CHAPTER ONE #2
He had a lot of nerve greeting me warmly, given that we’d broken up after he’d cheated on me with my former best friend.
You’d think that would be the worst thing he could do to me, but nope, he’d also stolen my savings.
I’d desired to never see him again, and it only depressed me that he’d clearly done well for himself since we’d last met since he’d joined the escort of the princess.
Rings gleamed on his fingers, his collar was made of snow-white fur, and he wore one of those extremely expensive blue triangular hats with an ostrich feather sticking out.
Meanwhile, I had started to sweat and was bundled up in my dirty traveling clothes.
Nothing worse than running into an ex when you look like shit.
To my horror, I realized he was attempting to kiss me on the lips, not the cheek. I pushed his forehead back with my palm before he could touch me. “Falael, let’s not play games. I don’t like you. We didn’t part on good terms. Get back in your carriage and comfort the princess.”
The crowd around us murmured. Although they gave more space to someone who looked like a nobleman, I could feel curious stares beating into me.
Just like Falael to always make a scene.
Once upon a time, I’d believed his claims to be a victim of the constant drama going on around him.
I’d been young and stupid back then, not realizing that he was the drama.
Falael pouted. “I understand. I broke your heart.” He pulled my hand off his forehead and attempted to take off my mitten to kiss it.
I yanked my hand back, but he held on to my wrist. Who the hell had a broken heart?
In retrospect, dumping me had been the best thing Falael had ever done for me.
But I knew it would be pointless to tell him so.
Falael lived in his own world, where he’d never done anything wrong in his entire life. I’d wasted enough of my time on him.
This walking ball of oil and perfume couldn’t be reasoned with. I only smiled and said, “Indeed, I pined so terribly for you that I developed a skin disease. Rare and highly contagious.”
Upper lip curling, Falael stared at me. He must have suspected I was bluffing, but rather than risk it, he finally released my hand.
A woman, perhaps a decade or two older than me, stepped out of the carriage.
Long platinum-blonde hair fell over a shiny round face with two small blue eyes.
Even without taking into account her pointy lace hat and heels, she towered over everyone else.
Her puffy jet-black dress had been embroidered with thousands of black diamonds.
Voluptuous curves nearly fell out of the silver-armored bodice.
She was fat, and I could say that without judgment because I was, too.
I’d spent years struggling with that word before deciding to embrace it.
But I could still only aspire to carry myself with half of her style and magnificence.
She wore several necklaces and multiple rings on each finger.
Unlike Falael, she could pull off that much bling due to the confidence in her ramrod-straight posture.
The single red ruby on her bodice gave away her identity: Duchess Hedri of Sherda, widely known as the Blood Duchess.
Officially, Hedri was called the Blood Duchess because of her ruby, a national treasure said to have once been part of a dragon’s hoard. Unofficially, people whispered that she murdered maids and bathed in their blood. The baths were an old wives’ tale, the dead servants sadly a fact.
People whispered and started backing away from me. Duchess Hedri fixed her beady gaze on my face. “Who is this woman, Falael?” She spat out woman in a tone most people reserved for words like cockroach.
Falael beamed that oblivious smile a much younger me had found charming. “This is Bora, an old lover of mine.”
She glared at him. “You’re cheating on me yet again?” Her bosom heaved like a ship in a storm. A crimson color filled her face.
I rapidly shook my head. “Whoa, no, no cheating going on here. Not even so much as a flirtation.”
Falael tossed back his hair. “Can I help it if I’m irresistible?”
“I’m extremely resistant,” I growled. “He cheated on you, too? You have my sympathies. He went after my best friend—my only friend at the time, sadly.” I attempted a weak smile.
My knees shook. I didn’t like the hard twist in the Blood Duchess’s mouth.
“We should support each other. Sisterhood of women, am I right?”
Without looking at me, Duchess Hedri said, “Kill her.” To Falael, she said, “Let that be a lesson to you.”
My head felt light. She couldn’t possibly mean it. The Blood Duchess was notorious for killing anyone who displeased her, but this wasn’t her country. She couldn’t just stroll into Arahasnor and start murdering citizens.
A single tear trickled down Falael’s cheek. He clasped his hands together. “No! Darling, you know whatever my body might do, my heart always belongs to you. Please don’t be angry at me.” He hastened after the duchess as she headed for the carriage, clutching at her dress.
His melodramatic tone almost convinced me this was all an unfunny joke. Unfortunately, I knew Falael well enough to absolutely believe that he would try to kiss me in front of his extremely jealous and powerful lover, then make my imminent demise all about him.
I had to get out of there. I barreled toward the retreating crowd, hoping to lose myself among the people.
I’d barely taken two steps before my body froze. The coachman stared me down, his eyes glowing. He must have a paralyzing stare gift.
Falael clutched the duchess’s arm. “She threw herself at me and tried to kiss me! Please believe me, darling.”
Although I tried to object, only a strangled moan emerged from my frozen lips.
Duchess Hedri’s stern look softened. “Of course I believe you, my love.” She bent down and kissed him. The two of them seemed to be trying to rip each other’s tonsils out with their tongues. Loud smacking sounds filled the air.
The guards around the carriage averted their faces. At least they weren’t murdering me. Maybe I’d been forgotten?
The duchess broke free of the embrace. “I need to kill any other woman who dared touch you, past or future. But I’ll buy you a new ring to make up for it, my handsome stallion.”
“I want a diamond ring this time,” Falael said, climbing into the carriage.
Just let me break free of this fucking paralyzation for one second! I’ll kill them both, then die satisfied!
A Sherdan guard approached me, raising his sword. His face was as impassive as a butcher about to slaughter a pig. The dim sunlight gleamed off the blade hanging over my head.
I couldn’t even move my tongue or close my eyes. Was this truly how I was going to die? The unfairness burned. Did I deserve to pay with my life just because I’d had poor taste in lovers when I’d been a teenager? Didn’t almost everyone date a scumbag or two when young?
As the sword fell, a blurred red figure burst forth from the crowd. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the guard’s sword flying. It struck the cobblestones with a clatter, startling the horses.
Countess Donya stood in front of me with her blade raised.
She wore a red coat with a slit down the side and pants underneath, exactly like in her activism posters.
The tight fit emphasized her muscular beauty.
Her dark brown hair tumbled from beneath her red hat in a tangle like a wild woman.
“Don’t take one more step forward,” she growled at the guards.
That was the precise moment I fell for her.
Duchess Hedri whirled around, her mouth a thin line. “Who are you to defy me?”
Donya panted, pushing back her hair. “I’m Countess Donya, the future queen’s new regent.” She inclined her head at the girl in the carriage. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”
The young face pressed against the window paled and dropped out of sight. She had tears in her eyes, the poor thing. These people were twisted for making a child watch my near demise.
Duchess Hedri smirked. “Not any longer. As the princess’s adoptive mother, I will serve as her regent.”
“You’re not even from Arahasnor. You have no authority here.
” Donya frowned. “I was unaware of this adoption. I suppose you’d be welcome to stay—that is to say, it would be acceptable for you to stay—we couldn’t stop you from staying in this country, but only so long as you refrain from attacking our citizens. ”
The Blood Duchess snapped her fingers. “Falael?”
He leaned out of the carriage and gave her a scroll.
Duchess Hedri handed it to Donya. “King Uctor of Arahasnor agreed to allow the Kingdom of Sherda to select the regent for Princess Antonia, in event of his death without an heir. We won this favor in the last World Games. Your regency and your kingdom now belong to me.”
If I hadn’t been frozen, I would have cursed.
I’d known our late King Uctor was a moron—honestly, the entire kingdom knew; even royal propaganda couldn’t cover it up—but this was an entirely new level of stupid.
Anything could be won or lost in the World Games, where monarchs wagered land and wealth as a proxy for war.
Under-the-table dealings and private wagers were common.
But to let your entire damn kingdom get stolen out from under you might be a completely new one, and to make matters worse, he’d arranged for this to happen after his death so it wouldn’t be his problem.
If a Sherdan noble became regent, we might as well be a province of Sherda.
Also, I was still going to die. This was small in the geopolitical scheme of things, but it sucked for me.