Page 41 of Conspirators' Kingdom

Another knocking on her door. Her head whipped in that direction.

“Ambassador, I believe we have a deal to see through.” Mereruka’s muffled voice came to her from the hallway.

“I- I’m indisposed, Prince Mereruka. Please come back another time,” Taisiya said as she ran through her mental list of escape routes.

Other than the main door, there was a set of servants’ stairs in the servant’s room just off the main bedroom. She raced for the door of the adjoining private parlour. She heard him chuckle as she tore open the door to flee the receiving room.

“Oh, I think not.”

He opened the door as the fleeting hem of her skirts sailed through the door of the private parlour.

“You little-”

Taisiya refused to listen to another word, her focus entirely on getting into the cramped servants’ stairwell. She made it as far as the main bedroom before he caught her in his arms and whirled her up and off her feet.

“No! Please! I can still find you a wife! Just give me another day!” Taisiya pleaded.

The prince laughed, his merriment chilling her.

“No, Taisiya, I think I’ll be collecting on my boon now, as we promised.”

He set her down and turned her to face him, his grip on her shoulders unshakable. This was it. She would have to kill him. The gathered lightning in her palms died under her skin.

“What have you done?” she gasped.

“Did you really think a fae deal would come without protections for the one who collects? We’d never get our end of the bargain if our debtors could kill us so easily.” He frowned at her.

What would he demand? She tallied all the things she could live without—eyes, ears, fingers, arms, legs, the skin off her back, her health, her youth, her voice. She prayed he wouldn’t ask for her life but took comfort in the fact that even without her, their family would go on. Her affairs were in order. They’d been in order since her father died. She swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat and tensed, bracing herself as she stared at his bare teal chest, refusing to meet his eyes.

Father, forgive me.

“What…what do you want?” she choked out.

He crooked a finger under her chin and tipped up her jaw, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“You promised me whatever boon I asked for. I’m demanding your hand,” He smiled as she paled, visions of blood and agony painting her mind a blinding red, “in marriage.” He finished.

“W-what?”

“You’re to be my bride. I’m not to return to Maat without one. Since you couldn’t find me one, you’ll do nicely.”

“I—but—” she stammered as his words sunk in.

Lethe was her home. Her destiny and that of her family was tied to this land. It was everything she knew. Everyone she loved was here. Everything she desired and schemed for was here. She couldn’t leave it. He pressed his teal finger to her lips to silence her protest, his grin wolfish.

“If you want your family to attend, best inform them soon. The wedding is tonight. I’ll have a number of appropriate dresses and accessories brought to you here within the hour. Choose whichever you like. Do you have any customs you’d like to see observed?”

In a daze, she answered.

“The—the groom should wear the family colours of the bride and vice versa.”

“And what would those be, Taisiya?”

She really looked at him then, this prince of a foreign land. He wasn’t the least bit upset by her failure. No, he looked as pleased as could be. Had she been played for a fool this whole time? Had this outcome always been his aim? His pale citrine eyes sparkled with mirth. Gods, how had she not foreseen this? She thought he would demand her death as the price of failure. He’d stolen her life instead. Her blood boiled.

“Purple,” she hissed.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead while she stood rooted to the spot.

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