karol narrowed his eyes at me. ‘And that would be?’
I handed him the book. ‘That you share the formula. If you open a factory to produce it in large quantities then yes, I expect you to sell it. But you will do so at production price with one coin extra- money that will go the Given Corps to make their lives a little more comfortable until the caste is eradicated. But only they will profit from this- not the crown- not at the expense of all of those hungry people that third-borns are being sacrificed to save.’
Karol’s mouth opened slightly wider before he said: ‘My father will throttle me! This is the most valuable secret in the world and King Elbert would no sooner share it than my father would, not for nothing!’