Two-Faced (Assassin at Court Series Book 1) (4 page)

Both brother and sister looked at me expectantly.

I rolled my own. “Fine, but if your mother dismisses me from the palace, you may never see me again.”

              The Prince I could deny, but the Princess…I was putty in her hands the moment I saw her. I was a sucker for kids.

Chapter 12

“
W
hat would you like to play?” I asked the Princess.

She folded her arms in a huff. “What I want to play Mother will not allow. She says the games I like are not appropriate for a lady.”

That piqued my curiosity. “What games do you like?”

She stuck out her bottom lip. “Bow-and-arrow, but mom says
playing with weapons isn’t proper.
”

Zander leaned into me with a smile and whispered, “Her impression of Mother is almost as good as mine too.”

“I’m pretty sure she has us both beat,” I told him. “You mean archery?” I asked Kiera for clarification. A wicked idea was forming in my mind.

“Yes,” she eagerly shook her head.

I leaned across the table conspiratorially. “Then why don’t we find some practice targets?”

The Princess was pouting again. “We can’t. Mother will be mad with us.”

“It can be our little secret. It’s just us girls and Zander, and he won’t tell on us, will you?” I nudged his shoulder with mine.

He made a zipping motion with his hands across his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

              The Princess handled a bow pretty well for a nine-year-old. By the end of our practice lesson, she was hitting within the red.

              “Would you like to try Miss Skyler before we go?” she sweetly held out her bow to me.

              “I’m alright. You have fun.”

              “I’d have more fun if you tried it too,” she poked her lip out. The Princess had perfected the art of pouting. 

              “Fine,” I relented taking the bow. It had been ages since I last held one but its weight felt comfortably familiar. Before my brother died we spent hours in the fields behind our little cottage shooting at makeshift targets. I widened my stance and relaxed my shoulders just as he had shown me time and time again. I brought the bow level with my line of sight and pulled the arrow taught on its string. I leveled the bow at the target and let the arrow soar. It embedded with a thud in the dead center of it.

              Admiration shone in Kiera’s eyes. “You are awesome Skyler. Where did you learn to do that?”

              I shrugged as if it was no big deal. “When I was your age I had my big brother wrapped around my finger too. I begged him to teach me and he did.”

              “Can you teach me?” she looked to me with pleading eyes.

              I hesitated. I did not want to make a promise I would not keep. “I don’t know how long I will be at the palace Princess.”

              Her face fell instantly flat. Then it brightened just as quickly. “Ooh, Zander, you can marry Skyler and then she will be a Princess just like me and live at the palace and she can teach me to shoot like her!” She squealed to her brother.

              He let out a shaky laugh and I could have sworn I saw a hint of blush creep into his tanned cheeks.  “Come on little sister. We should get back to the palace before someone finds out we are missing and comes looking for us.”

Chapter 13

            
 
T
he Queen’s face was as red as molten lava when we returned. She waited for us in the gardens. “I sent guards to summon you to the seamstress to have your measurements taken for the upcoming ball and imagine my surprise when they reported back my children were last seen traipsing into the forests with one of the competitors.” Despite looking as if she might explode at any moment, her words were spoken with an icy calm.

              “You, Lady Alastair, missed the second trial. Therefore, you have been disqualified. Return to your rooms and collect your things immediately.” If looks could kill, I would have died where I stood.

              Zander started to speak up, but I cut him off. Kiera was staring between the three of us with wide, misty eyes. “You should see the Princess to her rooms.” He looked as if he wanted to argue, but any rebuttals he may have made died on his lips when he took in his little sister’s expression. 

“Fine,” he muttered, “but this is far from over. Mother, I would like to speak with you in private. Lady Alastair, you may return to your rooms but you will not be leaving the palace.” He turned to his sister and lovingly placed an arm around her. “Come on Kiera.”

              A barrage of questions bombarded me the minute I walked into my room. My mind was too preoccupied to come up with a reasonable lie so I told Emily the truth instead.  Well almost the truth. I left out the part about the kiss. Her mouth hung open in astonishment by the time I finished recounting the morning’s events.

              “Oh my Gods, Skyler, you were
alone
with the
Prince.”

              “We technically were not alone. The Princess was with us.”

              “Still this is huge. Prince Edwin never spends time with anyone outside of the royal family.”

              “And you know that because?”

              “I’m surprised you don’t. It’s been the gossip among all of the Noble families since I can remember.”

              I rolled my eyes. Clearly, the nobles had too much money and not enough things to do with it.  “We saw him in sparring in the hall with a palace guard remember? They seemed to be pretty chummy.”

              “I guess,” she shrugged. “But I still don’t think he has ever been known to court a girl.”

              “With the lot he has to choose from, I wouldn’t either,” I murmured more to myself than to her.

              A knock at the door interrupted our conversation. A second later, Abda entered the room. “Excuse me, Lady Alastair. The Queen summons you to her sitting rooms.”

              “Skyler, I swear you have all the luck,” Emily squealed.

Ha!
She was welcomed to go in my place. A private conversation with the Queen was the last thing I wanted to do. I would rather walk into a pit of vipers than into Her Majesty’s sitting rooms. Though both places were probably equally venomous.

Chapter 14

            
 
“
S
it, Lady Alastair,” the Queen commanded. I obliged. She kept standing. Of course, she did. She was the type of woman who needed to lord her superiority over everyone around her. “Where did you come from, Lady Alastair?”

              The blunt question took me by surprise. It hit way too close to the truth. I carefully schooled my features into a blank mask. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I am not sure what you mean?”

              The Queen’s look made it clear she was not buying what I was selling, but she would indulge me anyway. “When my son came of marriage age a year ago, I had a list drafted and delivered to me of every young lady within the Noble Houses that were of age or would be coming of age soon. The House of Alastair was absent from that list.”

              I allowed an edge of bitterness to color my voice. “My branch of the family is a distant relation. We became even more estranged after my father married my mother, a common girl. I am the only girl of age of the House of Alastair, but I am not surprised my name did not show up on your list. The Alastairs like to pretend we do not exist.”

              “Do they now?”

              I moved to say something more to convince her, but she held up her hand to silence me. “It matters not. My son appears to have taken a liking to you and insists you remain in the competition. However, we both know why you are really here so let us cut to the point. You leave without a word to my son and I will see to it that you do so much wealthier than when you arrived.”

              “With all due respect,
Your Majesty
, you have no idea why I am here. I may be a lesser noble, but I do have my dignity and it cannot be bought.” My voice came out sharper than intended.

The Queen’s face contorted in disbelief at my audaciousness. “You will not win this competition and you certainly will not marry the Prince. Even if you are who you claim to be, a lesser noble will never be good enough to stand beside the Heir of the House of Roth.  So how about you sleep on my offer. Be smart,
Lady
Alastair, or I may be forced to take more extreme measures.” Her tone was haughty and grandiose and meant to make me feel all of three feet tall.

She should have saved her breath. I lived my entire life as a Common Person. I was used to nobles looking down their noses at me. One of the few things I actually enjoyed about being a part of the Assassin’s Guild was the elevated status and sense of empowerment that came with it. Even those people who did not know me as an assassin afforded me a wide berth and respect. In Anthame money was status, and I spent more than enough of it to not be treated like a part of the Common People.

The Queen dismissed me after insulting then threatening me. I returned to my room to find it free of my roommate. I sent a silent thanks up to whatever god was listening. I liked her, but I could not deal with her and the dozens of questions she would have. A glint of something sparkly caught my eye. A large box wrapped in an oversized shiny silver bow sat on my bed. I cautiously approached it, halfway expecting it to explode. I shook off the absurd vision my overactive imagination conjured up. I was in the High Palace. It was probably the most secure place in the kingdom.
It’s not that secure if they let an assassin slip through the door unnoticed,
my lovely subconscious reminded me.
Shove it!
I told it. I slid the bow off the box and lifted its lid. A beautiful bouquet of long-stemmed white roses lay delicately inside with a note attached. Slightly bewildered I picked it up. The only notes I was used to receiving were the kind that came with directions to kill. It read:

Have breakfast with me again tomorrow? Same place, same time.

                            ~Zander

              To my complete abhorrence I found myself clutching the note against my chest and smiling. I was turning into one of
those
girls.

Chapter 15

            
 
“
L
et’s play a game,” Zander proposed. He wore his mischievous look. No doubt he was up to no good.

              “What game?” I eyed him over the now clean table. A servant had just finished clearing the last of our plates away.

              “Truth or Dare.”

              “Aren’t we a little too old?”

              “It depends on how you play it.”

              I threw my hands up in mock exasperation. “I don’t even want to know what that means.”

              “Come on,” he grinned. “It will be fun. I’ll even let you go first.”

              That got me interested. There were more than a few questions I wanted to ask him. “Sure, why not? When I first met you in the hallway you didn’t you tell me you were the Prince. Why lie and pretend to be a guard?”

              “I didn’t lie,” he said offensively. “You asked for directions and I gave them to you. You never asked me who I was, and I told you my real name.”

              “You gave me a nickname. One I doubt many people are aware of.  You may not have lied about who you were outright, but you knew I did not recognize you as the Prince. You purposely deceived me. I lie by omission is still a lie.” My words came out with more of an edge than I intended, but I was still a little miffed at his deception. I did not like being toyed with or tricked, and yes I recognized the irony in that.

              “I may be a boy but I understand my sister’s plight more than she thinks,” he began to explain. “Sometimes my freedoms are just as limited as hers. I grew up being told how to behave, how to speak, how to
think
in a manner befitting of a future king. I rebelled against it as a child, but eventually I realized it was all in vain. I am the heir of the House of Roth and nothing I do will change that. It’s maddening not to have control over your own future. I am forced to be Prince Edwin Alexander the Fifth just about every moment of my existence. When you didn’t immediately recognize me, it gave me a sliver of a moment to just be Zander.”

“You don’t have to apologize for wanting to be yourself.               I’m not royalty or anything, but I know what it’s like to be forced to play a role that is not you.” He didn’t say he was sorry, but the sentiment was there in his tone.

“What masks are you hiding behind?”

“I thought I was asking the questions?”

“You were, but you had your turn. Now it’s mine?” he grinned.

If he were not royalty, people would still fall at his feet. His dimpled smile would get him the world handed to him. I looked away from him and out at the roses blooming around us. I did not want to grow accustomed to seeing it, nor did I need images of it accessible to my memory. “So many at this point I’ve lost count,” I answered without meeting his stare.

He reached across the table and gently took my chin within his grip. He turned my head to the right so that I looked at him once more. “Well I hope the Skyler I am getting to know is the real you. I’m growing rather fond of her.”

If I were completely honest with myself, I was growing rather fond of him too. But it would not matter in the end. Even if I did not kill him, I would still be forced to give him up. The Queen was already suspicious of me and my charade wouldn’t hold up for long. Sooner or later I would be discovered as a fraud and the Queen would gleefully have me thrown out of the Palace. Once Zander found out, he would let her. He would think me shallow and scheming and only after his crown.

              “Dare,” Zander’s abrupt words jolted me out of my thoughts.

              “What?” I asked sounding confused.

              “Dare,” he repeated.

              “I think we’re playing the game wrong. You are supposed to ask me truth or dare and I’m supposed to pick one.” Come to think of it, we had been playing wrong from the start. I never asked him truth or dare either.

              He shrugged his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. New rules.”

              “We can’t just change the rules.”

              “Sure we can. It’s one of the perks of being the Prince.” In that moment he looked every bit of how the heir of the House of Roth was supposed to: pompous, self-important, and all commanding. In that moment I met Prince Edwin Alexander the Fifth for the first time. Him I would have no problem killing.

              “Fine,
Your Highness
, but give me a minute to think of a good one.”

              He dropped the façade and returned to the relaxed, easygoing guy I had come to know. “I just went. It’s your turn. I choose dare for you.”

              “But, I’m supposed to choose for myself.”               “My palace, my rules.” This time he channeled a stubborn young child. He folded his arms and stomped his foot. Teenage boys did not pout, at least not in public. I giggle at his display.

              He looked at me curiously. “So that is what I have to do to make you laugh? Act like a six year old.”

              “I laugh,” I said a little too defensively.

              He reached across the table and tucked a strand of hair that had blown astray behind my ear. The intimate contact made me shift uncomfortably in my chair. “Not nearly enough. Which is why my dare is for you to let whatever it is that causes you not to laugh as much as you should go for the rest of the day.”

              This time my laugh was cynical. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

              “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.” He stood up from the table and held his hand out to me.

              I accepted it.