Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Just as promised, a servant came by right before supper to collect my letter. It was admittedly a little nerve-wracking to hand over the incriminating letter to someone I didn’t know, but I trusted Atlas more than I wanted to admit, plus I wasn’t sure who else I could ask to mail the letter for me.
I ended up addressing the letter to a shop right outside the Ivalonian palace.
I had no idea if the shop was still standing or not, or if the owners were even still alive; I simply needed to get the letter as deep into the heart of the kingdom as I could.
If the Guardian was as well connected as they claimed, they would get their hands on any inbound Aemastian mail.
I tucked the original letter inside the envelope, along with the pressed fogwrath, and a short and simple note.
This might help you; now will you help me in return?
-D
It was risky to sign it when I didn’t have any kind of invisible ink, but if I didn’t leave the Guardian any clues to my identity, they would never know who needed help.
My fingers started to turn purple again about an hour after the courier left. I tapped on my echo ring, testing to see if the magic had returned.
“Thank you,” I said simply, taking the time to slowly spell out each letter as if trying to prove it was genuine. A few moments of silence passed, but before I could wonder if the magic was still reawakening, a soft tap rattled my finger.
“You’re welcome.”
My disobedient heart fluttered at his response, and I covered the ring with my other hand to smother the emotions it stirred up. Lochlan’s warning was still ringing through my head, making me annoyingly cautious, but also wisely so.
Atlas may have helped me send the letter, but it wasn’t a guarantee that he would ever defend Ivalon. All he wanted was for me to win, but winning would mean becoming his princess. Did it also mean abandoning Ivalon?
Then there was Lochlan’s offer. Dying still felt preferable to marrying that brute, but I couldn’t deny somewhere in the back of my mind, his offer tempted me.
If I lost the competition, marrying Lochan became a safety net that would catch both me and Ivalon.
After all this time, I was still wrestling with the same ridiculous question of which prince was the best fit for me.
Atlas likely had his own goals, but he had always gone out of his way to protect me. Lochlan, on the other hand, had always looked for opportunities to use me. I supposed there was also still Cedric, but his brothers would eat him alive if he ever tried to claim any power.
I needed a husband who could save me, save Ivalon, and respect me enough to let me rule alongside him.
Or was weak enough for me to overthrow.
I uncovered my ring, wondering if I would ever have the strength to overpower someone like Atlas. I knew I could defeat Lochlan in a battle of strength, but his political skills might be too much for me to topple. Killing my husband would only benefit me if I could control whatever he left behind.
Could I kill Atlas if it became necessary?
Just thinking about it made my chest tighten, but I ignored my heart to listen to my head.
My duty as both the prince and princess of Ivalon was to reclaim my kingdom, even if that meant marrying Atlas and turning my sword against him.
Everyone who saw my crown only wanted to use me as a pawn in their own games, but in the end, I'd always been destined to be queen.
Don’t make me your enemy, Atlas… I brushed my thumb against the ring’s band, not touching the stone. I want us both to win this game.
The servant door creaked open, spurring me from my seat to brace myself in case another masked attacker burst through the door. Beckham stepped inside, smiling kindly at me as I let my muscles relax.
“Good evening, my lady. I’ve brought your supper,” he said brightly, closing the door with his boot as he brought the meal tray over to the table. “I heard about the event today. Congratulations on your success.”
“Thank you, but it was purely luck that I scored as well as I did,” I said, taking a seat at the table as he pulled out my chair.
I was surprisingly hungry after today’s events, and a warm plate of food was too alluring to resist. “But I appreciate your kind words. It’s truly what gets me through the day. ”
“Are you kidding?” Beckham laughed, gently pushing my chair up to the table.
He was far more chipper today than usual, like someone had woken him with an armful of fresh daisies.
“It’s the least I can do after all you’ve done to support Mara in the competition.
Did you see that she’s no longer at the bottom of the rankings? ”
Ah, so that’s why he’s so happy.
Mara must have been the talk of the servants’ quarters after surpassing Sybil. Seeing the lowly Ivalonian slave move up in the ranks surely gave the servants a sense of hope that they never expected to feel again.
“She would do the same for me,” I said, thinking back to how she’d risked her neck to pull Sybil off me when she’d nearly thrown me off the cliff. “Besides, picking the pink door was her decision today. She won those points all on her own.”
“Fair,” Beckham said, uncovering my steaming plate of roasted potatoes and mushrooms. An entire tea kettle was sitting on the tray today, and Beckham picked it up to pour me a fresh cup like I was back to being royalty.
“But I know she didn’t kill those geese on her own.
We all do.” He paused, meeting my eyes with an almost tearful smile.
“We see the sacrifices you’ve made to protect her, and while we can’t say it out loud, we’re all cheering for you, my lady. ”
His words actually managed to choke me up a little, but I swallowed it back to accept the cup of tea he extended. The moment I took it, I noticed the smell. A small gasp parted my lips as the dark flavors swirled through my senses, the spiced fragrance so comforting and nostalgic.
“A little gift from your people,” Beckham said with a dip of his head. “A small taste of home.”
I looked down into the cup of Ivalonian tea, my blue eyes reflecting back at me through the steam. The first sip was all I needed to remember what I was fighting for. My country was still alive, my people were still fighting, and my home was waiting to be rebuilt.
No matter whom I married, no one would stop me from saving them.