Page 11 of Fit for a Prince (Fit For A Crown #1)

Chapter eleven

I felt stronger this time. My body had recovered well from the brink of starvation, and while I was still unsettlingly thin, the walk to the throne room was no longer strenuous.

As much as I hated losing out on all the time that I could have been making progress with the princes, it was good to have most of my strength back.

As usual, I was glared at for the entire walk through the castle, but there were more eyes than last time.

Sprinkled among the blue-clad Aemastian servants were the occasional Ivalonians in their dark red uniforms. A few of them I even recognized from the prison cells, including the young boy I had locked eyes with on my way to meet the king for the first time.

He watched me like I was a ghost that was still alive. His head followed me even as I walked out of his line of sight. It must have been surreal to see an Ivalonian not dressed in rags, but even so, my chains were just as heavy .

Once we arrived at the throne room doors, I was ushered inside and forced to kneel before the gaudy throne. I didn’t even bother to look at King Septimus. Sitting beneath his shadow was already close enough to take in the stench of his arrogance.

“Leave us.” The king waved off the guards and steward, giving me enough space to breathe the putrid air. The guards moved to the doors but didn’t fully leave the room, still keeping me within their eyesight. I made a mental note to mark that down later. “Rise, girl,” he snapped.

His voice was like a whip snapping an inch from my ear, testing to see how little effort he required to control me. I rose, not because I feared his wrath, but because I had my own that craved satisfaction. I looked up at his dead stare, his haunted eyes like chips of a starless black sky.

“It would seem that you’ve made quite the impression on my sons,” he said callously, and my skin crawled at every note in his voice.

“Just as you asked.” There would be no confusion about my intentions going forward. “You requested that I aim to become a princess, and a princess should be memorable.”

“Is that what that fool Leopold taught you?” He curled his lip with an ugly snarl, lifting his chin like I wasn’t far enough beneath him already. “What nonsense. A princess is meant to be seen, not heard. ”

“And I was seen.” The firmness of my voice seemed to make the room shake, but my feet stayed rooted.

“Then be heard, and pray that I like what you say.” His voice thundered around the room.

If my bravery was an earthquake, his power was the storm that would wash the ground away.

“I didn’t bring you here to speak of your insubordination.

How you choose to entertain my sons is of no interest to me.

You’re here to tell me everything you know about your dead kingdom’s vault. ”

My blood chilled, and I caught myself before I could react.

“What vault?” That was a mistake.

“If the scum in the prisons know about Leopold’s precious vault, then you should be able to draw me a map,” King Septimus said. “I thought Damon’s chosen one would be smart enough to know when to consider the lies she spoke.”

I knew plenty about the vault, but I didn’t know where it was.

Not even Damon knew where the king held the kingdom’s magic reservoir.

Magic was Ivalon’s most valuable resource, and if King Leopold had been truthful about what the vault held, all the magic metal ever found had been crafted into weapons and tools that were kept under his own lock and key.

If only they hadn’t been too hidden away to use them when our kingdom needed them most.

From what Damon knew, there were also records in there...records that not even King Leopold had looked over.

Records about me.

“If you speak of the late king’s treasures, I’m afraid that information was never disclosed to me,” I said coldly. “Leopold was the type to keep his cards close to his chest.”

“You were intended to be his daughter; you expect me to believe you weren’t one of his cards?”

“I was a joker at best, useless until matched with a stronger suit and never fit for a single role,” I said. “Not even his queen knew the whereabouts of the vault.”

“How convenient that not a single roach from your trash heap knows where the king stashed his gold,” the king growled.

“It’s possible that someone knew.” I felt his shadow consume me, my eyes burning through the dark as I felt the piece of me that had died in Ivalon claw its way up my throat. “But you were too busy slaughtering them to ask.”

He clapped his hand on the arms of his throne, his rings smacking first with a loud crack. The sound didn’t faze me, nor did his lethal glare. As intimidating as Septimus could be, the more I was around him, the more I recognized where Leopold had been worse .

But I couldn’t let him believe I wasn’t afraid.

A delayed jump coursed through me, catching the king’s eye. The creases on his forehead released and his posture loosened a touch, but he was still far from satisfied.

“Don’t speak to me as if I should have regrets.” The king’s voice cut through the room, sharp enough to bleed everyone dry. “I won’t lose any sleep from slaughtering those who stand in my path. My servants tell me that you’re aware of the rebels, but what do you know of their Guardian?”

“Guardian?” I knit my brows together, my thoughts scrambling for anything that corresponded with that title. “Could you elaborate?”

He studied me for a moment, his face oozing displeasure the longer he looked.

“You don’t know,” he grumbled.

“Because you didn’t elaborate.”

“I shouldn’t need to,” he snapped. His defensive response drew me in, my lungs filling slowly as I absorbed every twinge in his features and flick of his eyes. “You’ve already proven yourself worthless to me for today. Leave now before I decide you’re worthless to my kingdom as well.”

He summoned the guards at the back of the room, and they returned to my sides. The steward waited by the door to show me out, but I only managed to take one step away from the throne before being halted.

“Lady Diaspro.” I hated the sound of my name in his filthy mouth.

My feet stilled, but I didn’t turn back; his voice was low enough that he didn’t want this to be an obvious confrontation.

“Heed this: if I come to find out that you have any involvement with this Guardian, I won’t hesitate to kill every Ivalonian in this castle. ”

Every muscle in my body tensed as his threat set me ablaze. Never again would I let such a genocide occur, and especially not over some guardian I’d never heard of.

“I swear on my kingdom’s name that I know nothing of what you speak,” I said with a clenched jaw.

“A promise made on a dead land’s name is just as dead,” he hissed. “Don’t forget, your life lies in the hands of Aemastia’s princes. If you’re as clever as Leopold believed, then you should know better than to align yourself with the dead.”

“Fear not, King Septimus.” I glanced back over my shoulder, my hair flicking around my face like a gold frame around a faded portrait. “I’m every bit as clever as Leopold believed.”

I walked out of the room, leaving the guards to chase after me and monitor my movements.

They weren’t happy with me exiting on my own, but I didn’t veer off course on the way back to my room or disobey in any other way, so they didn’t attempt to punish me for it.

When I arrived back in the room, the steward didn’t hesitate to urge me inside.

He shut the door behind me, but when I listened for the lock of the key, I never heard the click.

That’s a first.

Mara and Oren were waiting inside, their hands fidgeting as they approached me cautiously.

“Is everything well, my lady?” Oren asked first, his crinkled skin traced with more stress lines than the last time I’d seen him.

“What did the king want?” Mara asked as she nibbled her thumbnail. “Did he ask you about the luncheon?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but the king’s warning stuck in my throat. This Guardian he mentioned was enough of a problem that he felt necessary to threaten the girl already in a cage. The concept intrigued me, and the name Guardian continuously rang through my head as I met Mara’s eyes.

Whoever this Guardian was, simply knowing that they existed was dangerous.

“Yes,” I lied. “It was merely a chance for him to scold me for my actions.”

“Just a scolding?” Oren arched a brow. “That couldn’t possibly be all. ”

“Perhaps he plans to starve me again.” I shrugged, and my casual response made Mara shudder. “Either way, it’s no matter. Today proved to me that I am well enough to see the princes again. I should like to meet with them tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Mara repeated. “But you haven’t received a summons.”

I don’t care.

If the king was hunting down the vault, then that meant I was on a tighter timeline than I’d originally thought. If he found what was inside, survival would no longer be an option for me.

“The guards neglected to lock me in; that’s as good an invitation as any,” I said.

“Besides, surely, the princes have some free time during the day. Oren, have you noticed their schedules at all?” I turned to the older gentleman.

He pressed his lips tight, pausing to weigh the value of all the lives in the room before giving me a determined nod.

“Yes, my lady,” he said. “They have approximately an hour of unscheduled time every afternoon around two, but they are strict about not being disturbed.”

And I’m strict about keeping my head on my shoulders.

“If it’s merely leisure time, then there’s nothing to disturb,” I said. “Tomorrow, I meet with the princes.”