Page 85 of Caroline the Cruel
Caroline whined as she looked over the list. It had been almost a year since she’d banished her husband and had the marriage annulled. Wasn’t that long enough to get over a broken heart? Each morning when she looked in the mirror, she swore the darkening circles under her eyes smudged a deeper shade of violet. That meant more makeup, which she wasn’t accustomed to.
Maybe Angus was right, and it was time for a change. Something had to get her out of this rut. “Are you sure it’s a good idea?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at her commander.
Angus noticed the dark circles long before the queen had admitted she hadn’t been sleeping. The woman was suffering and suffering badly. He needed to do something to distract her and do it quickly. Jaden seemed to think she needed to end the exile. The prince Caroline had taken into the fold voiced his opinion a little too liberally and too often if anyone asked him.
And it’s not that he was jealous of the man. That was absurd. At first, he’d even thought Caroline had planned to take the man as a lover, but she claimed there was no spark between them, even though Jaden teased at it enough. Besides, a new king would be the perfect chance to solve the queen’s apathy and the several political problems arising too.
He just didn’t think he could handle seeing her so broken again, the way she’d been the night she’d sent Breicher away. She hadn’t told him what had transpired, but it had devastated her. Caroline hadn’t been herself afterward. But Jaden had come along and somehow gotten the woman he respected most in the world out of bed and somewhat back to her testy self.
Angus eyed his sovereign, wondering if he’d misjudged whether she was ready for this. He was about to retract the suggestion when she looked up. It was that spark in her eye he missed most. “You need to do something, Your Majesty.”
Her commander only used the formal address when he was saying something she didn’t want to hear. She supposed he was right. Pressing her fingers into her shut eyelids, she tried to ease the strain. “I’ll do it. But I want to meet them, to get a feel.”
“You mean you want to see which one strikes your fancy—”
“No, Angus. I don’t really care about that anymore. I just want to get a sense of which one might be the least traitorous out of the bunch. Make them all wear costumes, or better yet masks. What they look like matters not to me.” Caroline clicked her fingers on the table as she stared off into the distance, thinking.
“A masked ball at Roskide?” Angus asked, surprised at his queen’s unusual suggestion. “We’ve never had a party here before.”
Not before they’d lost their parents the night of the Peace Ball, and they eventually cordoned off the Great Hall. He wasn’t even sure how to go about putting one together. “Umm, so that is a, yes?” Caroline’s gaze had wandered off again. She’d been doing this a lot lately, which worried him. Fortunately, she remained completely focused during the Petitions at both Everstal and Veetula.
“Mmmhmmm.”
Angus tracked her gaze, which was focused longingly out the north window. “Perfect,” he said, snapping the ledger sitting before him closed, drawing her attention back to the present. “Any other requests?”
“No, I don’t care.” Caroline got up from the table, then stopped short, turning. “The decor should all be black, the candles, linens, even the roses. Dye them if you must. I want to make sure my suitors know what they are getting themselves into.”
As the queen stormed past, Jaden, who’d been trying hard to keep quiet, looked up from his stack of correspondence. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
The queen ignored him and kept walking, so he shoved his chair out and stomped across the room after her. A firm hand wrapped around his bicep and a shiver went down his spine. Jaden turned to Caroline’s commander.
“I’ve known her much longer than you. Trust that I know what she needs.”
Affronted, Jaden sneered down at the delightfully calloused hand cutting off his circulation and peeled each of Angus’s fingers off one at a time. He looked the intimidating man square in the eye. “Considering I’m the one who got her kicking and screaming again, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,commander.”
Jaden could tell the man was holding his emotions in check by the way his jaw clenched when he’d said commander. He wasn’t intentionally mocking him. He was such a stalwart at times. No fun. Always the stoic commander. And the dam was near cracking. Jaden didn’t want to be the man on the other end of the sturdy man’s fists, so he spun to chase the queen down the hall, shaking his shoulders out as he jogged to catch up.
“Your commander needs to get laid,” Jaden said, when he finally caught up to Caroline.
“Good luck with that,” she huffed. “Trust me, I’ve tried to set him up with plenty of women. He’s just not interested.”
Jaden raised an eyebrow.
Caroline shook her head. “Have at it, prince. I’m guessing you won’t have any better luck than me.” The queen paused, walking for a moment, then skipped through an open door and to a balcony overlooking the training yard. She grabbed his forearm before he made his presence known. They stood in the shadow of a column and watched Commander Angus Straihan begin his assault on a straw target with a wooden long sword.
Jaden’s hands went to his collar, clutching it closed. “Gods,” he said.
“He’s been like this ever since I’ve known him. Likethat, ever since his body began to fill out.”
Jaden’s pulse thrummed. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man and the relentless exercise taking place.
His face flushed, and Caroline, witnessing his rose stained cheeks asked, “Think you could beat him?”
He swallowed. “I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try? I may not be the towering warrior my father and uncle are, but I still have the Ivanslohe Gift from the Gods.” Jaden figured he ought to be able to hold his own, considering his unnatural strength and vitality, even against the formidable man below.Surely.He winced as Angus struck and the burlap holding the target split down the middle, straw exploding outward into the commander’s agitated face.
Caroline twirled her white locks as she patted him on the back. “Consider it a dare from your queen.” Tilting her head up at him, she winked, then charged off in whatever direction she’d been going, leaving him in the shade unsure of what he’d been after her for.
It took a month to plan the masked ball. Jaden enlisted a few ex-girlfriends who were still friendly, as the queen had no interest in party planning. The women, thrilled to use their skills and be this close to all the gossip, had willingly grasped Caroline’s hands as she transported them from Veetula to Everstal. They’d spent the first two days walking around, struck stupid by the beauty of the place. It’s lushness, the crystalline water in the bay visible from Roskide a wonder that never failed to amaze him either.
