by Lorna George
'You've said quite enough for now, my dear,' he said, then turned to the still-furious Adrienne. 'She is goading you, Highness. I see in her heart that she grows weary of life's toils, and hopes to make you enraged enough to give her the peace she seeks.'
Adrienne seemed to digest this information for a moment, before looking triumphant. 'Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd like for me to put you out of your misery. Such a shame. Now I’ll be sure that you live. I’ll make sure that you have many long years ahead of you and I’ll put you back in that pit for the rest of your miserable life.'
'Or.' Cygnus again interrupted her manic musings, looking faintly irritated. 'Or we could all get what we want. We could all benefit, with just a little co-operation.'
Naomi still had the magical gag holding her voice fast and could not answer or move. It was as though Cygnus had forgotten he had done it, or didn't care for her answer. He seemed completely focused on getting Adrienne to agree with him on this matter, whatever this matter was, and Adrienne in turn looked like she was truly considering it. Naomi simply hung there, bound in every way and unable to move except to breathe. She, like Cygnus, could only wait as Adrienne decided how to proceed.
'Very well,' Adrienne said, nodding at last, turning from them both and walking towards the throne. She sat, and the simple act caused yet more rage to flood into Naomi. 'We will try this thing your way, My Lord.'
'You have made a very wise decision, Highness,' he assured her, his voice all syrup. 'I can handle the details if you wish to retire now?'
'Thank you, no. I shall await her answer.'
Naomi noticed that Cygnus seemed less pleased by this second decision as he turned his back to the woman seated on the throne and looked at her instead. He smiled suddenly, and she cringed inwardly. This man was far too slippery for his own good. She didn't trust him at all.
'Now, then.' He wagged his finger at her as though she were a naughty child. 'If I take the binding from your mouth, will you behave yourself?'
It took no consideration from Naomi to reply with a shake of her head.
He laughed, then released her anyway. All of the magic holding her was gone and she found herself dropped down to sit onto a small, wooden chair that had materialised from nothing. She couldn't help looking over at Adrienne seated nonchalantly in the throne that did not belong to her and do a quick sweep of the room for potential weapons. There were none, but she could easily break her neck if she could only get to her.
'You're wasting your time, poppet,' Cygnus informed her, pulling her attention back to him. 'We both know you could never make the distance without my magic stopping you. You were always very fast on your feet, but even in your heyday you couldn't outrun magic at that distance.'
Naomi silently acknowledged it as the truth, but her mind kept turning anyway. 'I’m not going to help you.'
'Now, you don't even know what it is we're asking you to do.' He, too, sat on a wooden chair that appeared out of thin air and leaned back comfortably. 'Why not hear the proposition before you reject it?'
'I would sooner die than help you.'
'Well, it's a shame for you that you won't. Either way, you'll continue to live, but whether or not you decide to strike this bargain will define the manner and state that you live in.' He waited for some kind of further dissent from her, and when none came, he shrugged nonchalantly. 'The Pirate Wars have ended. Were you aware?'
'No,' she replied honestly. 'How long?'
'Two years ago.'
Two years. It was hard to believe that only four years ago she had been part of it. The two largest continents in Ilios, Tsumetai and Koren, had come to blows over a small set of islands, inhabited by lawless corsairs who raided the seaside villages and merchant ships of all three continents. The islands were technically part of the larger Koren, but in a bid to save his own people, the new Dragon King had signed them over to the pirates in exchange for safe passage to his ships and the instant halt to all attacks on his lands. Ffion had stayed well out of the turbulence that followed, seeing the wisdom behind the Dragon King's actions, but Tsumetai, who had thirteen of their seventeen largest cities situated along the coast, and a very lucrative shipping trade, felt that they had been betrayed by the Korenians. The pirate raids to Tsumetai were soon doubled, and the Emperor, furious at his losses, declared war against Koren.
With the war between the two larger continents taking place, little Ffion took the full force of the pirate raids. They had treaties with both Koren and Tsumetai, and with their resources all but used up in defending their ports and coastlines, it was decided they would remain neutral in the war. For Naomi however, this was not the case. Her mother was originally from Tsumetai, and as such, they had close relatives facing off against the powerful Korenians. At her mother’s behest, and without the knowledge of her father, she had snuck away and taken the first boat to the port of Fusashi, her mother’s home province.
She had only been sixteen at the time, but she had been well-trained in swordsmanship, archery, battle tactics, and basic healing from the age of six by Master Gerrard. Her father’s reputation as a formidable enemy on the field of combat had been hard won, and one that he was determined to see passed on to his only legitimate child. Naomi, in turn, and with a great deal of hard work, had earned her own reputation. Headstrong and foolish though, she had left her land in its darkest time to prove herself in war.
She had only come back to Ffion when a letter from her mother had found its way to her. Her mother begged her to return, intimating that Ffion was under an attack from within. Rushing back with as much haste as possible, Naomi had found her home burning, her mother dead, her father dying, and Adrienne insinuating herself as ruler, a title to which she had no claim.
'Koren was victorious in the end,' Cygnus informed her, jolting her from her dark reverie. 'The Dragon King was most kind in the treaty that followed, but I understand that the Tsumetese took quite a beating before it was all over.'
This news was yet another blow, and Naomi tried not to dwell on the possible fates of those last relatives she believed she had left in the whole of Ilios. She had sent her small cousin to Asuya, the capital, in the hopes that there would be refuge there. Now she wondered if any of them had survived.
'The corsairs rarely raid the coasts any more,' he continued lightly. 'It seems that with the security of land and their new leader, they're happy enough to steal from merchant ships, and almost always leave the crews alive. Of course, for us, this came too little too late. Trade has dwindled and the livestock is poor and underfed. This, of course, leads to poor and underfed peasants.'
'You don't think the men you led from fief to fief, burning and killing anyone who dared oppose her, had anything to do with that?' She shot a look of pure venom at Adrienne, but the woman seemed too intent in admiring the jewels littering her wrists and fingers to notice. 'Even though you sit there telling me how poor Ffion is now, how the people starve and the land dies, you both still dress in all your ill-gotten finery. And you wonder why someone wants to kill you?'
'No one wants to kill me.' Adrienne said smugly.
'Are you quite sure?' Naomi shot back, lifting her bloody hand where the glass had cut in.
'Now, ladies.' Cygnus moved between them, breaking Naomi's eye contact with the hateful woman. 'That isn't at all to do with why I told you this. My point is that the country is in decline, and the peasants are becoming...difficult. I’m sure you can understand that things would be far smoother if our dear Princess Adrienne became our dear Queen Adrienne?'
Naomi had been about to spit something scathing about Adrienne being neither, but found that she truly didn't have the energy. Her body ached, her face was swollen and painful, and talking only hurt. She was truly wasting her breath anyway, as Cygnus fully intended to say his piece without anyone ruining his plan. She knew that right now her best course of action was to remain perfectly still, hold her tongue, conserve her energy, and hope to the highest heaven that Adrienn
e would forget she was no longer bound. Just one good chance, that was all Naomi needed. She just had to be patient.
'For that to happen, she needs to marry into royalty,' Cygnus continued. 'We could have just changed the law, of course, but it was my opinion that this might rile the peasants even further. No one wants that, you'll agree. It would only lead to more devastation, and we have our interests to protect. A Kingdom isn't a Kingdom without subjects to rule.'
It was a stupid law, in Naomi's opinion. A female heir to the Redwood throne of Ffion couldn't inherit the title of Queen unless she married another royal. It was all bloodlines and sexism and general stupidity. She had never agreed with it, but now she found herself grateful to know it was causing her enemies a problem.
'Tsumetai wants nothing to do with us,’ Cygnus admitted. 'So that only left us with the Dragon King of Koren, who has graciously accepted.'
Both Adrienne and Cygnus were watching her intently now, and Naomi felt strange. She didn't see what any of this had to do with her. They were clearly driving at something, coming, at last, to the point, but she just couldn't even begin to fathom what it might be.
'The same Dragon King?' Naomi asked, in genuine interest. 'Arun the Fourteenth?'
Cygnus nodded slowly.
'What an idiot,' she said. 'And to think Mother praised him for having so much wisdom at such a young age. Tell me, has the lucky man met his future bride?'
'Not yet. He arrives tomorrow evening, and the wedding will take place the day after.'
'Ah, that explains it.' Naomi closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. 'Don't give him enough time to realise what he's getting himself into, and then it's too late.'
She heard Adrienne shift very quickly and opened her eyes again. She was disappointed to see she had only sat forward, looking livid once again, rather than coming close enough for an attack to be possible. Naomi just had to bait her a little more.
'Your idea, I think,' Naomi said, eyeing Cygnus. 'Much too clever for her to have come up with.'
Adrienne was again on her feet, but just as she was about to rush towards them, Cygnus held up his hand in warning. Adrienne stopped completely, and for a moment Naomi wondered if he had used his magic to hold her back. She then gave Naomi a very cold look, before turning and sitting back down again. So close.
'How much do you know about the Korenian marriage ritual?' asked Cygnus, lowering his hand.
'Not much,' she admitted. 'I know they aren't a particularly religious culture, that they think the gods help those who help themselves, but I couldn't really go into any detail about actual rites of passage.'
'You're quite right, poppet. They tend to not go much into prayer and ritual the way we do. Their traditions for such events are generally very private-'
'What does this have to do with me?' Naomi interrupted, growing impatient. They didn't seem to be going anywhere, and it was as if they somehow expected her to understand whatever it was they were hinting at. She was exhausted and bleeding and half-starved. She only had a limited amount of time before willpower alone wouldn’t be enough to keep her upright.
Cygnus seemed to debate how to respond to this, then laced his fingers and leaned forward in his chair. 'Do you understand that you have been kept alive solely because you could be used? I must admit, it took some convincing—Her Highness so wanted you dead--but I knew you would eventually be useful to us. '
'I know you need a body double,' said Naomi impatiently. 'You've made that much painfully obvious, despite that we look very little alike. But I don't understand why if there isn't an assassination threat, and trust me when I tell you I won't be helping prevent that.'
Cygnus pursed his lips, then spoke very slowly. 'The Korenians only marry once. It's a tradition of their people. When they do marry, they marry as virgins. You are a virgin, are you not?'
And there it was. Everything clicked into place. Very neat, very well planned. They wanted Naomi to be a substitute for Adrienne on her wedding night. She looked between Cygnus and Adrienne, and realised that they needed her to do this because there was more to their relationship. She had seen that he had some kind of hold on her, but it had never even infringed on her deepest thoughts that it might be... that. Of course, for Adrienne to be Queen, she and Cygnus couldn't marry, even if they wanted to. Naomi supposed the next best thing was to dupe another man into taking her, while possibly continuing their illicit affair behind his back. Horrific, but not at all shocking. At least, not by the standards that these two were usually capable of.
'No.'
'You will, of course, be heavily compensated for your maidenhead,' Cygnus assured her genially, ignoring her flat refusal. 'We are willing to give you something very valuable in exchange for your services.'
'No.'
'It has been an unfortunate complication that King Arun has stipulated his bride be a virgin, especially since she is, in fact, not, but I have personally assured her Highness that making a substitution will be easy enough.'
'No. It's ridiculous that you've even asked me.'
'Why? You haven't even heard what we're offering you.'
'It doesn't matter what you're offering me. Even if I did agree to do this monstrous thing, and I’m not going to, you have two days. It might be easy enough for you to forget, but I’ve been starved of light, food and exercise for the past four years. Even a complete fool would notice the difference.'
'Oh, that's nothing a little magic couldn't fix,' Cygnus shrugged. 'A basic glamour spell, a good strong wine with a pinch of something herbal over dinner, and a nice, dark room. He won't be able to tell.'
'Then why me? If you're going to cover me with a spell to alter my appearance, what difference does it make who you get to do it?'
'Because we have a hold over you that we don't have over anyone else.' Adrienne spoke at last, scathingly.
Cygnus shot a warning look at her, then spoke carefully. ‘Come now, poppet, you must realise you are the obvious choice.'
'And yet, I’m still not going to do it.'
Adrienne smirked then and Naomi knew that the hammer stroke was coming. 'Not even in exchange for your freedom?'
There was silence, no one even dared to breathe as this offer echoed around the large room. Naomi sat perfectly still for a long while, her eyes blank and unseeing. Her freedom? She had never even considered that she might be free again. The darkness of her cell pressing down against her, the cold seeping into her bones had extinguished all hope of such a thing. She had known that only death could await her after all that had passed, that it was the best she could hope for now. Taking Adrienne down with her as she went had been fleetingly attainable, but to be free... To go where she wished, to run again, to laugh from the pit of her stomach and do as she chose was a dream long since extinguished.
'You won't,' she whispered. 'You could never let me go, you know that. This is a trick.'
'Indeed it is not, my dear. You would be watched very carefully as you made your way to the coast, and needless to say, any trouble would result in your swift and immediate death, but so long as you left the country and never returned, your life would be your own.' Cygnus cocked his head. 'You have relatives in Tsumetai, do you not?'
She did have relatives in Tsumetai. She would find them, take care of them if they still lived, and honour their memory if they didn't. She could grow strong there, get back on her feet and hone her skills. If she could raise a rebellion against Adrienne, she would do it. If she couldn't, then a swift assassination by her own hands might be enough. She could avenge her family, in exchange for one night.
'How can I trust you?' Naomi asked, looking suspicious.
Cygnus only smiled as he spoke the words that would seal the deal. 'What choice do you have?'
Chapter Two
Hadrian Arun, Fourteenth Dragon King of Koren, looked pensively into the goblet of wine cradled between his hands. It had been a long, trying day and he was sorry to think it wasn't over yet. He wanted nothing more than to a
llow the bitter wine to lull him into the peaceful slumber it promised and forget all the cares of the day. Unfortunately for him, he still had one more duty to perform before he could rest, and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to forget about it entirely.
Reluctantly raising his gaze from the wine, he watched his bride from across the room. She was beautiful, certainly. He had no qualms in that quarter. Sadly, her beauty seemed to be the only thing she had in her favour. She was foolish, vain, and even from just their brief acquaintance, he believed that she was also cruel. They had been deliberately kept apart for as much of the day as the crafty Lord Cygnus could manage, given the circumstances, and that Arun could already see all these negative traits concerned him deeply. He looked away from the Princess and scanned the expressions on his own people's faces. Considering this was supposed to be a wedding, no one seemed at all pleased.
'It's an insult that you should be seated anywhere except at the head table,' seethed his cousin, Rayan, from beside him. 'Especially while she hangs and simpers over her Chancellor in such a way.'
Arun's mouth twitched in slight amusement at his cousin's outrage, before he shrugged and looked back down into his wine. 'Perhaps we'll be lucky and find she doesn't fulfil the requirements after all.'
The full weight of his words seemed to darken the mood even further. It was disgraceful to even think she might not be a virgin after his very strict stipulations. Still, it would at least mean that the marriage could be nullified, and that was something he already found himself hoping for. It was a sad state of affairs.
'Don’t even joke about it,' the older man cautioned. ‘There’s too much at stake for you personally, as well as for the Kingdom.’
‘I know, I know.’ he sighed, taking another mouthful of wine and wincing slightly at the nasty after-taste. The stipulation of virginity was a tradition of his people, dating back to the very beginning of their civilisation. The Korenians believed they, particularly his own family, the royal line of Hadrian, were anciently descended from the dragons. For a marriage to be successful, both participants must be pure on their wedding night. The dragons mated for life, and so did his people. He could testify to many frustrating years of adolescence on his own part, but watching the way Princess Adrienne’s hands kept slipping beneath the table to Lord Cygnus’ lap made him wonder how much of a risk he really was taking here.