Chapter Twenty
"Hey."
Alisha startled a little, but relaxed once she recognized the woman who let herself into the princess' guest chamber. She cracked a small smile. "My, Rose, you're looking awfully dapper."
Rose was in slim black pants and a tailcoat in the blacks and reds of the palace servants. She grinned back. "Hopefully no more than the rest of the staff. You..." she sucked in a breath, color rising to her cheeks as her eyes raked over Alisha's dress.
"I what?" Alisha looked down at the Hyland blue gown she'd been provided. It was more sleek than she was used to, and hung down in a straight line. It draped perfectly over her figure, revealing her soft curves without clinging to her skin. About halfway down her thigh, the skirt split open on the right side, exposing her long legs and giving her plenty of freedom of movement. If she was being honest, she was a little self conscious of this style. Her stomach buzzed with nerves in anticipation of Rose's appraisal.
Rose swallowed. "You look amazing," she breathed, a nervous smile playing on her lips.
Alisha's expression blossomed into a warm smile that heated her face and her chest. "Thank you." She reached a hand up to test the security of the glittering tiara in her hair. "I'm nervous about tonight," she confessed.
"I figured you might be. I thought I'd check in with you. After all, we won't get a chance to talk once the party starts."
"I really appreciate that. Aren't you nervous at all?"
Rose shrugged. "Not really. I'm sure everything will work out and you won't have to marry Drakon." Her grin faltered as she watched Alisha's shoulders slump and gaze fall to the floor. "I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry." She pulled Alisha into an awkward hug.
"Even if we do stop the terrorists," Alisha said as she wrapped her arms around Rose's back, "there's still a good chance I'll have to get married anyway."
"It could be worse, though, right?"
"...How?" The cold skepticism in Alisha's tone caused Rose to flinch.
"You could already have a girlfriend?" Alisha stiffened in her arms and Rose mentally kicked herself for saying the wrong thing. "Sorry, just trying to find the silver lining…"
Alisha's fingers curled into the fabric of Rose's tailcoat. She couldn't stop thinking that these precious few moments may be her last as a free woman.
"...You don't already have a girlfriend, do you?"
Alisha broke away to regard Rose, her eyes a mixture of sadness and irritation. "Why would you even ask that?"
"Sorry, sorry!" Rose rubbed at the back of her neck, cursing herself for tripping over her own words. "I was just thinking..." that these might be her last few precious moments as a free woman "that I, um, want to do everything I can so you don't have to marry someone you don't want to. But I guess that didn't really come across, did it."
"Oh," Alisha sighed. "But I will always have to marry someone I don't want to."
"Not if you become queen." Rose winked, trying to lighten the mood.
A wry smile tugged at one corner of Alisha's mouth. "Well, if I become queen, then I guess can finally give my heart to the one I want."
"Is there someone you have in mind?" Rose nudged her playfully with her elbow, but all joviality evaporated as the smile slipped clean from Alisha's face.
"Please don't me ask that." The princess' eyes pricked with tears.
"Sorry." Rose dragged her hand across her face. "Damn, I came here to check on you and cheer you up and I just am making things worse. Classic Rose."
Alisha clutched at her arm, her face dropped to the floor. "You know I'm getting married. Why would you even ask me those things?" Hope was a dangerous thing.
"Hey, there's no guarantee you're getting married." Rose reached out to rest a hand on Alisha's shoulder but it was shrugged off.
"Answer my question please, Rose." Her voice was a mere whisper.
"Ah, that's-" Rose groped for the words as her heart picked up pace. "The reason may have had something to do with my own selfish curiosity, I guess."
"Selfish curiosity," Alisha echoed. Hope fluttered to life like a hummingbird in her ribcage.
Rose laughed nervously. "Please don't ask me to elaborate."
Alisha leaned forward, studying the other woman's expression carefully. "Well, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to elaborate. You can't just stop there."
"I'd really rather not."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to make things awkward."
"Between us?"
Rose winced. Seemed like Alisha was perfectly capable of plucking the answer out all on her own. Her face was so close now. She clenched and unclenched her fist. If Alisha really did get married, there'd never be another opportunity. If this plan of theirs went south- and it was that thought that spurred Rose to action.
"Please don't hate me," she muttered breathlessly as she surged forward to close the distance between them.
Alisha made a small noise of surprise as Rose's lips collided with her own – too roughly at first. And then the kiss turned into something softer as her eyes fluttered closed and she lifted a hand to cup Rose's cheek. But her fingertips never made contact before Rose was pulling away.
"Sorry, that was extra selfish of me it's not like this can go anywhere I should get going," Rose gabbled, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Alisha snatched Rose's wrist. She chewed her lip, looking down at the floor. "If… if we succeed tonight. And I don't have to get married. Maybe this – maybe we might not have to be a dead end…?"
Rose blinked, disbelieving. "Yeah," she began slowly. "That would be nice."
Alisha lifted her face to meet her eyes, a small hopeful smile pulling at the corners of her lips. She gave Rose's wrist a gentle tug and Rose stumbled closer, into her arms. Rose's hand went to the back of Alisha's head and she leaned forward to bring their lips together again, gentler this time – slow and sweet.
...
No wild assassination attempts yet, and not even a single turn on a the dancefloor and Alisha was already exhausted. Conversation with important people she hoped she would never have to know more, and the expectations of a disastrous evening were wearing her nerves thin.
"You look tense," said a voice to Alisha's right.
Alisha's gaze startled away from a cluster of nobles whose lips she was failing to read. "Oh," she said turning to find Edith beside her and Hilda quietly at the queen's heels, "it's hard to relax when you expect things to go wrong."
"It'll be fine. We know the plan. Guard has been quintupled. Here." Edith offered the flute of champagne she held delicately between the fingers of her right hand. "This will calm your nerves some."
Alisha stared at the bubbles drifting upwards throught the gold liquid, bursting when they reached the surface. Her gaze flicked to the glass in Edith's left hand. It was empty. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, is it all right to be drinking tonight?"
The queen consort of Hyland shrugged. "I can handle my champagne. It would be stranger if I didn't drink."
"She has a point," Halbridge drifted into the conversation.
Alisha was surprised to find Adrian DeWitt on his heels.
"You could at least pretend to sip it," said Adrian. He demonstrated, lifting his glass and tipping the liquid to his lips, his throat bobbed as he swallowed none of it. "It's what my sister has been doing all night. Neither of us handle our alcohol particularly well."
"And tonight would indeed be a dangerous night to let our guards down." Halbridge nodded sagely. "But it is a night we are expected to celebrate."
"So?" Edith once more thrust the flute towards Alisha, who took it gingerly as if she held it too firmly it might shatter at her touch.
Alisha watched the champagne ride the edges of the glass as she whirled it slowly. "The people here don't even know what we're 'celebrating' yet," she murmured just loud enough for only their small group to hear. "I don't even know what were celebrating." She was Cinderella waiting for the clock to strike the hour when this facade would end.
Edith placed her empty glass on the tray of a passing server. There was about a fifty-fifty chance they were actually a knight undercover. Security was very tight but that knowledge did not ease Alisha's nerves. Someone, multiple someones, were still bound to get hurt. It wasn't a matter of if – it was whom and how badly.
"We are celebrating the dismantlement of a terrorist cell," Edith said with the smile of one hiding the severity of the topic from anyone who might be looking on. "The beginning of an era of peace."
Yes, and all Alisha had to do was give away her hand in marriage. It was a numbing reminder. She couldn't even feel the drink she held in her hand. She brought it to her mouth. The pressure on her lips – the memory of Rose's mouth pressed to hers flashed hot in her mind. She took a sip – a real one – forgetting herself. It burned on the way down and her eyes stung. She wasn't used to drinking champagne. She choked on it even after it had landed in her stomach.
"Your Highness?" Halbridge took a step closer and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.
Alisha waved his hand off, clearing her throat. "I'm fine. Just went down funny."
"Perhaps, you are right. You should not be drinking tonight." Edith's gaze flicked around for observers as she took Alisha's drink from her.
"Sorry," Alisha mumbled.
"It's all right," said Halbridge.
"We can't all diligently wear masks every second." Edith's tone was softly reassuring. "But it is an important skill in moments such as this."
"I know, I just..." Alisha wrung her hands. "I'm worried how many people we're putting in danger with this plan."
"I assure you security is much tighter than it appears," said Adrian, once again bringing his glass to his lips.
"Still..." All the important people were together, in one room…
"It's a party!" Evelyn burst into their little circle, her arms raised to bask in the magnificence of the event. Her eyes were bright with the smile that split across her face. "This is no time to be making such a face, Your Highness."
"How can you not be concerned?" Alisha's brow pinched together. A few faces twitched, and she belatedly realized she'd raised her voice. She had the grace to sheepishly glance down at her feet.
"Of course I am concerned," Evelyn replied, her sober tone at odds with the smile plastered on her face. "But I can't let that show, can I?"
"Exactly." Halbridge nodded his agreement.
Edith nodded as well. She reached up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. A pointed red shape dangling from her wrist caught in the light, but before Alisha could identify it the bracelet dipped back inside her sleeve.
That's when the first screams were heard. Followed by the shatter of glass and the resounding ring of a tray clamoring to the floor. Alisha hitched her skirts and ran in that direction. The crowd had scattered and swarmed into an arena around the scuffle. Boots squeaked on the marble floors. Alisha forced herself through the solid wall of bodies, all but stumbling into the ring.
Chancellor Belle had fallen on her behind and was scrambling backwards, her hands fumbling over people's shoes. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide and the cold slick of panic on her skin glistened under the chandeliers. A horrified keen wavered from her lips.
Alisha froze mid-step, seeing two people – both dressed in the palace servants' uniform – and not knowing which one was her target. It would have been easier if one of them had been a hellion. Her eyes raced over their movements, hoping to spot the telltale training of an undercover knight. But neither one of them seemed particularly skilled. One took a sloppy right hook to the jaw. Someone screamed in horror. It should have been easy to dodge. He stumbled backwards, a hand lifted to touch the blood trickling from his lip before pouncing on the other person. They wrestled amongst the shards of broken glass.
A metallic glint off to the side caught Alisha's eye. She raced for it, her shoes crunching over the shattered remains of a tray of a champagne flutes. She nearly slipped in the spilled drink, dipping to scoop up the shiv from where it lay. She took just a second to look at it. It was nothing more than sharp vein of metal roughly wrapped at one end in leather. What happened to the weapons Rose had found in Narcy's hideout? There was no time to dwell on it. She rushed over to the two men scuffling on the ground, and hoisted the one on top up by the collar. She sent him reeling several steps into the center of their terrified audience. He had to know who she was. If he attacked then he was the enemy.
But before either of the the men dressed as servants could make another move, a handful of knights were forcing their way onto the scene barking orders. Alisha would let them handle it for now. She wondered where Rose was – probably engaged in another section of the ballroom. She tucked the shiv inside her long sleeve and made her way over to Belle.
"Are you all right?" Alisha stretched out a hand and leaned toward the ground.
Belle's eyes were still locked on the one who'd attacked her. She raised a shaking hand, groping for Alisha's, and was pulled roughly to her feet. She tripped forward and Alisha steadied her with a hand braced against her shoulder. Belle nodded wordlessly.
Once Alisha felt comfortable Belle could stand on her own, her gaze raked the ballroom floor. This couldn't be it – this couldn't be the extent of Narcy's attack. She hated to discredit her friends but they couldn't have been that successful, could they? The partygoer's horrified murmurs whispered through the room and it struck Alisha as odd they were no longer directed at the scene in front of Alisha. She followed their turned heads, angled in the very direction she had come from. Oh no.
Once again, she was fighting her way through bodies rigid with fear and shock.
Halbridge lay on the floor, the wound from his neck slowly staining the marble. The DeWitt twins had backed off considerably. Adrian stood as a shield between Evelyn – whose hands covered her nose and mouth and eyes shone wet at the corners – and Edith. Edith who was forced to her knees, her white-knuckled hands impotently clasping the arms around her shoulders and the blade coaxing fresh blood from where it pressed firmly into her neck. If the queen felt any terror, it did not show on her face. There was only anger and the fight to make it out of this alive.
Alisha's jaw dropped as she saw who wielded the knife. Hilda held her hostage at the end of five spears all pointed at her. She watched the knights surrounding her for the slightest hint of moment, her eyes like that of a hawk. Alisha clenched her fists, nails biting into her palm cursing the tragedy of her ignorance. Hilda must have waited until the princess knight among them was gone and everyone else was distracted with the assault on Belle.
"What's going on?" Emperor Drakon boomed as the people parted to make way for him.
"The queen's attendant stabbed the chancellor and now holds her own queen hostage," Adrian explained.
"Why?" Drakon roared. "What do you gain by threatening your own queen?"
"It's not a threat." Hilda sneered, one half of her mouth curling into a harsh crescent that struck Alisha with an uneasy chord of familiarity. "I fully intend to kill her."
"If you so much as twitch, you're dead," he spat.
"Unfortunately, I can't afford to die before I set the record about Her Majesty straight."
"What are you talking about?" Alisha itched for her own spear that she hadn't been able to take with her this evening.
"First, let me correct a simple misunderstanding about my station," Hilda drawled evenly. "I am not Queen Edith's attendant. That was merely my cover. I am her spymaster."
A collective gasp shook the room and rent the air.
"But why?"
"Because she left me no choice!" Hilda's face fell into pure rage. She shook Edith's shoulders with it and the knights pressed in closer. "This bitch had me kill her own son so he wouldn't inherit the throne – not that I disagreed with removing him. He would have been terrible. Beyond terrible."
Edith rasped for air, her features slackening until finally her hands dropped to her sides and her head lolled in Hilda's arms.
Alisha's legs trembled. She'd failed to protect even one of them.
Hilda dropped the knife, taking a step back with her hands raised in the air. "Oops. Looks like the blade was poisoned."
"Your Majesty!" Sergei's familiar voice echoed through the halls as he, Sorey, and Rose pushed themselves to the front. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine… Is it over?" Drakon looked to his knight captain.
"Seems that way," Sergei replied. "They were surprisingly disorganized. Several arrests and no casualties."
"All according to plan." Hilda was smirking again.
"What plan?" Sorey frowned.
"If you'll allow me to show you something…?" She very slowly reached for her right sleeve.
Armor clinked as knights shifted and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
"I believe you knights have probably been told to look for this," Hilda continued, "by your little insider." With just the tips of her fingers, she delicately rolled up her sleeve. The head of a nasty scar revealed itself, growing longer as her sleeve traveled further upS her arm. She stopped bunching the fabric at the elbow and her other hand fell away, revealing a scar in the shape of a hook on her forearm.
"Narcy," Rose growled. "Narcissus."
"Mhmm," Hilda hummed the note with smug satisfaction.
"We have a lot of questions for you," said Sergei, making a gesture to his knights.
They circled around, grabbing her wrists and tying them roughly behind her back.
"And I'll be happy to answer them." Narcy/Hilda's grin was near maniacal. "After which I'm sure you'll be wanting to thank me."