Two Worlds

Chapter Ten

He smiled as he walked down the corridor. It was a smile that reached all the way up to his eyes, but the corners seemed to curl in against his cheeks. He looked like a young boy who was successful in torturing his little sister and had still gotten away with it.

This was too good to be true. It felt like Christmas!

He felt practically giddy with this unusual information. The young Lord Hudson was closer to his grasp than he'd first perceived. Not only was he back from the dead, so to speak, but he was living in this very castle… as a servant. The wicked chuckle that escaped him was quiet but was no less evil than if he'd let it come roaring from his lips.

When he'd thrown that blasted goblet against the wall, his anger had blinded the truth that metal on wood makes a loud, obvious clanging sound. It had drawn the King from his private "meeting" and a small army of guards from the ballroom to the hallway, where he'd managed to duck out of sight before he was caught in the act. He was as welcomed as the rest of the guests, but finding him to be the source of the clatter would not be beneficial to his current plot.

He was shocked to see the young Hudson sprinting out of the King's study and while His Majesty and the small group of guards were distracted with searching the rooms throughout the corridor, he'd followed the retreating form of the other man.

Following closely—but not too closely—behind, he watched as Jack thrust the mask off of his face, throwing it to the ground as he rounded a corridor to the servant's chambers. At first, he'd thought Hudson was only looking for a quick escape, but when he found the discarded shirt on the second landing of the stone stairwell leading up, he knew it was too good to be true.

The heir of the Hudson fortune had been right under the king's nose for years. He chuckled again at that thought. This was going to make killing him so much easier.

With his hand resting on the hilt of the dagger at his side, he slowly began to ascend the staircase. The Hudson fortune would soon be within his grasp.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Dark streaks stained her pale cheeks as the charcoal liner dissolved under the weight of her emotions. Levi's heavy head upon her lap was the only thing with which she could find comfort. A whine rumbled from deep within his chest, which she felt and welcomed his undying love and affection for her.

The evening was over; she was a woman now, vying for her place upon the throne and her man she would one day call King was not the one she would have chosen. She'd felt a certain connection to Lord Hudson out on the veranda, her heart unable to halt its erratic beating while he stared at her with those dazzling and soulful brown eyes.

Love at first sight was something she'd only read about in books, but the words bound within those pages could never capture the true feeling of how a person's heart soars high up in the clouds when they set eyes on their true love. It was an overwhelming feeling and she was pleased that she'd been able to experience it because she would never set eyes upon him again.

She would have been eager to give her heart to him because of his mysterious confidence and how he hadn't been afraid to be himself in front of her, but no. His confidence had been a sham and had played with her heart quite like David had done before he'd run. Lord Hudson was nothing but a coward.

She gazed at her reflection, but it wasn't pain that was staring back at her. It was anger and pure hatred of Lord Jackson Hudson. These were angry tears that slipped unheeded from her usually kind eyes. That man had no pride. At the first mention of her "condition"—as her mother would usually call it to eligible suitors—he'd turned tail and ran just like the others. At least that was the reason she'd assumed he'd run. If he was anything like the others, there would be no other.

She watched as a dark tear streaked down her cheek and cursed herself. Angry tears would do nothing to solve the situation. She didn't love her future husband as a woman about to marry should and his heart sadly belonged to another. Lord Leland would be a great provider and a wonderfully kind King, but her heart would always belong to the man she'd met under the stars.

There was no use denying it. Those dark eyes and that knee-wobbling smile held a place in her heart. She was meant to be with that man, but her heart loved a coward and a coward could not sit on the throne. Another tear dripped onto her cheek.

Groaning loudly, she rested her head in her hands. She wanted to scream, to run away, to do something to save her heart the grief of the next few moons. Any other solution would be better than marrying a man who loved another. And she liked Lucy. She could imagine a bond between the two of them, almost as if they could be friends. The dark-skinned beauty would never consider that an option, now. She would find it as an insult to her womanly pride that she'd lost her true love to a defective princess who had no place being on the throne.

"It's hopeless, Levi," she whispered woefully to her silent companion. She was fighting to quell her heart's desire, but every time she closed her eyes all she saw was the flawless features of a certain coward she was determined to forget about. Still, her brain would not settle. It was fighting a never-ending battle with her heart and losing.

Lifting his head, Levi let out a whimper as his ears pulled back and his eyes softened in their comforting, watery gaze. A smile graced the corner of her lips when she felt his warm, wet tongue gently lick the back of her hand.

"You understand, don't you boy?" she asked as she wiped the black streaks from her face and looked down at the one male whom she'd entrusted her life with. If it wasn't for Levi, she was sure she wouldn't be… Sue.

Levi let out a low "woof" in response to her question before his head turned toward her chamber door. His tale wagged fiercely as he got up from his seat beside his mistress and walked over to the door before walking back.

Nodding in understanding, Sue wiped the remnants of the tears from her eyes. "Come in," she summoned with a heavy and exhausted sigh.

A perky head topped with a pile of caramel colored curls poked itself tentatively into the room, the usually gentle blue eyes clouded with worry. Autumn; the head-maid-in-training as Sue liked to call her with a playful wrinkle of her nose.

Her presence sent a calming sensation shooting through the princess. She'd expected her father to be knocking on her door at this hour, especially after she'd retreated from his chambers in tears, leaving both he and Lord Leland to stand there in shock. Sue considered Autumn a friend, so much so that she'd entrusted the secret of her deafness into the young girl's hands. Even her mother, The Head Chambermaid knew nothing of it.

The two girls had grown up together, Sue only two years her senior. They schooled together when they were younger, but while Sue continued on after a certain age, Autumn had gone to work in the laundry before she slowly made her way up to private maid. Of course, the princess might have had a little more to do with that than anyone would have known.

Beckoning her friend inside, Sue sighed with relief. Perhaps her father would leave her be for the rest of the night and they could begin planning her cheerless future tomorrow morning.

Levi yipped with glee, jumping lightly at the girl with excitement. Autumn favored the dog with a nice scratch behind the ears. As Levi retreated back to his mistress, she stood and looked at Sue. She picked lightly at her fingernails in her usual nervous gesture. "I wasn't certain if company was what you had in mind, but it would be easier if I help you dress for bed." She didn't even wait for a nod of approval before going to work on the multitude of pins and combs holding the long golden tresses up and out of Sue's still tear-streaked face.

Soon, a small pile of pins had begun to grace the top of the vanity desk with a few miniature combs mixed into the lot. Autumn glanced up into the mirror to see the anguish written so very clearly on her mistress's features. The smile she gave was full of pity and though she knew Sue didn't need her pity, she was at least hoping it would make her smile as well. She was greeted with the slightest quirks of the upper lip, but it was better than nothing.

"It was a beautiful party," she commented once she knew the blonde's eyes were upon her lips.

Nodding slightly, Sue agreed. "Yes, it was," but by the look on her face, it didn't seem like she'd enjoyed herself much.

"And Master Leland looked quite dashing tonight. He will be a fine husband." At first, she'd thought she'd gone a bit too far with that comment when she felt the princess's shoulders raise up as if she as ready to break into one of her rants, but she felt them descend before a soft whisper followed.

"Yes, I'm sure he will." But, this answer was emphasized with a frown as more tears pooled into her eyes. It was a shame she wouldn't be around to see it, because she'd come to a conclusion.

She couldn't marry Leland and she couldn't become queen when her heart was lost to herself. She would do what her first instincts urged her to do. She would run; she would leave this place and never return.