Masked Prince - Nikolai Andrew Page 0,57

see us ever fucking again.” He reached out his hand to me. Everything was blurry with fear, but I forced myself to focus with all my might on his thick, strong hands. Slowly, very slowly, I slid my hand toward his, but the guard behind me stopped me, tightening his grip on my chest so much that it was hard to breathe.

Queen Patara narrowed her eyes, making the crepey skin around them tighten, and she nibbled her cheek in thought.

“No. It’s not enough. You have to die. Or else my reign will always be under threat.”

Randal growled, actually growled, like a wolf giving a warning before an attack. I knew that sound; I had heard that sound. That sound had made me scramble up that tree as a child. But the queen wasn’t so wise. She didn’t give an inch. Brave or stupid. Or both.

“All right, you’re in charge here. Let her go and you can do what you want with me,” Randal said. “Anything. String me up. Stretch and quarter me. I don’t give a fuck. Just let Iris live, Patara. Don’t come to power with her blood on your hands.”

The queen laughed a little. “You are weak just like your father. He couldn’t protect you, couldn’t protect your mother. He couldn’t even protect himself. It might have taken years, but I finally have everything I want, and seeing the end of you and this little cunt might just bring me an ounce of pleasure today. She is your weakness. I can hardly think of any way I’d rather start my reign, you disgusting abomination.”

So it was all true. I could hardly believe it, and I could see the pain pass over Randal’s face too. She really was the stuff of nightmares. I hated her so much that I had to look away. Over the edge of the terrace, I noticed the crowd beginning to grow impatient. It throbbed and pulsed, not like a group of individual people, but like a single thing—like an ocean, or a storm about to break. It seemed full of trapped energy and growing more frustrated by the moment.

As the noise grew and grew, the queen’s body stiffened. It was the first time that I’d seen her show any sign, any hint, of fear. Though I couldn’t see her face, Randal could. He narrowed his eyes at her, starting to look smug and cocky, confident and pleased.

“Maybe we should make a democracy of this shitshow at last. How about we ask them if they prefer you, the murderess and child burner…or me. Any bets?” Randal adjusted his position slightly, broadening his stance, making himself look even bigger and more imposing.

The queen said nothing, but backed up into me further. I hollowed out my stomach to protect myself as best I could. I was so close to her now that I could even see her heartbeat pounding in the veins in her neck. She was terrified but doing her best to hide it. She was like old porcelain, full of cracks.

“The people of this kingdom are stupid, useless sheep. They’ll do what I tell them. Just you fucking watch.”

For a long moment, it was a standoff.

Blades hovering, blood trickling, tension rising. It was more than I could bear. I knew, I simply knew, that if the people were given the chance to support Randal, they would. They just needed someone to say the word. In the crowd nearest to me, around the foot of the terrace, I recognized many faces that I knew well. Samuel, the baker. Landry, the farrier. Ava, the butcher’s daughter. These were my people, as much as they were Randal’s. I may not be any sort of royalty, but I knew how to talk to my people. That, at least, I could do. We were not stupid and useless. We were the source of royal power, and without us, the crown meant nothing. The queen would have nothing without our blessing.

“The queen has to be stopped!” I said, my voice barely a creaky hoarse whisper at first.

The familiar faces nearest to me stopped their cheering to listen to me. I took so much courage from their attention, and I didn’t stop to think about what I was doing, or the danger I was putting myself in. The queen could have ended my life right there and then, but I think, finally, she was starting to understand what that would mean for her. Gathering my strength, I simply acted, I simply spoke,