large room, far larger than a private room needed to be, and there was a moderate throne set at the far end. The king’s steward stood to his right, and a few guardsmen were at attention, their eyes fixed professionally on a spot just above her head. She curtsied smoothly, staying sunken until the king bade her rise. It took him longer than could ever be considered polite, and when she finally rose her knees were aching.
“Princess Nicola, step forward. I dislike yelling across the room,” King Octarion snapped, as if she had been tardy moving forward rather than politely awaiting his command.
She kept a neutral expression as she moved smoothly forward, giving another smaller bow when she reached the foot of the throne.
“You will forgive the wait. I was dealing with Lord Mendaci—you have heard of him, I’m sure?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Princess Nicola tried not to let her sudden spike of fear show. Lord Mendaci had been sent to assure that Darren never reached Sephria, and she had only been required to ride out in such haste because he had failed. She wished, more than anything, that she could go home. Living in the palace these past months was supposed to be a sign of King Octarion showing her father favor, but she felt more like a prisoner behind the heavy stone walls. She couldn’t breathe in Labaci. She missed the green rolling hills of home, missed the sound of her mother’s voice. She hated this place, hated politics, hated the way she had to keep her eyes cast discreetly on the floor. To pretend to be a mouse in front of this great tiger, lest he strike her head from her shoulders.
“His was a great failing, Your Majesty,” she said.
“You will perhaps wish to pay him your respects. We’ve hung the remains from one of the towers,” he said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, as if he couldn’t be bothered to remember which tower it had been.
Her heart froze in her chest. Poor Mik, was all she could think, though she knew she should be wary of her own flesh.
“O-Of course, Your Majesty,” she replied, cursing the faint stutter at the beginning of the sentence. Another man might have overlooked it, but King Octarion was shrewd.
“You will perhaps be aware, Princess Nicola, that my young nephew is still very much alive. I thought you were remedying that situation?”
He was alive? That couldn’t be true! She had done what they made her do, and she had done it faithfully! “I did!” she gasped, and cursed herself again. She was better at playing men than this. She sniffed, letting her fear show, hoping a whiff of weakness could soothe him. She was close in age to his eldest daughter; she could play on that. “I did exactly as you instructed, my liege. When they left me they were heading for the ambushed path, I swear it,” she breathed.
“I assure you, Princess, that were there any doubt of the veracity of that, you would not be standing here,” he said with an icy chill in his voice, and then he continued in a normal tone. “Unfortunately, the remnants of our force informed me that some woman appeared just as the ambush was about to take please, screaming warning at the top of her lungs.”
Princess Nicola’s head jerked up in surprise.
“What? It wasn’t me, Your Majesty!” she exclaimed, her composure truly shaken.
King Octarion laughed mightily. When he spoke again his tone was gentler.
“Sometimes, Nicola, I forget how young you are. You misunderstand me. I would not be wasting my time on an audience if I suspected you of treason. The reason I called you here is that it seems you have failed in the task your father set you. The rebels know an ambush was set, and therefore they know you set it. Your usefulness in this matter is at an end. I am sending you home—you are no longer necessary at court.” He waved a dismissal.
Nicola’s feet were rooted to the spot, held there by a terror greater than she had felt only moments before. Never mind what the king might do to her if he believed her a traitor—that was nothing to what her father would do if he believed her a failure. He wanted nothing but the king’s pleasure. If she failed him…She barely suppressed a shudder.
“Your Majesty, I beg your ear for only a small moment. I know who this girl is, who surely