Page 155 of Evil Hearts

Chapter 4:Xuag

T his woman has no fucking shame. I stare at the bubble floating in front of me containing a live video of Princess Kyliana reading as if she wasn’t just fucking herself with the handle of her machete despite knowing damn well I was watching. I slam my fist on my oak desk and a crack slices up the center of it from the force.

“I...I’m sorry sir. I had no clue she would be so familiar with the spell and knew we’d be watching.”

My useless resident witch, Arietta, shakes like a leaf in the winter.

“You assured me she would not know she was being watched. You were wrong. I do not have a place for weakness in my court. The next time you fail me, you will pay for your transgressions with your life. Get out of my sight and call in Zana on your way out.”

Arietta bows and scurries away shutting the door behind her and I sink into the worn leather chair that used to belong to my father and look over the documents he left behind. Document after document with proof that I have a mole in my courts, spying on my every move and reporting it to Lilith, Jamalin, and Queba, the leaders of the Underworld, Overworld, and Shifters. Plan after plan to seek the only thing I need to be the top ruler again. The Limanortiza Brevitzqua. A trinket that is said to give its wearer unparalleled power. It’s been lost to the realms for over six thousand years.

My father finally found a lead on it before he died and here it is in plain fucking sight. The key to finding it is the Olanmantra. The great seer known only to a few. Whoever gave my father this lead might as well pushed him into the sinking muds of Hourqs and left him to die. She hasn’t been seen in centuries and if it weren’t for my engagement to the princess, I’d be lost. My betrothal to the savage princess isn’t as random as some people think it is, even my advisor doesn’t know my true motivations, he just believes it’s because she is gorgeous. She is, but she is also a master hunter known for her ability to track down anything or anyone no matter how hidden they are.

We got off to a rough start because of her fucking stubborn attitude. If she’d just bow to me, we could fucking move this shit along. I pull out the remainder of the pile of documents from the desk drawer and spread them out along the desktop, analyzing all the information that’s been shared over the last decade and finding only a handful of common parties involved. My advisor, the chef, the south gardener, and one of my guards are the only ones who have been here while all of this has been shared.

I ache to wrap my fingers around their necks and squeeze every ounce of life from their bodies for their betrayal but that would make me a fool. They are all vital to how my kingdom is run except the gardener and he’s too much of a pansy to have done it. That leaves three possible culprits. I scan over the latest piece of intel that was shared, the treaty I made with the shifters agreeing to split profits for the Crycinare gems since it rests directly on the boundary of our lands. Only two of the suspects know of it since part of the treaty demands secrecy, preventing any other realms or kingdoms from finding out about our new money source.

As early morning light filters in through the window, I realize I’ve been in this room for almost twenty-four hours and my stomach rumbles as if it had a timer. I guess that makes sense since I had lunch delivered here yesterday but not dinner. Feeling accomplished in narrowing down the potential spies, I close the documents up and tuck them back into the desk drawer, locking the magical drawer with the enchanted key Arietta made me. It’s time to make the princess want to bow to me. Strong arming her didn’t work but I’m determined to find what will.