Chapter 6
Chapter six
“That went well,” Cedric said with an exasperated sigh. “It’s just like him to do as he pleases and let everyone else deal with the consequences.”
My toes curled at the thought of being under Lochlan’s control.
The only thing worse than being pushed around by his father was being overruled by him.
There was nothing I could do to prevent him from weaponizing my secret, but I’d known that the moment I let it slip.
This was a mess of my own making, and now I had to accept it.
“He’s smart to hold this over me,” I said, folding my arms tight against my chest. “I would have done the same thing in his position. The truth behind my lineage is a powerful card to play, and power doesn’t come cheap in this palace.”
My ring caught my eye, my stomach knotting at the memories it held. My father would have disowned me for letting another royal walk all over me like this. Too bad he couldn’t scold me from the grave.
“Yes, but he’s not the only one who holds that power,” Atlas said, his gaze catching my ring alongside me.
He looked at it differently than he had before.
When my secrets were buried, he had only disdain for the mark of my fake betrothed, but now he gazed at it in the same way I saw him watch the point of an enemy’s blade—with anticipation and caution.
“Does that mean you’re going to threaten me too?” I asked, dropping my hands to my sides. I felt vulnerable even asking, but there was no use in skirting around the truth. I needed to know every obstacle I was up against.
“Do I need to?” Atlas asked, strolling closer to me with slow, almost teasing, steps. “I only threaten my enemies.”
His position caught my attention. I thought it was odd the way he eased closer to me, but when he stopped, I recognized his stance.
He was about three steps away, the same length he always put between himself and his sparring partners before he made the first strike.
He didn’t appear to be armed, and frankly, I wasn’t even certain he realized what he was doing, but his instincts showed me that I wasn’t the only one feeling threatened.
“Is that not what we are?” I asked, fighting the urge to lean back on my heel as if prepping for a defense.
“It seems almost certain that we’re destined to destroy each other.” Atlas held his position, the two of us in a swordless stalemate. “But what really matters is who we take down with us.” He shifted his focus to Cedric, conveying something that seemed to puzzle him as much as it did me.
“Who are you suggesting she take down?” Cedric asked, stepping back from our unspoken duel. “If this is about your battle for the throne, that’s between you and Lochlan.”
“It’s about more than that, Cedric.” Atlas moved over to his brother, shifting targets while still adding to the uneasy atmosphere.
He pressed his hand to Cedric’s shoulder, and Cedric tensed under his touch but didn’t pull away.
Something pulled them together, but the bonds were heavy and painful.
“It’s about a battle for freedom. Crowns and thrones aside, it’s about escaping the chokehold our father has had on us since our first breath. ”
He tightened his grip on Cedric, but it was me who felt the sting. His words could have been pulled straight from my own life. We served under different crowns, but the weight of them was the same. Cedric felt it too. His eyes drifted to the floor, heavy with hatred.
“You want to overthrow the king?” Cedric’s voice was barely audible, like a dog’s growl that you’d only hear if the world was silent.
I felt my breath catch, the very thought terrifying and electrifying me.
“Think about it,” Atlas said, cautiously avoiding a direct answer.
“He failed. Diaspro is living proof that his greatest conquest was an exaggeration at best. He boasted of his triumph over Ivalon while all this time, one little princess slipped through the cracks. Ivalon still has an heir; that’s more than enough to shake the pedestal he’s placed himself on. ”
“You think Diaspro is the key to toppling Father’s reign?” Cedric flicked his eyes to me, fear settling into his gaze that I hadn’t expected to see.
Me? I supposed it made sense; the people loved me, and they didn’t even know the power I held.
My life had never meant more to me than what people told me. Useless as a princess, useful as a prince, and now priceless as a weapon. The only thing I could determine was whether or not those values were worth my time to live for them.
Bringing down Septimus was everything.
“I think she’s the best chance we’ll ever get,” Atlas said, dropping his hand from Cedric's shoulder to turn and face me. “We can’t trust you, but I trust that we want the same thing.”
“And what is that?” I asked, already knowing he could see straight through to my deepest wishes. He really was smart. I hated that about him.
“For you to survive.” He approached me again, this time not stopping at a safe distance. “And for my father to fall. We’ll decide where that leaves us when the dust settles.”
“Then what does it make us now?” I looked up at him. “Still enemies?”
“I think you already have enough of those on the way.” He kicked at the fallen paper that Lochlan had dropped earlier, the list of names resting between our feet.
That list felt like nothing more than a nuisance after everything else, but he was right. I already had enough on my plate to deal with. I needed anyone on my side that I could get.
“The king won’t pull any punches,” Atlas said, finding my eyes with a severity that roped me in. “But I don’t think even he is prepared to go up against King Leopold’s daughter. He has every reason to be scared of you.”
A shiver rippled down my spine from the haunting compliment. Never in my life had being King Leopold’s daughter been a good thing, but Atlas made it sound like someone else’s weakness instead of my own.
“Then what’s the plan?” I asked my new ally. “How do I survive this?”
“You win.”