“See that she’s taken to the vet right away, please,” I tell Quincie, one of the guards. “I’ll take her to my office while you make arrangements.”
“Sir, the dog is bleeding,” Quincie says.
“Yes, I’m aware of that.” I laugh. “My hands are covered in said blood.”
“I just mean…do you really want to mess up your office?”
“Let me worry about that. Just please move quickly. I don’t want this pup to suffer more than she already has.”
I hurry to the office and pull a blanket off of the chair, setting it on the floor before carefully laying the dog on it. She looks up at me eagerly, her tail thumping loudly on the floor.
“I’m not getting attached until you get a clean bill of health,” I tell her, rolling my eyes at how cute she is, even a complete mess.
When Quincie comes in a few minutes later and carries the dog out, I already miss her.
A sure sign that life as a king is not all it’s cracked up to be. From death threats and meetings with future queens and murderous stepmothers…to a gaping hole in my chest where the loneliness constantly resides…this is my reality.
Chapter Two
Delilah
I hang up with Jadon Safrin, thinking that went about as well as could be expected. I am already on the outskirts of Alidonia, having told my family I am going to pick out a new wardrobe in Valence. I’m traveling with a guard, but I plan to ditch him in Valence. I will still see a designer while I’m here, but I don’t need several days to do it. I hope to be back before my guard even realizes I’m gone.
It’s the riskiest thing I’ve ever done. Not following my father’s plans and working on my own…it’s definitely the stupidest idea I’ve had. But I want my father to see me as an equal in the family. I love him more than anything or anyone and would love nothing more than to help him accomplish his lifelong mission. His time is limited. He’s been sick for a long time and when my mother passed away, my father became a shadow of his former self. I just thought that was a bad time. It was a thousand times worse when my brother died in a drowning accident two years later. The darkness consumed my father and nothing I did seemed to pull him out of it. When my cousin, Caulder, came to live with us, he was the only one who seemed to help. Now he and my father are as thick as thieves and it makes me happy that things have changed for the better with my dad’s health, but I’d like to do my part to help. I’d like to see him stay this happy.
Caulder and my father want nothing more than for me to live a life of luxury and to give me every desire of my heart. I don’t need all that, and I have a feeling meeting with my family’s greatest enemy will either put my life in danger, or it will give me leverage.
I’m counting on leverage…
I will help bring my family to its fullest power by bringing King Jadon to his knees.
I want my father to see what an asset I am to this family. Not just a pretty face but someone to be reckoned with…someone who has just as much at stake and just as much to gain from ruling all of the kingdoms. I’ve been ready for this day since I first heard about the Safrins and Catanos. They’re really the only two kingdoms standing in our way and with them now related to one another, if we bring down one, they both fall. Now that my father is healthy enough for me to travel, I can do my part.
I spend the better part of the morning doing what is expected of me: I pick out beautiful clothes. The attendant who brings each item I try on loves the outfit I arrived in and when I put it on before leaving, I see her looking at my jacket longingly.
“I’ll trade outfits with you,” I tell her.
“What?” Her forehead creases in the middle. “No, I couldn’t possibly.”
“Yes, you absolutely can. In fact, I insist!” I grin at her shock and she laughs, eyes wide. I take off my jacket and start unbuttoning my blouse before shooing her out of the dressing room. “I’ll leave my things outside the door. Put them on and then bring me your clothes.”
She clasps her hands together in excitement and nods.
“I might need an extra jacket,” I add before she leaves.
“Of course, I have one I think you’ll like.”
“Perfect.”
When I’m leaving in my borrowed clothes minus the jacket, I call my father and he answers on the second ring.
“How’s it going, little princess?” he asks.
“It’s going well. I’ve picked out a few beautiful pieces.”
“You’ll need more than a few to get through the spring. No one wants to see you wear repeated outfits. You are our kingdom’s icon. Make us proud.”
I sigh, making sure the phone is far enough to not pick it up.
“Yes, Papa. I just think our money could be better served—”
“You let me worry about our money, precious. You are the vision of what every woman wants to be, not just in our kingdom, but in every kingdom. It sends a negative message to the people if you’re seen in the same thing twice.”
“Do you really think they care that much? I find that so hard to believe…especially for the people in our kingdom who struggle to afford food.”
I normally don’t press this with him—I don’t like to upset him—but I know if we don’t talk about it, he’ll expect me to come home with no less than a dozen trunks. I try to pick accessories or accent pieces that will switch things up so he’s none the wiser when I wear repeats, but something tells me he’ll be watching to see how much I come home with.
For someone who has spent the past year in bed, nothing much gets past him right now.
“You give them hope. Yes, even more so to those who can’t afford it.”
He has that tone he gets when he’s closed the subject and I know I’ve pushed back enough. I decide to call the designer later to add a few more outfits.
“You still think you’ll be home tomorrow night or are you going to need more time to shop?” he asks, chuckling.
“I’ll let you know if it looks like I’ll be later, but I hope to stick with the schedule.”
“Enjoy your trip, sweetheart. We miss you.”
“I miss you too, Papa. Love you.”
“I love you.”
Ditching the guard goes like clockwork. I made sure Diego was the guard who accompanied me because he has a weakness for alcohol and women. I ensured he had both while I was shopping. When I’m ready to go to the hotel, he’s already drunk and I make it a point of letting him know I’ll be retiring early and enjoying a relaxing day in my room before we leave tomorrow night. He doesn’t know I hired the beautiful girl he’s been flirting with all day. She’ll keep him drinking and happy until I return in time for our flight home. I watch him open his door and drunkenly tug her inside and then I get to work.
I throw on the jacket the attendant put in a bag for me and grin. The black nondescript jacket is perfect. Next, I put on the short black wig, careful to cover every strand of my white-blond hair. I put on more makeup than I normally wear and check my appearance one last time in the mirror by the door.
Pleased, I smile at myself in the mirror and turn at all angles to make sure my hair is completely covered.