Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
B etween staying up late teaching Drake the ways of upper Fae, then waking throughout the night to do a circuit of the house and check he was still in his bed alone instead of joined by one of my sisters somewhere, I had gotten very little sleep.
My ma-mar had had another feast waiting for us for breakfast and after our dinner last night, I truly couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten so well.
I was glad to be on the road to the palace because our presence was a danger to them – not to mention the danger presented by Drake’s wandering cock - but I was sad too.
I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with my family as I’d have liked since I’d joined the Royal Guard and it made me think of all I’d missed out on during our time apart.
But sacrifices had to be made to free my mother from Marik’s so-called charity.
I shuddered, a violent hatred for that man rising me more keenly and making the scars along my back tingle with the echo of his whip.
I finally became distracted as we closed in on the palace walls, our camels laden with the gold that would buy Drake’s way into the pageant, my mind hooking on the princess and her Unveiling today.
I'd nearly lost my life for looking upon her face and now a lowly thief was going to see it for free. The entire kingdom would be permitted to see it, in fact. Yet still, the empire I’d devoted my life to had been willing to torture and execute me for the simple crime of having seen her early.
I wasn’t one to pout, but the injustice of that fact did sting.
My spine prickled as I tried to shake the strange emotion that had me in its clutches. It was so rare to me that it took me a moment to realise what it was. Jealousy. The acidic, burning kind that drove deep into my gut and stirred my demons from their slumber.
Drake’s not going to win the pageant anyway. And it's not like I am any more worthy than him to see her face.
Marik’s words carried to me from the past and I felt them root deep, never to be cut out. “You are worth less than the dirt you walk on, Two-Eighty-Seven!”
We approached the outer gates to the palace where a crowd had gathered. Drake lifted his chin and cheers went up from some of the civilians, but more still grumbled and glowered, the Royal Guard out in force to keep them back.
“Where was our invite?!” a woman hollered, her face twisting with disgust as she spat at the feet of Drake’s camel before a guard roughly pushed her aside.
I frowned around at the crowd, surprised to find a lot of them in the well-worn and simple clothing favoured by those who lived in the outer rings of the city.
I knew that this event had been heralded across the whole of Osaria, but I had assumed the majority of the crowd would be made up by the upper Fae.
“Why have they come if they aren’t excited to see you arrive?” I muttered, drawing closer to Drake and shifting my hand to the pommel of my sword as I glanced around uneasily, my instincts telling me that I needed to be on edge here.
Drake scoffed softly, shaking his head at me without once letting the smile slip from his face. “Are you truly so ignorant as that?” he asked beneath his breath, and I noticed his own hand had moved closer to the dagger at his hip.
“As what?” I asked, my gaze scanning the crowd again.
I had seen the odd gathering of unhappy civilians at the palace gates before, but they usually came to protest against tax rises or make their voices heard when begging for more funding for medical care or housing for the poor.
I’d never seen them gather when nobles arrived at the palace for events like this.
What would they hope to gain from this display?
“This pageant will see hundreds of nobles from all over The Twelve Kingdoms arrive in Osaria,” Drake said, his tone patient, as if explaining something obvious to a small child.
“There will be feasts, balls, galas, all kinds of events laid on with gluttony and wealth as the main guests. How do you think that makes the people who are watching their families slowly starve day after day feel?”
“But the arrival of so many people to the capital will surely result in more money being spread throughout the city,” I protested, my gaze shifting over the crowd who looked almost on the edge of turning into a mob. “All kinds of purchases will be made, and many will benefit from-”
“Those merchants in the fifth and sixth rings likely believe that sentiment. They will gladly sell gowns and trinkets to the nobles and fill their purses with as many kurus as they can, but what good will it bring to those in the slums? You’re a fool if you truly believe they should be grateful for the influx of wealth and greed which they will never see. ”
“Aside from the eventual wedding, the pageant is a celebration of the power and unity of The Twelve Kingdoms,” I said. “It is an important reminder to all of the peace that reigns in our kingdom. No one wants to return to a time of war. The Battle of The Burning Men alone caused the deaths of-”
“Cassius,” Drake interrupted, shooting me a hard look. “There isn’t a man or woman alive who actually remembers a time of war. The Twelve Kingdoms have been united for a hundred years-”
“Two-hundred and sixteen,” I corrected, and he just shook his head.
“Exactly. No one gives a shit. They care about living in squalor while the nobles have more than they could ever want. The rebels would gladly choose a bloody fight if it guaranteed food in their bellies when it was done.”
I reached out to grasp his arm, my grip locking on my sword as dread filled me at his words. “Do you mean to tell me that you have connections to the rebels?” I hissed, eyeing the closest guards, glad that the noise of the crowd shielded our words.
Drake laughed loudly, shaking me off. “Do I look like a man who would dedicate his life to a hopeless cause? I may be able to understand what the rebels want, Cassius, but I have no affiliation to them. Why would I waste my time fighting to get food and better living conditions for all when I can just focus on guaranteeing such things for myself? Let the rebels spout their grand intentions until they grow hoarse from trying to make deaf ears listen to them. Let them throw their lives away in martyrdom by clashing with royal guards and those who support the upper Fae in all they do. Meanwhile, I will do what I always have – look out for myself and to hell with all the rest. That way of living has kept me alive so far and is about to see me walk through the gates of the palace itself too. The rebels will remain out here with nothing but their empty words of indignation to keep them warm at night.”
I let him pull ahead of me while my brows stitched together at his words.
He really was one selfish bastard. But was I any better?
I believed in upholding the empire and the rule of the nobility.
I just wished for them to bring about change which would benefit those who sought to revolt in the current circumstances.
In reality, the rebels and I had the same enemy.
Once Magdor was gone, it would be better for all of us.
We upped our speed, and I kept my gaze above the angry faces of the rebels in the crowd, focusing instead on those closer to the palace walls, the upper Fae who cheered and welcomed the late arrival, all of them clamouring to catch a glimpse of the suitor who may just end up as their next emperor.
We had timed this carefully, not wanting to arrive early and have him caught making conversation with the other suitors – time which could be used to discover his poor breeding before he so much as got his name listed for the pageant.
Once he had been officially announced, I would relax a little, but until he made it through that first assessment, I was more than a little concerned about him being able to pull this off.
We were toeing the line of late, but that was preferable. The less time Drake had to reveal his lack of manners and propriety the better.
I cried out to the guards barring the gates, “Count Drake Nazari presents himself as a suitor to Princess Austyn!”
They beckoned me forward and I encouraged my camel towards them as I passed them the papers Kyra had forged for Drake.
I didn’t work often with the guards stationed at the outskirts of the palace walls, but I was anxious all the same as their eyes drifted over me.
Thankfully, no recognition filled their eyes and I exhaled softly as their attention moved from me to Drake.
“You’re travelling lightly, My Lord,” one of them commented, taking note of the fact that there was only two of us in his entourage, but Drake only shrugged.
“I can’t bare the slow pace of a full household,” he said. “And it is a long way from Carubai to here – if we had come with more than just the three of us, I would not have made it in time at all.”
The guard nodded in acceptance of his words, his attention slipping to Kyra next while she looked beyond the guards as if they held no interest at all to her, her focus on a butterfly which danced above their heads.
They took a moment thumbing through the papers before nodding and returning them to me, making a breath of relief tumble from my chest.
The gates were opened for us, and trepidation scored a path through my chest as I gazed at the path awaiting us beyond it.
I was going into the palace undercover. A vigilante with a single cause. Magdor had to be taken down. But before that, Drake had to convince the emperor that he was a nobleman worthy of his daughter's hand.
By the fucking Fallen, how are we going to pull this off?
Drake’s smug-as-shit expression gave me cause for concern as the guards stared curiously up at him, clearly not recognising this nobleman.
“Don't overdo it,” I murmured as I drew my camel up beside his.
He blinked, looking to me in confusion and I realised that expression had been wholly natural.
“Last chance for me to make you pretty,” Kyra whispered, cupping her hand around her mouth as she rode her camel on my other side.
Drake scowled, drawing his shoulders back and I released a low chuckle, glad there was at least one woman in this world who was immune to his charm – well, if you could call her a woman.
She certainly had female form, but the magic within her could have been responsible for her appearance.
So I still didn’t know what she really was, even if she had once been Fae, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know either.
There were some things in this world that were best left alone, and magical creatures who lived in coins were certainly one of them. But here we were.
I was too deep in this plan now to second guess this creature’s involvement, and if it led to saving Princess Austyn from Magdor’s tyranny, then I knew I’d let all the devils of the world loose to ensure it.
I felt the darkness of that quiet truth stirring within me, the part of me which had no limits, no bounds when it came to the princess.
Thoughts of destruction and chaos in her name always had the monster in me purring, but lately it seemed it was rising too close to the surface, fighting too hard to get out.
The courtyard was full of white flower petals, and I sensed we were a little late to join the procession which must have already headed into the palace gardens.
I’d wanted to be certain we weren’t lingering among the other nobles who had come to offer themselves for the pageant, but I hadn’t intended on us actually being late enough to cause a scene.
I cursed, looking to Drake who didn’t seem at all concerned about the time and urging him to hurry.
“Come on.” I kicked my camel into a faster pace and Drake spurred his on as we darted out of the courtyard on the other side.
The inner wall came into view, and I spotted an entourage of wagons, horses and camels riding up to the arching wooden doors.
The walls were starkly white, stretching out far to the east and west of the grounds while the highest points of the beautiful building were capped with golden domes, inlaid with sapphire detailing in intricate patterns.
The grandest and largest dome of them all stood at the centre of the palace, the one that could be seen for miles around the city, standing atop the throne room of the emperor.
My gut twisted as I realised how sparse Drake's company was, but there wasn’t much we could do about that. Kyra couldn’t create living things and we couldn’t have taken the risk of hiring people to fill the roles in case their tongues got loose, and they exposed our lie.
“Have courage, sullen man,” Kyra whispered to me. “It's too late to back out. Unless you want to back out. Do you want to back out?”
“Shh,” Drake hushed her. “Act normal. You're not a Blessing now, you're a maid.”
“I'm a maid, I'm a maid, I'm a maid.”
If we messed up and someone figured out who Drake and I were, our criminal bodies would hang from the palace walls as an example to the entire kingdom for months to come.
Hopefully the disguise Kyra had laid on me was solid, but as I rode towards the inner palace wall, I felt like the truth was shining out at everyone.
I had to have faith in her power, no matter how unsettling it was.
Remember who you are. Remember what you stand for. What you were made for.
I am here for the kingdom. For the emperor. For the princess.
And I will not leave until my duty is done.