Chapter 16 Jess
Istalked back to my room and slammed the door, the explosion of wood against stone ensuring that anyone within earshot knew better than to disturb me. Ever since my sixteenth birthday some months ago, Mother had been determined to marry me off.
The thought made my blood boil.
What was so magical about sixteen?
I wasn’t ready to marry, certainly not to some stodgy old man who would parade me around like a perfumed animal.
I was the Crown Princess, after all, and would be Queen one day.
Shouldn’t a queen be with whomever she chooses?
Shouldn’t she love—or at least not detest—the man she’s to . . .
Oh, Spirits, I would have to make an heir with him, with Huntcliff.
My stomach nearly emptied at the thought.
I rummaged through my wardrobe, searching for something to wear to dinner, when another thought occurred.
Could Father be in on this?
Would he actually agree to something so disgusting?
I had always been his little duckling, his favorite—well, only—daughter. Surely, he wouldn’t be in on this plot, too?
That weasel Thorn had to be manipulating him. The Chancellor was always skulking around, whispering in ears. I was sure he was trying to get me out of the way so my brother could take the throne—someone Thorn thought he could better control.
The first thing I’ll do when I wear the crown is exile that conniving weasel.
A soft tapping at the door snapped my head up.
“Jess, it’s me. Open up,” my brother whispered.
I cracked open the door to make sure he was alone, then let him in.
He eyed the scattering of dresses on the floor .
. . and the writing desk . . . and the dresser, and decided to stay well out of range, landing on the foot of my bed.
I returned to my wardrobe and tossed more dresses across the back of a chair.
“Sis, calm down. I don’t think they’ve decided anything yet. You know how things work around here. As long as nothing’s been announced publicly, there’s time to change their minds.” He ducked as my dress tossing escalated to a near-violent level.
Justin Vester was the middle child in the royal family, squeezed between our baby brother, Kendall, and me.
At fifteen, Justin was wholly unremarkable with average height, a slim build, and a youthful face that would blend into any crowd; and yet, despite his ordinary appearance, Justin’s clear blue eyes and warm nature, combined with his burgeoning Gift of Persuasion,
made him hard to refuse and even harder to dislike.
The boy didn’t even try to use his magic; it just flowed out of him, drawing anyone near to his side.
“You don’t get it, Justin. Nobody’s trying to marry you off. If they pick Lord Parna, Mother could ship me off to his stupid town on the other end of the Kingdom where I’d spend the rest of my life buried under a mountain of snow.” I flopped face down on the bed beside my brother.
“Sis, she can’t send you away. You’re the next Queen. Worst case, Parna would have to give up his duchy to become King-Consort and live here with you.”
I raised a finger without lifting my head out of the comforter. “Not helping.”
He chuckled, then shifted so we’d be facing each other when I sat up. “C’mon, Jess. We’ll figure this out. Who else is on the list?”
I mumbled something unintelligible into the pillow.
“You can either eat that pillow or sit up and talk. I don’t think you can do both.”
I flipped over and sat up, glaring at his annoyingly infectious grin. “Well, there’s Lord Piggy in Huntcliff. Spirits, I would kill myself.”
“Stop that. Who else?”
“Barnabus Dask.”
“Father’s Crown Treasurer?” Justin thought a moment. “Well, he’s not terrible. The ladies at court seem to think he’s handsome enough . . . and he’s rich.”
“Justin, he’s forty . . . and why would I care if he’s rich? I will be Queen. The entire Kingdom will belong to me soon.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Who else?”
“General Marks.”
Silence stretched between us as Justin’s eyes widened.
“Uncle Ethan?”
“Yeah. Uncle Ethan,” I said. “You know, the one who held me when Father passed me around after I was born? Guess we can check the box of him seeing me naked, even if I was just a baby.”
Justin snorted as I covered my face with my hands.
I peeked through my fingers. “It doesn’t matter that he practically raised us; he’s a noble and member of the Council, which makes him an acceptable candidate for the royal hand.”
“So, you’d be okay if they picked him?”
“Okay? No, but do I have a choice in any of this?” I flopped backward and stared at the ceiling. “It’s not like they asked me my opinion. That would be too civilized.”
“I’m sorry, sis.”
I sighed. “He’s actually pretty handsome, if you like that sulky, stone-faced military look combined with the personality of a corpse.”
Justin snorted. “Hmm. So, no looking forward to the General’s staff in your future?”
Despite my foul mood, I barked a laugh and smacked him with a pillow. “You’re such an idiot.”
“Yeah, but you love me.” His grin widened.
“I’ll never know why, but I do, little brother.” I sat up and mussed his hair with one hand while putting the other around his shoulder. We sat in silence for a long moment before I asked, “What am I going to do, Justin? This is a disaster, and Mother won’t listen to me.”
“Have you tried not yelling at her? She doesn’t respond well to screeching . . . unless it’s her own.” He scrunched up his face, mocking Mother when she was angry, earning a punch in the arm.
“What happened between you two, anyway?” he asked.
I hugged a pillow to my chest. “I don’t know. She used to be so different. I could talk to her . . . about anything, really. Justin, she used to look at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. Now, all I get is a nasty stare now and then.
It feels like she just wants to get rid of me so her perfect life can go on like it was before.”
“I’m sure that’s not—”
I quieted his statement with one of Mother’s glares.
Justin sucked in a breath and tried another approach. “What about Father? Everybody knows you’re his favorite. He’d listen to you.”
I flopped backward onto the bed again. “You know how he is when it comes to Mother. He hates telling her no. I just wish they’d ask what I want, let me at least be a part of the decision. If I’m supposed to be the future of the Crown,
don’t you think I should be part of choosing the man I’ll rule with?”
“Do you even know what you want? All I’ve heard you say is what you don’t want, not what you do.”
I stared blankly. I knew exactly what I wanted—and who—but I couldn’t trust that secret to anyone, not even Justin.
“Little brother, you can be pretty smart sometimes, but no, I have no idea what I want, just that it’s not to be married off to some old man and treated like an ornament. Any girl would deserve better, but especially a future queen.”
Justin’s eyes dropped to his hands.
“Jess, you’ve watched Father work more than anyone. Maybe they’re right, and your marriage could form an alliance that—”
A firm double rap on the door bolted me upright.
The door flew open, and Mother bustled into the room, a tornadic whirl of silks and lace, determined to batter anything—or anyone—in her path.
“All right, you two, dinner in twenty minutes. Get dressed. Tonight is just the family, so you don’t have to worry about wearing a gown or court business. Your Father had a long day and needs a relaxing, peaceful night with his children.”
Mother swept out of the room as quickly as she’d entered.
I didn’t move, just sat and stared into the empty hearth, wishing it would offer answers.
Dinner was excruciating.
I sulked in my spot between Justin and Kendall. Our parents sat next to each other to keep their flock in view without having to look back and forth. The round wooden table was large enough to fit ten, but our family of five still made it feel crowded.
I couldn’t wait to escape.
For over an hour, the King and Queen held court.
Thankfully, Justin kept parental eyes occupied, commanding the stage for most of the meal.
He rattled on about his training with the Royal Guard, his studies with both the Mages and Scholars, and his tour of the National Treasury with other high-ranking students.
As he walked everyone through his day’s adventures, I stared in wonder at how passionate he was about even the simplest things and how he held his audience in thrall.
His Gift helped, but Justin didn’t need magic to enchant a room.
I couldn’t imagine a world without my brother in it, but I was also jealous of his easy manner and ability to draw people to him. I would be Queen, but he would always be the leader people admired, the one they turned to.
Kendall blundered into the conversation, asking question after question after question .
. . after question. When he ran out of questions, he took a bite and thought of another.
As Justin steered the conversation toward his martial practice, Kendall practically leaped out of his chair.
The Queen’s glare introduced him to the Gift of Gravity, one wielded only by every mother’s stern gaze.
As soon as Justin paused to take a bite of pork, Kendall resumed his questioning, drilling his older brother about the Royal Guard.
Like most eleven-year-olds, he was fascinated with anyone in uniform, though his passions shifted rapidly.
One day, he would want to join the Royal Guard, the next he was planning a pirate raid on one of the islands.
No one knew what might catch his fancy, least of all Kendall.
At the moment, copying Justin seemed to be his main agenda.
Dinner ended when servants cleared the table, Justin ran out of stories, and Kendall, somehow, ran out of questions.
“May we be excused?” I gave Father a dovish look.
“I suppose, but Jess, tomorrow we need to have a serious talk, Sovereign to soon-to-be-Sovereign. All right?”
Father’s tone sent a chill up my spine. He was rarely formal with me, especially in private.
“I am in His Majesty’s service,” I said, standing from the table and offering a deep, formal curtsy, never dropping eye contact.
I dashed back to my room and dug beneath the pile of dresses on my chair by the armoire.