CINDER CROWN | LADY BO

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Bo was among the first people up in the castle. This was her favorite time of day—the quietness, the gray sky outside the windows, the chill, and the seemingly empty castle harmonized perfectly. She prepared herself for the day starting with a quick bath and woke the princess' attendants for breakfast after she dressed and deemed her appearance impeccable. Once she and the other attendants enjoyed a small, healthy breakfast, she sent two of them to fetch breakfast for Asta where they would likely encounter the prince's attendants doing the same. Four others she tasked with preparing for the princess' bath.

Bo woke Asta personally, disappointed to find a cat sleeping with her in place of her husband. The orange tabby yawned as the remaining four attendants began to tidy the room before breakfast was brought in.

"Good morning," said Bo.

Asta stretched her arms high over her head after sitting up. "Good morning."

"You slept well, I hope?"

The princess nodded. "What do we have planned for today?

"Your schedule will remain clear until after your father's funerary rites have been fulfilled," she said. "Until then, you are at liberty to do as you please."

Asta brightened. "Anything?"

"Anything within reason," clarified Bo. "I don't want you out there riding horses and falling off them. You're a princess and that sort of sport is not befitting of you."

"I promise I will not leave the castle, Lady Bo," the princess vowed, her freckled face glowing with excitement.

The princess kept her word. Bo would never think to doubt her honesty. However, Bo should not have expected any less in her choice of activities when she discovered the princess and her guards engaged in an intense game that appeared to require that everyone run away from Carina. The Great Hall saw the most clamoring, though occasionally one could hear the echo of laughter fill the empty corridors or whispered warnings of Carina's approach.

Bo watched from the second floor that overlooked the opened-ceiling Hall as Asta ran across the gargantuan room, her laughter bouncing off the walls, with Carina in hot pursuit.

Carina chased Asta around a long table before Vilhelm slammed open the side door and beckoned the princess to him.

Asta sprang towards Vilhelm. Carina jumped over the table swiftly to cut her off, but the princess ducked under her grab and scrambled out the door where the castle's acoustics carried away her voice deep into the dark corridor.

"Vilhelm!" shouted Carina, fuming.

Kåre, the bearded farmer that helped manage the castle's small vegetable garden, entered the Great Hall, but upon spotting the exasperated guard, he rushed out the door.

Carina chased him, yelling, "Where do you think you're going, Kåre?"

"Stop following me!" protested Kåre.

Bo noticed Kouen a moment later and approached him. She folded her arms over her chest.

"Honestly, that girl," she said huffily.

Asta and Vilhelm moved stealthily from across the hallway where they stood and snuck down the nearest flight of stairs. Carina stormed into sight a moment later, looking around. She spotted Kouen and bowed deeply before continuing her hunt.

The castle was a playground for the princess' whims. Its guards and servants indulged her all too willingly. They adored her. Perhaps, understanding the difficulty she endured after her father's death, they all wanted to make her feel anything but the sadness it provoked. She appreciated their efforts, but wished they had chosen a less disruptive game.

"I apologize for her unsightly behavior," she told Kouen.

"Asta is a child," said Kouen, pausing, "but she appears to mean well."

Bo felt a little relieved by his words.

"Did she fall off her horse hunting yesterday?"

She lowered her eyes when the prince looked in her direction, inclining her head in a respectful bow. "I would have been made aware if she had," she answered. "I am only aware that she had fallen off stairs."

Kouen nodded. "She is clumsy."

"She is not clumsy." At his brief glance, Bo realized her defensive tone and inclined her head apologetically.

They locked eyes for the briefest of seconds. Admitting so brought on implications that Bo was not comfortable making because it meant she had failed in one very important duty, which was to watch the princess closely.

"Ah, there you are, your majesty."

The chamberlain emerged from the corridor behind them. He offered her a polite, but tight-lipped smile.

Kouen walked away from Bo's side. The chamberlain followed close behind whispering to the prince.

Bo watched the chamberlain suspiciously. That one she most certainly disliked.

The princess' game ended at around lunchtime. Everyone had spent so much energy that they were left famished. The most of the guards dispersed to their mesh hall while the princess walked upstairs to take her lunch.

"Tell me about Chamberlain Bengt," said Bo, surprising Asta when she sat across from her at the table.

"What is there to say about him that you don't already know?" asked Asta.

"I am not an infinite bank of information, princess," said Bo. "For starters, why does everyone call him Slimy Bengt?"

"I do believe that nickname is self-explanatory."

The princess would not give her the information she needed, so she dropped the subject and allowed her to carry on peacefully with dinner.

Bo cornered one of the Olander siblings on her way to take her lunch.

"Tell me about Chamberlain Bengt," ordered Bo.

Vilhelm answered promptly, "His mother was a slug."

"We are speaking truths, Guard Vilhelm."

"Oh, I know."

"I will have your pay cut if you do not offer me relevant information on that man."

"You are better off knowing what you know than digging up for more, Lady Bo," said Vilhelm, serious. "Princess Asta is very fond of you, whether she shows it or not."

"Is that a threat?" asked Bo.

"I would never threaten you, Lady Bo," said Vilhelm honestly. "I apologize if it sounded like one. The thing is Chamberlain Bengt is protected under a number of laws and is a highly influential man in this country. Even the princess cannot oppose him."

"The princess?"

That struck a chord.

"Do you feel the princess would like to oppose him?" added Bo.

"She's too nice."

Bo put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "You don't say."

"Vilhelm! We're on rotation next," called a soldier from the princess' guard. He inclined his head in acknowledgment of her. "Good afternoon, Lady Bo."

She echoed his greeting.

"I should go," said Vilhelm. "Be careful who you ask about Slimy Bengt. There are more soldiers in this castle that support him than there are people that are loyal to the princess. King Hákon made certain of that."

"Worry not, Guard Vilhelm, I can take care of myself."

"Excuse me, Lady Bo." Vilhelm inclined his head politely and joined the other soldier, the two walking to their posts.

Bo entered the staffer's dinner hall to join the rest of the princess' attendants. Bengt sat at the end of a long table. The balding male ate in silence and in his own company. It was rare to see him share a meal with another person, though that was not to say nobody liked to eat dinner with him, it was his choice. Whenever someone approached him to share a meal, it meant they wanted something from him.

She took a tray with her lunch to his table and smiled as he lifted his eyes to hers.

"Good afternoon, chamberlain," Bo greeted.

"Oh, Lady Bo, good afternoon," said Bengt. "I didn't think I would see you here."

"Why? Did I appear busy this morning?"

"Someone does need to rein the princess in," he remarked in a sufficiently joking manner, though it was critical enough for her. "I saw she enlisted her entire guard into a game of tag."

"She is a silly girl," said Bo.

"Ah, how very rude of me! Why don't you join me, Lady Bo?" Bengt gestured to the seat across his.

"Why, thank you." Bo took the seat he offered and picked up her utensils.

"She is very much like her mother," said Bengt. "Not all too competent, but as enduring as a weed."

Bo laughed, twirling the silver fork around her fingers. "I agree."

He puffed up with delight. "How do you handle her? She is a rude child."

"It is nothing a little discipline does not solve."

"Although, I do think you should keep a keener eye on her," Bengt suggested, at the furrowing of her brow, he stammered out a few more words. "It is not to say that you are negligent, it is that I believe leaving her with this much time on her hands is a mistake. She is falling off horses and down stairs. It must be troubling for Prince Kouen to be married to such a troublesome girl."

"Truly?" questioned Bo, twirling her fork round and round with wonderful dexterity. "I do believe they are a good match."

Bengt barked out a laugh. "How amusing you are, Lady Bo."

Most of the princess' attendants had finished their lunches and had returned to their duties. The dinner hall was empty once Fu and Hua made their way out the door, which left them alone, together with the room's stillness.

"So, tell me, Lady Bo, why was such a refined woman like yourself chosen to come to this humble country?" asked Bengt, the shift in his tone was evident. All semblance of professionalism started to lift in the same manner a dense fog dissipated. "Surely, the Kou Empire has its princesses as well. You could do much better there."

Bo set down her knife atop one corner of her circular plate and stopped twirling her fork, gripping it tightly instead. "Princess Asta can very well become the next reigning empress of the Kou Empire," she answered honestly. "Our current empress trusted me to be certain that she was a suitable choice."

"Surely, Prince Kouen had better prospects."

"Of course, but he chose her."

"He chose the army."

"That is but a small, insignificant detail of the affair. Your princess will become a good wife to Prince Kouen."

"You believe so?"

"I am certain she will after I am through with her."

"Then you must not have heard."

Bo kept her expression cool because she expected the worst to come out of his mouth. "Heard? Of what?"

Carefully, Bengt shifted in his seat and placed both hands flat upon the table to hoist himself up to learn towards her. He spoke, whispering, "That the princess is the Castle Guard's whore."

She felt the moment the last of her patience and restraint snapped. She turned the fork in her hand as she lifted it high and slammed it through the chamberlain's right hand. He let out a powerful cry, his entire face turned red with pain immediately. She drew her knife to his neck, forcing him to move back and wince before he attempted to grab at her.

"You bitch," he spat. "Don't think you can get away with this."

She pressed the knife closer to his throat, cutting in shallowly. A line of blood appeared against the pasty white base and a droplet fell, gliding down the curve of his neck.

"I am amazed that you thought your audacious treatment of the princess would be overlooked forever," said Bo seriously.

"What lies has that harlot told you?"

"You will find that the princess is too kind to admit that someone threw her down the stairs," she answered. "She'd rather lie and say she tripped. I might have overlooked you if you hadn't been so obvious and you could have continued mistreating her all you wished."

"She needs to learn her place!" cursed Bengt. "She likes to interfere too much with political affairs when it's no place for a stupid woman like her."

"Chamberlain Bengt!" she said loudly, though it did not silence his pained grumbling. "If you have any hope to continue living your useless, power mongering life, I recommend you do so keeping your hands off the princess. However, as I know the kind of man that you are, I am certain you won't, but be aware that if you dare harm her in any way—"

"What? You will tell the prince?" he interrupted snidely.

"—you will have me to deal with," she finished, lowering her knife to the table's surface. "It is not she that needs to learn her place, it is you."

She pushed the fork in deeper inside his hand and smiled when he pleaded for her to stop.

"It was nice having lunch with you, Chamberlain Bengt," she said with a cheery disposition. She left the room, slamming the door shut, silencing his protests.

Bo returned upstairs to the princess' room to find her crawling along the floor wagging a feather around in front of the orange tabby's face. When he sprung to grab it, she pulled the feather away, landing gracefully, the cat searched for it. He crawled under the bed as Asta's laughter filled the room.

"Princess?"

Asta noticed her and got on her feet with a smile. Her eyes moved and zeroed in on one of Bo's sleeves. "What is that? Is that blood?"

Bo looked at a dot of red on the edge of her pink sleeve, amazed that the princess saw that. "One of the cooks cut themselves while I was down there," she lied, frowning, "I must have brushed against them on my way out. I'll have to go get redressed."

She nodded.

Bo exited. She ran into Carina outside the door as she took her shift and paused before the blond woman, looking up at her. "Never leave the princess' side for a moment."

"Yes, ma'am."

CINDER CROWN | END