CHAPTER TEN #2
I raised a hand to touch my aching temples.
Someone had bandaged my head injury. I’d also been changed into a lacy nightgown.
Even if it had been necessary, it was still unnerving to have been changed in my sleep.
Looking down at my thick, pale, naked thighs, I felt an even stronger sense of disconnect.
Did it even matter who touched this body?
It wasn’t mine. But it was still unpleasant.
I felt a grumbling in my stomach and an ache in my back from where I’d slept wrong.
If only I could leave and get back to my own comfortable skin.
“May we come in?” Araceli called.
“Yes,” I replied in a hoarse voice. I could use someone to stop me from being alone with my thoughts.
Araceli entered, wearing a maid’s uniform. She tugged the young Queen Antonia behind her. “Antonia—Her Majesty—heard about your injuries and wanted to see you.”
“Just call me by name when we’re alone. It feels weird otherwise.” Antonia pointed at my bandage. “Did people do that to you because they thought you were the real duchess?”
“Err …” I glanced at Araceli for help. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want a child to blame herself either.
Gently but firmly, Araceli said, “They did. That’s why we’re researching to help Bora return to her correct body.”
Antonia gnawed at her lip and peered up at me from under her lashes. “You must be angry at me. I understand. I wouldn’t want to turn into the duchess, either. She’s mean and a lot of people don’t like her.”
I winced. “This situation isn’t ideal, but I don’t blame you. It was an accident. And if you hadn’t swapped us, the duchess would have killed Donya before I could stop her.”
“I don’t want the real duchess back.” Antonia looked at her golden slippers. “But I don’t want you to get hurt either. And I don’t want to be hurt myself.”
“I promise I won’t leave you with that horrible woman,” I said. “We’ll get rid of her and let Donya be your regent instead.”
Araceli nodded. “That’s right. If Arahasnor doesn’t allow executions, then there’s always poison. A friend of mine has poison that can melt someone’s innards. We can make sure she suffers for all the pain she caused us.”
I frowned. Was that an acceptable thing to say in front of a child? But Antonia looked thrilled. She bounced up and down. “Finally she’ll die instead of other people! It’s a promise!”
I worried about this kid.
Just when my last set of visitors had left and I’d started to drift off, someone new knocked on my door.
“Huh?” I called in a sleepy voice.
“It’s Donya. How are you feeling? Should I come back later?”
“Ahhhhhh!” I sat up and started straightening my hair. I must look a fright, with my forehead bandaged and one of my nails chipped in my fall.
Why did it matter? This wasn’t my body. But I still didn’t want Donya to see me like this. I gave up taming my hair for fear I’d disturb my bloody bandages.
“Are you all right?” she called. “I thought I heard a cry of pain. Should I summon the doctor again?”
“No, no, I’m fine, I was just …” I didn’t have an excuse. “Come in!”
As Donya entered my bedroom, I yanked my sheets up to my neck to cover as much of my body as possible and huddled in my burrow of pillows like a small furry animal.
Donya took a seat by my bed. “We need to talk about the fallout of arresting a diplomatic representative.”
I chuckled nervously. “How much trouble am I in?”
“I don’t blame you, Bora. Not one bit. What Arrand tried to do …
” Donya’s mouth flattened into a thin line.
“I’m furious, too. There was no other way to stop him.
He had permission from the real duchess to bring his Gifted Knights into the city and use them against civilians.
Taking him hostage was a reckless move—but it worked.
We successfully forced everyone connected to the guild to leave the city by threatening Arrand’s life. ”
“Oh.” I gnawed on my lip. It surprised me that anyone cared about him, but I figured he paid their wages. “What about the debt?”
Donya rubbed her forehead. “We can’t pay that debt.
We simply can’t. I’ve run the numbers thousands of times …
and we don’t have the money. Not if we sold this entire palace.
I suppose just flat out refusing to pay them was unethical, but not as unethical as handing over our innocent civilians to cover the late king’s reckless spending. ”
“They’re going to complain to the Conclave of Kings.”
“I’m sure they will. But complaints take time. Dark Lord Kaine built up an army while the Conclave was still trying to figure out what to do about him. Ideally, I hope we can swap you back before the Conclave acts.”
I sat up straighter, my headache lessening slightly. “That would be perfect! Let’s make this whole mess the real duchess’s problem! Have you found her yet?”
Donya winced. “No, I haven’t. I assumed that she would head back to Sherda … but either I guessed wrong or she slipped past our guards. We’re still looking, I swear.”
“Oh.” I sagged back down. Although I told myself that I couldn’t swap back even if we found her, it didn’t assuage my worries. For all I knew, my body could already be dead. I was stuck in this palace and couldn’t even help with the search.
“I’m reaching out to all my contacts, seeking someone with a gift for searching for people across long distances. In the worst-case scenario, I suspect the duchess will come back to us at some point. She must want her body back.”
“I hope so,” I muttered, picking at the flab on my arm. I didn’t want to be stuck in this unfamiliar meat shell. My real body had my freckles and curly hair like my brother Calum. I wanted that connection to him back. “Uh … if she comes back, won’t she have a revenge plan?”
“We’ll have to handle that as it happens.
We have a more urgent situation.” Donya folded her arms. “I came here to talk to you about the debt situation. You promised to pay off all the king’s debt to the citizens who prepared for the World Games, but we don’t have that money, either.
” Her tone held a note of reluctance, as if she didn’t like what she was about to say.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
“I told you, I’m not blaming you. It was the only way to defuse the mob at the time. I have an idea, but I need your help.”
“I’ll do anything.”
“Don’t agree so quickly.” Donya frowned.
“This could be risky and difficult. Here’s the problem: Our treasury is empty.
After the damage to the city due to the undead rampage and the unpaid wages after the World Games, the people can’t afford increased taxes.
Selling your jewelry will only put a dent in the debt.
We need the nobility to cough up the money. ”
“Raise their taxes,” I said.
“That’s not so easy. Nobility don’t pay taxes, technically—they pay tribute.
Though I’ve heard the terms used interchangeably by people.
The amount is settled as a result of the National Games.
Just like in the World Games, the monarch and the nobility each swear life-oaths to abide by the outcome of the competition.
It can’t be changed until the next National Games. But you’re in an unusual position.”
“I’m a peasant pretending to be a duchess. I have no life-oaths.”
“Exactly! You can break the agreement between the crown and the nobility and demand a higher tribute. Because King Uctor fared so poorly in the Games, tribute has been low for a long time, and I know they have the money. Even though you’re not oathbound to anyone, the nobles are still bound to you, so they won’t be able to refuse.
They can and will complain, but they’ll have to hand over the money.
We’re in a unique position with you due to the body theft.
You’re the only monarch who could become a total tyrant, because you’re not the real duchess. ”
Slowly, I said, “Even if they’re suspicious, they can’t act against me without proof that I’m not the real duchess. They’ll complain to the Conclave of Kings, but that takes time, like you said.”
“Exactly!” Donya nodded. “We can take their money and use it to pay off the government’s debts to our citizens.
Furthermore, because you’re not under the influence of any life-oaths, you can also threaten the representatives of the other two countries who are planning to show up and try to take over our kingdom.
I couldn’t attack a diplomatic representative the way you did today.
” Donya touched her chest. “My life-oath would have killed me. The real duchess couldn’t, either. But you can.”
Because I was a peasant. I’d never been important enough to swear a life-oath before I got swapped with Duchess Hedri. The delicate system binding together the power structure of this world simply didn’t apply to me.
“Then we’ll swap you back, and leave the Blood Duchess and Sherda to take all the blame with the Conclave of Kings.
Sherda will probably renounce the duchess if she’s seen as going too far.
We’ll kill the duchess before she can reveal anything.
” Donya’s tone was uneasy when speaking of murder, but she didn’t shy away from the words.
“We can let the Blood Duchess be the villainess while we do what must be done to save the kingdom.”
My fingers clenched around the blankets. “I’ll do it.”
Donya shifted. “Bora, I want to be sure you understand what I’m asking when I say that we’re going to make you into the villainess.
You’ll threaten powerful people. You’ll have to commit high treason.
Ideally, everyone will blame the duchess.
In the second-best scenario, we’ll pin this on an unnamed imposter.
But if anyone ever finds out that it’s you in there, then you’d be accountable for all those crimes.
We’re talking crimes on an international scale.
The Conclave would never stop hunting you. ”
I understood perfectly. We didn’t actually have the duchess captured or any way to guarantee I could be swapped back. The plan was to leave the duchess holding all the blame in the end. But if anyone found out the truth first, then I’d be executed for these crimes.
But I’d been the one who put Donya in this position with my reckless decision to arrest Arrand and my promise to the mob to pay off the crown’s debt. I had no right to refuse to do what needed to be done to dig us out of this mess.
“I know.” I met Donya’s eyes. “I’ll do it. I’ll become your villainess.”