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I’d be damned if I allowed her to be near Aurelia for even a second longer.

Aurelia

Stepmother had this habit.

Before important events, she would meet with a specific feeder.

One she would spend at least an hour with. She had a specific room, one on the other side of the house, far away from the king and her daughter.

She tried to keep it a secret, but the staff talked. Especially when they hated her as much as they did.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one whose life she tried to ruin. All it took was a little probing, and they spilled every single thing they knew about these meetings.

They thought it was an affair. Especially because of how giggly and satisfied she would be afterward.

An affair would be too simple, especially if I wanted to end her the way she tried to end me. But it was a start, and at first, all I truly needed was a warning.

So, I snuck into the room the staff pointed me to. It wasn’t very remarkable. A large bed with a seating area off to the side. It was obvious what the room was supposed to be used for.

If what the staff said was correct, she would be entering the room a few minutes after me. The feeder would come later.

I made myself comfortable against the bedpost. Normally, I would sit on the bed, but it looked unused. Actually, the whole room seemed to be untouched. There was even a specific musky scent in the air that told me there hadn’t been anyone in there for a long time.

Alarm bells rang in the back of my head.This room didn’t look used.

All of it had been too easy. The staff too willing to share.

I had been cornered too many times in the last few months to fully believe that the person that was going to walk through those doors was my stepmother.

I had Vesper waiting for me downstairs where the guests would be. I needed to do this alone. But the way she reacted when we separated…

I don’t think I’d seen Vesper act that way before. She had been…nervous. Maybe even a bit paranoid. Something happened. She hadn’t wanted to tell me about it, even after I told her how unhappy it made me when she kept her plans secret.

Fine. If she wanted to keep it to herself, she could. I would find out myself, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

The knob wiggled and had me reaching for the knife I kept hidden in my skirt. The same knife I used on the stepspawn, minus the magical drugs. Unfortunately, I used the last I had back then.

The door pushed open and instead of my stepmother, it was my newest handmaiden. She looked surprised to see me in here.

Of course it was too good to be true. I guess it’s showtime.

It had almost been too easy to lure her out.

“Princess,” she said in a hushed tone and slipped in, closing the door behind her. “You were supposed to be downstairs. The guests will be here any minut?—”

“You work fast,” I said with a smile, tilting my head and watching her.

“Excuse me?” she asked with a laugh. “Oh, you mean your hair? Well, Lady Dalia had pretty intricate?—”

I cut her off with a laugh.

“You think I didn’t ask my own friend about you?” I questioned, taking a step forward. My hand was tight around the dagger, ready to strike. “Not to mention how Vesper reacted to your presence. You truly think I’m some idiot who doesn’t see when a snake has infiltrated her ranks?”

Her expression slowly morphed into a smile that confirmed all my suspicions.

I shouldn’t have trusted Vesper as much as I did, but she hadn’t failed me at that point. She truly seemed to be worried about me and took her job to protect me seriously.

Since she’d been back, we’d been nearly inseparable. But because of that, I hadn’t been able to move freely. Or to pull the snake out of her nest.