I had heard of magic, back in Havermark. It was something unnatural, ugly. When my parents were young it still happened from time to time that someone was caught practising magic. They were usually hanged within a week of discovery. By the time I was coming of age the people said that they had managed to weed out the st vestiges of magic from the nd. I had heard that it was simir in Medora, but here they burned their witches alive.

  “Magic is illegal,” I told Adora.

  “So is regicide,” she replied dryly.

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  “You’re telling us you can do magic?” Alvar interjected.

  “Yes,” Adora replied.

  “Why are you trusting us with this information? We could turn you in, you know,” Alvar asked sceptically.

  “Because I’m desperate to get revenge. I loved Reena. My family has died, I have no-one else here. I have nothing to lose any more I just need that old man to pay!”

  “Yes, but why are you telling us?” Alvar asked again.

  “Because I need your help.”

  “What do you need?” I asked.

  “I know of a spell, a curse really, that can kill the king from afar. We don’t need to put anything into his food and we don’t need to physically attack him in any way.”

  “What do we need then?”

  “First, we need his saliva while he is healthy. With that I can make him sick and bed bound. Then, I will need one of his hairs. With that I can make him lose his mind. Finally I need a drop of his blood. With the drop of blood I can kill him and it will look like the disease did it.”

  “I understand,” I nodded. “You need us to gather these things.”

  “Yes, I can’t enter the castle.”

  I looked at Alvar, he furrowed his brows.

  “Should we do it?” I asked him.

  “It’s your choice Your Highness. I will help you if you choose it.”

  I nodded.

  “We’ll do it.”Adora followed us to the door where I put the hood back over my head. Alvar lifted me back on to the horse and jumped on behind me. In the cold night it felt so nice to be embraced by his big warm arms. He kissed me softly on the top of my head. My cheeks flushed. I was still so conflicted about the situation with Alvar and Virtus.

  It was easier to enter the castle than it had been to exit it. It was darker, the guards were more tired. Together we sneaked up the stairs and back to my room. Everyone was asleep so it was not too hard. We entered the room together. We had to get Alvar’s armour back on.

  Then it was just the two of us in the silent room. We lit a couple of candles on my firepce, which was still smouldering, and we filled it with new logs as well. The room was cool.

  “Do you think the magic will work?” he asked me.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never known anyone who could do magic before.”

  “It doesn’t sound probable at all to me. It’s just nonsense and fantasy.”

  “Well if it is then just nothing will happen. We’ll just get some of the king’s spit and that will be all. Maybe some people will think we’re weird.”

  “I guess…”

  I looked up into his golden eyes, lit up by the firepce. He looked so beautiful that night. He looked back at me and softly put his hand on my shoulder.

  I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. He leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was hot, rough, desperate. His lips mashed against mine as he pulled me in closer, grabbing my waist tightly. I kissed him back, ran my hands over his big arms, his strong back. He moved to undo the strings at the back of my dress and that was what snapped me back to reality.

  “We shouldn’t do this!”

  He pulled away.

  “No-one would know.”

  “But if they do find out they could kill me. They could kill us both.”

  He thought for a few moments. Then nodded.

  “When we go to the Midway Isles we’ll have enough time together.”

  “Yes.”

  I had almost forgotten that I had asked him to take me there. My thoughts were so consumed with fantasies of vengeance.

  “Let’s get my armour back on.”

  I screwed the armour back on. The tension in the air was palpable. I wanted to take him to bed so badly. Not only did I know it was a bad idea, I also wanted to remain faithful to my husband, even though I was so angry at him. Well as faithful as I could be having still kissed Alvar. This was all such a mess.

  ***

  I had accepted Virtus’s plea to dine with the royal family in the great hall that evening. If I was to get close enough to the king to get some of his natural essences I would need to pretend to be on good terms with everyone.

  I donned the new red dress Adora had made me, and emeralds belonging to the royal collection. Lady Agatha was one of the dies helping me with my outfit.

  “I’m so gd you’re getting over your spat with the prince,” she said.

  I gritted my teeth.

  “I guess I have no choice.”

  “He’s a good man, Your Highness. He really cares about you.”

  “Sure, he cares so much that he chose to carouse about with me in stead of coming to his step-mothers aid.”

  “He must regret it terribly,” Lady Agatha lowered her gaze.

  “And where were you, when the queen was beheaded?” I asked coldly.

  “In my chambers. There is nothing I could have done.”

  “That’s what everyone says…” I muttered.

  The dies were quiet until I was ready to go down into the hall.

  Virtus and Prince Plinius were both already sitting on the dais when I came down to the great hall. In my fury towards the king I had forgotten my equally uncomfortable retionship with my husband’s younger brother. They sat at each side of the king’s seat. Virtus on the right and Plinius on the left. In that moment I wished more than anything that I had never had to come to Medora.

  “Good evening. Princess Talia,” Prince Plinius said.

  “Good evening, Prince Plinius,” I tried to sound friendly even though I wished I could crush him like the cockroach he was.

  Virtus nodded happily, having no idea about the things that had transpired between me and Plinius. He gave me a sympathetic smile as I sat next to him.

  “Good evening, my love. I’m happy to see you here,” he said so quietly that only I could hear it.

  I pressed my lips together into a wan smile and nodded.

  The king entered st of all. The whole hall went quiet as the rge man lumbered through the doorway. His brow hanging heavy over his droopy eyes, he did not look at anybody, but simply walked through the crowd and sat in the seat between his sons.

  They both bid him good evening. I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab my knife and stab him. Instead I just said:

  “Good evening, Your Majesty.”

  The words felt like bile in my mouth, but I think I came across as more or less pleasant.

  We started to eat in silence. Virtus complemented the quality of the fish once. I nodded in agreement. Plinius told Virtus some story of his recent military excursion in Perova, but the conversation soon fizzled out after trying to speak over the big silent rock that was their father. When the story was finished Plinius turned back to speak to his partner on the other side.

  To get the king’s spit we only needed his chalice. It looked the same as all the other chalices at the table. I had devised a pn of what to do. It would look to suspicious if I took it. Alvar could access it ter by talking to one of the scullery maids after dinner, but he would need to know which chalice it was. I had a small tub of red oil paint in one of my pockets. I would mark the chalice with my finger after the king was done drinking and then Alvar could find it ter.

  I hoped the king would leave early as he often had before, going off to hang out with some of his old advisors or whatever it was that he did when he left. He stayed all through dinner, finishing pte after pte long after I had finished eating. Although his consumption of food was impressive, it was his consumption of drink that was truly astounding. He drank both wine and ale simultaneously, washing down a sip of rich wine from his chalice with a gulp of refreshing ale from his tankard. I was getting nauseous just being around him.

  “Just tell me when you want to leave, my love, and I will make excuses for us,” Virtus whispered in my ear.

  “It’s fine,” I muttered through clenched teeth.

  I casually sipped at my wine while I waited. Maybe that wasn’t smart, but my nerves and anger were getting the best of me. The wine calmed me down on both regards. The drink seemed to be riling the king up on the other hand. The more he drank, the heavier he breathed, and the more chatty he got. First he blessedly turned his attention to Plinius, leaving me able to avoid his attention. Later in the evening he turned to Virtus and me.

  “I see you finally got the little girl to eat her dinner. Did you threaten her with a spanking?”

  Plinius guffawed, he was keeping up with is father, never being one to let anyone else outdrink him. I was reminded of how much he drank and joked around with the queen when she was still alive. Now she was the furthest thing from his mind. Virtus forced a cold smile, gncing apologetically at me.

  “Ohhh come on boy, you ughed at my jokes yesterday,” the king spit out a morsel of chicken as he slurred his words out.

  The ctter of the people eating below the dais kept the silence from being too painful. Still, we all sat frozen.

  “It’s getting te, my wife and I should go to sleep,” Virtus forced the words out.

  “No, I’d like to stay, please,” the words whistled out of my mouth.

  I knew I wouldn’t be able to mark the cup without the king noticing. I had to stay at the table longer than him, or at least leave at the same time.

  “Ohhh, the little princess is in charge,” the king mocked, but didn’t seem merry. “First she won’t come to dinner, now she won’t leave.”

  “Father,” Virtus sighed.

  I looked down at my pte, seething. I hoped that if I ignored the king for long enough then he would move his attention away from me and start bothering someone else. The scraps of my dinner stared me in the face. Fish bones y pushed into one corner of the pte. Carrot tops in another. All over there were sptters of red sauce. I wondered how Reena’s blood had spttered when they decapitated her.

  “That silly little thing,” he told Plinius, who ughed.

  “Don’t speak of my wife this way,” Virtus said.

  The king ignored him, but luckily diverted his attentions and started speaking to Plinius.

  “Why don’t you want to leave darling?” Virtus leaned in and asked again.

  “Just let it be,” I told him, taking another sip of my wine.

  The night went on. I sat sipping in silence and Virtus stayed as well, I think out of concern for me. The king spoke to Plinius, and finally after a while he stood up to leave. As soon as he left I dipped my finger into the pot of red paint.

  “My love, let’s go now,” Virtus said softly.

  “Yeah just go ahead, I’ll follow you,” I told him.

  “Let’s go together, you’re a bit tipsy.”

  He was being kind. I was actually drunk. That of course was a huge tactical error.

  “Just stand up,” I told him. “I’ll follow right behind you.”

  He looked confused, but did as I told him. I stroked my painted finger along the king’s chalice, and along the tankard as well for good luck. When I was going I stumbled over and fell on the table a little bit. Virtus turned back to pick me up as I stroked the painted finger into the folds of my dress. He helped carry me out of the hall as I turned around to see the cups being carried away. Two of the chalices were red. I had fallen on Virtus’s chalice and marked it too.

  Virtus took me back to my room, where Sir Sigisbert waited outside. He gave me a soft kiss on the forehead and bid me good night.

  I sat on my bed for a few moments. I couldn’t let Virtus get sick as well. I didn’t know if the effects of the sickness curse would be permanent. I had told Alvar to bring all the marked cups to Adora that same night. I had to go and warn him.

  I quickly put on the dark blue dress and the cloak. It was the most unassuming outfit I had, but still I would be recognizable in the castle. I would have to hurry.

  I told Sir Sigisbert that I was only going somewhere quickly, and not to come with me. He was a good Havermark boy and so did as I told him. I was very happy that I had asked to only have my own guards.

  I hurried through the castle towards the guards’ quarters. Alvar was not there yet, so I awkwardly slid behind a pilr. Finally he arrived, with a cnking bag. As he passed by I grabbed his arm.

  “Alvar,” I whispered furtively into his ear. “Only bring the tankard to Adora, not the two chalices.”

  His eyes widened, but he only nodded and kept walking. As he walked past into his room I felt tremendously relieved. I thought I had gotten away with it. As I looked up to go back to my room I saw Plinius ahead. He was smirking at me.