Page 46 of Caroline the Cruel
The queen smirked and flitted a hand through the air, waving the idea off. “I don’tcurrentlyhave any plans to kill your brother, his wife, or any of their children. So, please draw and don’t give me any reason to create them.”
Breicher let out a long sigh and began to draw. Caroline excused herself and Angus sat with the other advisors for long hours while the prince laid out the plans for Kierengaard. The castle was an elegant building topped with spires, different sections and wings abounded, but it was not the impenetrable maze of Roskide. Its location was what made it a challenge to sack. But now that Caroline had the power of the Gods, that was surmountable too.
Angus tapped a finger on the open ballroom in the compound’s heart. “When is the solstice?” he asked to anyone who’d supply the information.
“Three days shy of a fortnight, sir,” Seb, the trade advisor, answered. As the man’s small head nodded vigorously, his crisp black hair didn’t budge. Angus wrinkled his nose. What did the slight man put in it that made it so stiff?
“Wonderful,” he answered, shifting his focus. “Our intelligence says their annual festival is planned to go on as scheduled. The queen, Breicher and I will arrive before the feast is opened. Once she has control of the room, we’ll send soldiers to open the gates of the city and beyond, instructing any forces stationed between Kierengaard’s walls and the border to stand down. Soon, Veetula’s army will be our own.”
Angus rose, folding a stack of papers in front of him, tucking them beneath his arm. “Oh, and let’s keep an eye on our prince. We don’t want him to get a message out to his brother and spoil the surprise.” He gave Breicher an angry frown. “The queen’s forgiveness only extends so far.”
Breicher was on his heels as he left the room.
“She’s unleashing her army on Veetula?” Breicher said, unbridled panic lacing his voice.
“You should make an effort to get to know her. Understand her motives, at least. But you don’t know her at all.” Angus shook his head, disgust coated his skin and pulled his face into a grimace. “Your queen does not engage in meaningless bloodshed. Why would she kill the people she intends to unite?”
Granted, whatever the Gods had said that had made her so intent on this mission of hers, he did not fully understand. He suspected defying their games was motivation enough. When she’d first presented the idea to him, it had seemed unreal. But as she spoke, a new sense of purpose had lit her eyes and he had to give it to her. Using the Veetula prince as a tool, making him her king was as ruthless as it was clever. And it might even work. It was the fact that before that idea had blossomed, she’d been unwilling to execute him. That made Angus uneasy.
Breicher’s fingers wrapped around his forearm, and Angus whipped around, grasping the other man’s throat, slamming him into the wall. Angus’s anger and catching the stronger Ivanslohe off guard gave him the slight advantage. The prince hadn’t fought back.Yet.
“Have a little faith in the woman who somehow deems you worth marrying. You have an opportunity here whether or not you see it, and I’d suggest you not squander it,” Angus reprimanded before Breicher got a word out. Then he relaxed his grip and stomped off down the hall, leaving Breicher to ponder his words.
Chapter 4
“Ithoughtyou’dbehere,” Breicher said as he slipped into the steam-filled room deep under Roskide. The coquettish energy of his first visit to the hot spring so different from the somber tone the cavern now held.
He poked his head around the corner. Caroline’s head was leaned back on the tepid stones surrounding the pool and her naked body bobbed just below the surface. Her white hair was soaked and fanned out around her, floating in the water, and draping across the stones. Only her eyes tracked over to him.
Breicher held out the bottle of wine and two glasses. “I brought a peace offering.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than wine to get anything out of me.” Caroline’s voice was flat, bored even.
“Can I join you?” he asked, even as he slipped his shoes off.
She sat up, eyeing the wine. “I don’t care.”
“Better than a no.” Breicher shrugged and tugged his shirt up and over his head. He tossed it aside and began unlacing his trousers, letting them drop to the floor. He figured it was only fair. Making quick work of the cork, he poured them two glasses and sauntered over to her making sure he was on full display.
She only raised her eyebrows as she took him in. If he were being honest with himself, he’d been hoping for more of a reaction.
“You wouldn’t care if I took a lover, would you? Someone who I found more palatable?” she asked.
Breicher almost slipped on the slick stones, but righted himself before the wine sloshed from the glasses. He bent down, handing her a glass, then lowered himself into the pool. The warmth filled him, lessening the tension he’d been holding onto that not even the luxurious bed she’d put in his room eased. Or it was the proximity to her that let his shoulders lower. There was some assurance in knowing where the queen was. If he was with her, she couldn’t be hurting anyone.
“I know. It seems I’ve made yet another mistake. And you’re upset with me.” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “Angus says I don’t know you. I misjudge your intentions. That I should try harder.”
He tried to gauge her response. A slight downturn of her lips was all she gave him before she took a sip of the ruby liquid.
“Are you not going to speak to me?”
“Why should I? Speaking to you doesn’t do any good. I don’t take part in meritless activities. You could always offer to entertain me with your mouth in other ways?” Her eyes creased at the edges and a sly glint brightened them.
“You already know what I have to offer in that department. Besides, you might as well take a lover. I don’t think becoming romantically involved would be a wise choice for us. Too much is at stake to have our judgement clouded.”
“Feel free to leave.” The bite in her tone was unmistakable as she turned her head to stare at the wall. “And for the record, I’ll permit you no lover. I won’t have my king spreading his seed throughout the kingdoms. Understood?”
“That seems like a bit of a double standard.” Breicher swirled his glass of wine, downing it and reached for the bottle. He felt her eyes crawling across his torso as he moved. “Caroline, I think we both know I’m not dead because you want me.” It wasn’t his looks or plain lust. It was that spark when they kissed. That stupid, haunting, delicious kiss. The spark that had blurred her senses, creating the opening for what he’d done. Never had a kiss affected him like hers had. Sure, kissing was a nice precursor to sex, but unnecessary.
