"Dahlia, darling" the Queen began as I wiggled and pushed against the guards holding me. Three days had passed since the king had so generously allowed me to roam "freely" throughout the castle grounds. In reality, the high, and oh so mighty, General Brayden watched me closer than a hawk.
The rest— except for Lucien—were moved to larger cells/rooms and were allowed just two hours in the outdoors per day, it made me boil inside with such fury it was nearly unbearable. At the moment, however, I had been led into a sitting room where the queen was sitting all regal on a couch, I didn't want to talk to anyone with an ounce of Royal Ravkah blood, and they knew it. Hence, the forceful way I was being held by the guards as I trashed, and hurled a snarl the Queen's way.
The merely Queen rolled her eyes at me and waved her guards off " We have matters to discuss, so I suggest you have a seat" her tone was silky sweet but with unmistakable steel behind it. I sat on the chair across from the Queen, spine stiff as a board and my entire body tense "And what matters might that be?" I ask calmly, plastering a composed and nonchalant expression onto my face, in reality, I fumed.
"Let us drop pretenses darling, we all know the only reason you remain alive is due to my daughter's engagement to your comrade"
"Forced engagement, you forgot to say it's forced," I said blandly, not bothering with being pleasant.
The queen glared at me " We both know Lord Lucien is gaining a great deal from this arrangement, do not make it out to be a trial or torment."
I nearly scoffed, lord Lucien! Haha
I narrowed my eyes at her "Why did you push it then? If you are losing from this arrangement?"
"Power Dahlia, it has always only ever been about power, in my country, a Lilith is the symbol of strength and power so it only makes sense to make him royalty. There hasn't been a Lilith born in Ravkah for centuries aside from Lucien and my daughter is obsessed " she gave an exasperated sigh at the end.
In centuries! I always knew Lucien was powerful but I never fathomed the depth of his power!
" The only condition Lucien insisted upon was his comrade's safety, he was quite dramatic honestly," the queen said, "Not to mention his tendency for stubbornness, " she and I nearly rolled my eyes.
"Now, it has come to my attention your country is in need of assistance.." and something in her tone made my skin crawl, made a shiver run down my back and every hair stand on end.
"I know about your parents Dahlia..." I couldn't help but suck in a ragged breath at her words, and I had a vague feeling of my little world built on lies slowly crumbling to pieces.
"Oh yes, did you truly think their death would go by unnoticed? Honestly darling how naive." My skinned crawled and I felt like hurling my guts out, I almost smiled then, at the thought of emptying my stomach on the Queen's immaculate composure.
"What do you plan to do?" I asked with my chin held high.
" I will give you two options Dahlia, but first know that this news has also reached the ears of Venice and they will surely come for your country"
Venice knew then, the truth had ultimately reached their ears and now it was only a matter of time till that evil nation rose up again and conquered us completely this time around.
I could not be hearing this right, this was not happening to me!
" I offer you a very generous arrangement, keep the alliance with Ravkah by marrying prince Kavaleer and I will offer up troops to help fight off any possible threats to Shabina. But only after the marriage and the Prince will rule by your side in Shabina, you will be equal, it will Not be a kingdom ruled by a Queen alone."
"No" I answered instantly without missing a beat, I would not give in an inch to Ravkah, even if it was Felix.
The queen simply smiled triumphantly.
"If you were to say no, I will make sure the king personally declares war on Shabina" she leaned forward and sneered at me, and struck me that it did not seem to belong on her innocent face " I will make sure everyone dies, women and children, till all that remains of your precious Shabina is the ashes of your people"
All the blood seemed to drain from my face and I ceased to breathe, and it was quite a while before I composed myself enough to answer.
"Prince Nikolai is still in a slumber..." I trailed off awkwardly, not knowing how to continue.
The Queen nodded with a smug little smile on her delicate face " I am quite aware of the matter dear, but you misunderstand, I do not speak of Nikolai or even Alexander"
I furrowed my brows in confusion, "Then who do you mean?"
The Queen gestured to the guards at the door and they opened them to reveal a man standing in the hallway. The man walked towards me till he stood in front of us, and being the assassin I was I noticed how calculated his steps were, how even through his fine clothes you could see the coiled muscles beneath, he seemed very alert of his surroundings and it frightened me. Because I had always been able recognize a weapon when I saw one.
He stared down at me and although he smiled briefly it never reached his eyes, instead, they assessed me and looked me up and down and I recognized that look, he was not admiring me, he was sizing me up. Trying to figure out my weaknesses and how best to use them against me.
The minute we locked eyes, I wanted to run... his dark brown eyes held a glint I had seen in Arcus so many times and as my eyes widened the slightest bit his lips curved into a smirk... he too knew how to recognize a weapon when he saw one.
"This is my son Thane Kovit Kavaleer" the Queen finally spoke
Thane bent forward from the waist in a slight bow, his eyes never leaving mine in a silent challenge " A pleasure to meet you, Princess, I hope we can become better acquainted " he said in a low gravely voice that had me breaking away from his eye contact, because Thane reminded me so much of Arcus it was hard to breathe at the moment, and suddenly I felt very claustrophobic.
I thoroughly ignored his comment and instead turned to the Queen, who watched our exchange eagerly " Why not Alexander? He seems like a perfect gentleman"
Before the Queen could respond Thane interrupted our conversation, casually placing himself in my line of vision, instantly making me see red.
"Do not worry my princess" he said while he intently stared at me " I will be a gentle husband, I'll make sure to care for my brother's bride and make her my own" although I knew his words were meant to be nice they sounded like a threat.
"And in time I am confident you will come to love me"
I bristled and rose so fast my chair clattered to the floor loudly "Only one Kavaleer Prince will ever hold my affection, and you sir, are not Felix" and with that I stormed out, slamming the door behind me.
But not before I heard Thane's deep laugher echoing throughout the room sending shivers down my spine, leaving me rigged with very real fear.
"You have until tomorrow to answer me!" The Queen exclaimed as I jogged down the hallway.
______
I wanted to visit Felix, I needed to vent and he would always listen, I hadn't seen him since the ship and I so desperately needed the reassurance his presence alone could provide. But as I wandered the halls of the palace looking for him my guards quickly caught on, more accurately Brayden caught on.
"I know what you do Dasha" He warned, "I have strict orders, you are not allowed to see him..."
I stop and turned so rapidly General Tones nearly rammed into me but managed to stop himself at the last second, our toes practically touched and it made me angry because at this distance my lack of height made me crane my neck to look up at him.
"Why! If anything I have a right to see him!" I spat and General Tones merely blinked very slowly as if trying to figure out how he ended up here. General Tones took several steps back before answering, "Well Dasha, Maybe it's because you put him into a slumber, maybe it's because you can't control yourself" he said that the last one while pointing at me, and it took me by surprise when I glanced down at myself to see the ground which I stood on was covered with frost.
I looked back at him to find him giving me a blank stare, "I have never hurt Felix, not once. I wouldn't ever hurt him" I defended.
"Oh please, we know what you are princess. Who would have thought our own little princess is not only the last Cashore but also an assassin!"
Everyone knew... The queen told everyone! I wasn't here for more than four days and already they knew everything... I foolish I had been for thinking I could pull this off.
"Did you enjoy it princess, did you enjoy slitting your subjects throats? Did you enjoy their screams? Did you enj-"
"Stop! Stop it!" I pleaded, it was too much, too much to accuse me of enjoying it. I had always hated it and I would carry the guilt of all my kills with me for the rest of my short life. To suggest I actually enjoyed it was a torment to my destroyed heart.
General Tones' eyes merely twinkled at his discovery "I heard you killed children little Nightmare" hearing that name brought shivers down my spine and I covered my ears.
And then it was his turn to scream, "Nightmare! That's all you have ever been, no true Queen kills her own people! NIGHTMARE is all you'll ever be!" I could hear him roaring at me even through my covered ears.
No, no, I am Dasha Cashore, daughter to Angelina the first and Dominique Cashore and heir to the throne of Shabina. I am Not my past, I am not my past, I am not my past
I could vaguely register him yelling at me as I backed up against the wall as he kept approaching me, nearer and nearer till my back hit the wall. I then slid down till I curled myself up covering my ears.
I am Not my past
I am Not my past
I am my future
I am Shabina's future