World Devoted

by Emily Albert

  “Hey,” Lenna snapped. “I need to talk to you.”

  Devon jerked his head up, then sighed knowingly. “You should sit.”

  “No, I think I’ll stand.”

  Devon nodded sadly. “Okay”

  “I was wrong about Ollivan,” she said slowly. “He told me that Grace came to him asking him to become King, which makes much more sense. He said no to her.”

  “I know. And I knew you would figure it out.”

  “What? You knew about this? She said something to the advisors to make them say it, didn’t she?”

  He sat up straight and nodded.

  “How could you let this happen? You told me you thought I would be a great queen, you knew this was the worst thing that could ever happen to me, and you sat there with your head down and watched it happen! Were you involved in it?”

  “Lenna, I’ve been dismissed from Parliament.”

  Lenna was stopped short. “What?”

  “Because I tried to stop it. For you.”

  Lenna sat, her legs feeling weak. “Why would you do that?”

  Devon laughed joylessly. “It doesn’t matter, Lenna.”

  “But… what did you do?”

  “I overheard Grace talking to some of her friends about it. Only she said something about not telling the advisors right away… About knowing how to sneak around to get what she wants. That’s her specialty, she said. I didn’t say anything to the other advisors or Parliament because I thought I could handle it better than them. They would just give in if her plans were as grand as they sounded. So I… I went to Grace instead.”

  Lenna shook her head. She knew how that would play out.

  “Yes, I know, it was foolish. I threatened her. I told her that I knew people who could hurt her, who could make her life miserable or kick her out of the castle. The details don’t matter, and I won’t tell you, because I feel like an idiot. I shouldn’t have done it. But I said if she didn’t back down… But she wasn’t scared. So self-assured, always. She said she would tell them herself.”

  “You tried to take down Grace for me?” Lenna couldn’t help but laugh. He had to know it was an impossible task.

  “She did tell them herself. She told them Ollivan was going to be King no matter what. She made a pretty convincing argument, too. An older, respected king who already has experience… But the most convincing part was when she threatened us, saying she had a way to negate every decision we would make to let you rise. And if we defied her, she would have us and our families… ‘taken out of the picture.’”

  Lenna closed her eyes for a moment. “We can’t even doubt her. She knows people. She could even have people helping her in Parliament. Even her husband, friends, and friends’ husbands have connections. She was the Queen’s lady, and people connected to the Queen are connected to everyone.” All her advisors were turned against her. Even if it was against their will.

  “Right,” Devon said, sounding defeated. “She is connected to important people, no doubt. But when I was heated and ready to fight, I… I didn’t even think.”

  His eyes became intense when he said, “I would have done something, Lenna. I would have exposed her, except she had already exposed herself to the only people that matter, and they’re not going to do anything. She told the rest of Parliament, too, and made it so they have no choice but to put Ollivan on the throne.”

  “But why were you dismissed?”

  “She made me stand next to her. She grabbed my arm and told them I was working with her. That I was in Parliament and therefore had enough power to do this. ‘That’s why you’re always so quiet,’ they said. ‘Because you’re spying on us.' I denied it, of course. We all know there are people in power using it for manipulation, but they’re wrong about me. Grace is so… so persuasive. There was no getting out of it.”

  Lenna’s fire hadn’t extinguished, not completely. On the surface, she was warm and glowing from Devon fighting for her, even losing his title for her. But her core was burning, and that was hard to ignore.

  She stood, her chair screaming as it scraped the wood floor. Devon flinched and put his head in his hands.

  “Don’t follow me,” Lenna said.

  She ran around the castle again, this time looking for Grace. She turned out to be in the kitchen, sampling the pastries with sticky fingers.

  They both looked around at the chefs and servants surrounding them. “What can I do for you, your Highness?” Grace said dramatically.

  “I know what you did,” Lenna said louder than she had to. The workers slowed down, ears perked up their ears without turning their heads.

  Grace smiled, a pastry halfway to her mouth. “I have no idea what you’re talking about… Oh, with the sweets?” She pointed to the tart in her hand, looking innocent. “I was just tasting…”

  “Don’t bother.”

  “So Lord Stantio told you. I thought he might. He was my first bet.”

  “No, Devon didn’t tell me. It was pretty easy to figure out. You’re not the sharpest of ladies.”

  Grace gave one of her sickening smiles. “It doesn’t really matter if you know it was me. You can’t do anything to stop me, not without your cronies.”

  Lenna rose an eyebrow. “No?” She inched closer to her, watching all the curious onlookers. “I can execute you in a second, don’t you know that?”

  “Again,” Grace said plainly, “Not without your cronies.” She put a whole tart in her mouth and spoke through the food. “That’s becoming quite the idle threat, isn’t it, your Highness?”

  Knock her down. Show her your power. Show the world what happens when people get in your way.

  “Let’s just say you were warned.” Lenna shoved her shoulder as she walked away, wearing a small smile past the nosy servants.

  ○○○

  Lenna walked civilly into to the following meeting she called. It was more of a saunter than a walk, really, but she smiled at each person as she entered. At the unnatural gesture, they went from looking at her with fear to avoiding looking at her altogether.

  “Hello everyone. I have called this meeting to check on the status of my title. Have there been any changes?”

  Alliah said reluctantly, “I’m afraid not, your Highness. We still believe the best course of action is to let Ollivan become King or allow Remy to be released and given a fair chance.”

  “Right, see, I thought that you would say that. And I know why you did.” She pointed to her head and smiled a little too wide. She saw one lord shiver. “It has come to my attention that a friend of mine, Lady ft, told you to stop me from becoming Queen. Is that true?”

  Every single advisor was silent.

  “Answer me! Is that true?” She punctuated each of the last words with a pound on the table.

  The elder Alea said, “She came to us, it’s true, but…”

  Lenna raised her eyebrows at her. “What, are you going to say it was your idea too, that you were trying to stop me of your own volition? Because I wouldn’t say that if I were you. Right now, I am inclined to believe that my advisors believe in me and want me to become Queen. I wouldn’t spoil that.”

  “Of course we do, but…” Alea said.

  Lenna looked at her threateningly. “I have enough people to be angry at right now, and I need my advisors to be on my side. So if you are, great. If you’re not, shut your mouth and pretend that you are.”

  Still, everyone was quiet.

  “Good,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Good. Well, if you agree to ignore Grace and change your decision, we won’t have a problem. So, what’s it going to be?”

  The advisors looked terrified, even more so than before. A couple looked up as if they would speak but didn’t.

  “You know that this is treason? At the moment, Grace, as well as all of you, are traitors. We can execute Grace. I think that’s the best solution. Then we won’t have to worry about her. I’m sure you all would agree. We execute her, and then I can become Queen. Simple.”
/>
  “Your Highness…” Ricard stammered, “We can’t just…”

  “Why not? It’s our decision. Isn’t that what you have all been trying to drill into my head? That this team has the power? It’s possible, and it would solve our problem.”

  “There are consequences…”

  “You think that consequences apply to the Queen?”

  “Well…”

  “Princess, there are other people who would—”

  This time Lenna banged on the table as well as stomped her foot. “When I become Queen, no one can touch me! I can do anything, and people will accept it because, well, if the Queen does it, it has to be right.”

  There was a long silence before Arton straightened and said, “I think we need to stay the course.”

  Lenna glowered at them and growled, “You’re all cowards. I’ll give you one week. And if none of you can muster up the courage to do something in that time, I’ll take matters into my own hands.”

  She figured the advisors might picture her confronting Grace, or holding an announcement to expose her to the whole castle, or at worst, putting her in the dungeon like Remy. Like she couldn’t possibly go through with anything more than that. But Lenna fantasized about the most intense, gruesome, satisfying things she could do to her.

  Sweet encouragement rang through her head. Do what you must to take down your obstacles.

  She could break into her room at night and smother her with her own pillow until she lay still, then do the same to her husband to get rid of the witness. Perhaps there was an elusive illness that killed the couple. She could drag her into the woods and maim her, making it look like an animal attack. The easiest thing to do would be to hire one of the hitmen lurking in the castle. He would take care of it swiftly and silently. It was possible someone with a grudge was out to get Grace. After all, it would soon be revealed that she had slept with Dayara’s husband. Apparently, she had also been reading people’s private letters so she could blackmail them—that part Lenna suspected was true. There were other scandals as well—perhaps people had not heard about them yet, but they would soon. How could Grace do such terrible things? Anyone would have reacted with a backlash. What a tragic death… so well-deserved.

  ○○○

  As promised, one week later Lenna stood in front of her advisors at the same huge, wood table. Not a single one could look at her for more than a few seconds. They remained stuck to their chairs out of fear, obedience, or both.

  Make them yours. You’ll see. They’ll have to help you. You’re their queen.

  “I’m assuming it has slipped your minds once again that this is treason,” Lenna began. “And I’m not just talking about what Grace has done. I’m talking about all of you keeping it from me, going along with her treason, her manipulation, and trying to unjustly deprive your princess of her rightful throne.”

  She paused dramatically.

  “I assume it has also slipped your minds that treason is punishable by death. Sure, I won’t have my advisors or Parliament to help me, but the entire castle—the entire kingdom—will want the traitors dead. With my people behind me, I could have you all knocked down. I would have you all executed together, I think—a group hanging would be too simple and clean for this crime. Maybe I would have you battle or shoot at each other until you have all dropped. You’ve stuck together for so long—perhaps it’s time to switch things up. How does that sound?”

  Despite going pale, no one budged.

  “I can do far worse than Grace. Why are you so scared of her?”

  A young lord said quietly, “She told us she would kill our family members if we didn’t cooperate… And then every one of us. She said she knows people who can make it happen.”

  “Yes, so I’ve heard. But let me do you one better. Death is too easy, I think. It’s an easy way of silencing your opponents. Effective, but I can keep you alive, only to make your lives miserable. I’m not afraid to do that.”

  Not too eager, child. You’ll fall over the edge of the ledge you’re standing on.

  She wouldn’t fall. She wasn’t afraid.

  She started by looking at Alliah, who sat next to her. “I’ve seen you with that duchess. What’s her name? Dalia? No one knows about that, but they could. You’re easy.”

  She turned to Coron Orson. “A little bird told me some things were missing from the apothecary, and also the kitchen. I also saw someone drinking a very odd-colored potion when he thought nobody was watching. If I wanted to, I could put two and two together. Wouldn’t be hard.”

  Her heart raced. She tried to deny the excitement; she was only doing this to protect herself.

  Careful. Don’t fall.

  Next to him was Vanette’s father, Drew Sinclair. She gave him a sick smile. “Your beautiful daughter Vannette? You remember her. She’s mine now. When the Queen—or even the Princess—owns someone, she can do to them what she wishes.” Lenna paused. “She has beautiful auburn hair, doesn’t she? And that porcelain skin… It would be a shame if something were to happen to all those good looks. And she’s marrying age, is she not?” Drew gave her a cold look but didn’t say anything.

  She took a long, dramatic breath before looking at Alea. “You have children too, do you not? I heard your little Emmy is sick. I’ve heard the doctors in the infirmary say it’s a tough case. I can’t imagine how devastating it would be for you if the infirmary decided she was beyond help and gave up. Wow, what a loss it would be.”

  A part of her was glad Devon was not here to watch this. She was even happier that she didn’t have to threaten him.

  Lenna went around like this for all twenty advisors. When she was done, she looked around at them with a small smile. “See, the difference between me and Grace is that she lurks in the shadows, letting other people do her dirty work, while I—I am not afraid of getting dirty. I am not afraid at all… Just something to think about.”

  Twenty-Eight

  The garden was stiflingly hot on that summer afternoon. Lenna had come from the courtyard, trying to flee the memories of Kendra and Remy. She needed time to think, and thoughts of her past had impeded that. She couldn’t be the new person she wanted to be if she was haunted by her old weaknesses.

  Trying to escape her memories were futile, however. With the garden came her mother. No matter how beautiful and bright it was, visions of counting games and skipping through flowers with Fay were unstoppable.

  The memories and reflection of her past were dangerous, making Lenna think things like, “Who am I?” and “What has happened to me?” In the vacant garden, she succumbed to the thoughts of how different she had become. She wasn’t the happy, carefree child she had once been. She had grown up and was claiming the power and title she had always wanted. But she saw herself sinking deeper and deeper into the desire for that power, deeper than even her guardian wanted. It had warned her time after time to hold herself together, but that was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated. She craved the thrill that came with screaming, fighting, scheming.

  She found herself by the big fountain in the center of the branching garden paths. She ambled over to it, not knowing why. When she was close enough to be splashed by droplets of water, she examined it. It was the fountain that she and her friends had played in as children. They would splash around in the cool water on hot days and come back soaking wet to their angry mothers. She had been happy then. She had not even dreamed of anything bad happening in her future. Even the year before her mother had died, she had been happily innocent. Now she couldn’t go anywhere without her cheerful childhood memories haunting her instead of giving her hope.

  She put one foot up on the low wall and her lavender skirt got wet.

  “Come on!” her friend Avery had said. “It’s the perfect temperature. Come in, Lenna!”

  Her friend Sierra had laughed and said, “Our mothers will be furious!” Even though the two were already in the water.

  Lenna had stepped in with them, becoming cold a
nd wet in an instant. She had splashed her friends, and they splashed back. They hadn’t cared that Lenna was a princess, and she was free to be a child.

  Now she watched the water creep up her dress and felt nothing. She stepped up onto the edge of the fountain, curious as to whether she could summon any kind of fond feelings, feelings that could give back her innocence; she couldn’t. These places with their ancient memories meant nothing to her now. She was no longer a fragile child. She was different, stronger, more powerful, and it was a wondrous thing.

  She played with the idea of stepping into the water just as she felt something odd, like an itch on her back. She turned around, and her heart jumped as she saw Ollivan standing in the clearing around the fountain, smiling at her.

  Lenna jumped down. “Get away from me! What are you doing?”

  “Sorry, my lion. It’s good to see you here again, where you used to play.”

  “Were you watching me?” Lenna narrowed her eyes at him and wiped her wet hands on her dress.

  “I was just taking a walk through your mother’s favorite place and happened to stumble upon you. I’ve only been here for a moment.”

  Lenna sat on the wall, still getting sprinkled with cold water. “Okay, fine.”

  Ollivan gestured to the space beside her. “May I?”

  Lenna shrugged. He sat with her on the wall, in earshot but with some distance between them.

  They sat in silence for a long moment, both slowly getting drenched. They took each other in, trying not to let the other know. Even without expensive royal clothing, Ollivan had the air of someone rich, someone who used to own everything around him. But he had clearly been tempered since his days as King. He seemed trustworthy now, quiet and resigned with age. It was as if all he had taken away from his rule was wisdom.

  There is no reason to trust him. He only wants to destroy you like you destroyed yourself. Taking power is your destiny.

  Lenna said simply, “I can’t trust you.”

  Ollivan looked ahead at the garden patiently. “I understand that. I’m trying to take away what you think is your destiny, right?”