A/N: Don't own don't sue
Lyrics at the beginning are from 'If I Knew' by Bruno Mars
If I Knew
Chapter Twenty Four
I was a city boy
Right into danger's where I'd always run, a boy who had his fun
But I wouldn't've done
All the things that I have done
If I knew one day you'd come
Eira's face was starting to hurt from feigning pleasantness all evening. She gestured for a refill of her wine as Leif was bestowed yet more birthday wishes by a simpering fool. He shot her a glance as she took a hearty gulp but she ignored him. Good grief these events were tedious. She had been trapped all evening between Leif, his rigid parents and her idiotic step-mother. Curtsying and smiling and simpering with false pride at her betrothed as he accepted gift after gift with all the elegance of a spoilt child.
Was this to be her life. False smiles and niceties masking utter contempt. She glanced through the crowd. Loki was circling amongst the crowds, wearing his mask, playing his role. The longer she spent in this role, the harder she wanted to rebel. After their reconciliation, they had had no moment to be alone together and she was itching to get away. To spend a moment with someone who could see through her falseness.
"Eira."
She blinked, startled out of her musings by Leif who was staring at her irritably. He nodded towards the dancing and she realised he must have asked her while she was pondering. She ducked her head in a show of sweet consent and let him lead her out there. His smile was as fixed as hers as they danced mechanically through several songs, and it occurred to her suddenly that her betrothed didn't even seem to like her anymore. She turned that over in her mind curiously. He was set on their course since he had the most to gain, but he was grinning and bearing it just as she was. Curious.
"Leif." He turned to her, his mouth pursed as he concentrated on the steps. "Did you ever like me?"
He gaped at her, so startled he lost his steps and a nearby couple nearly bowled them over. Frowning, he took her hand and drew her towards an alcove.
"What game is this?" He sighed warily, turning his shoulder so the crowds couldn't see her.
"Answer the question." She ordered, bemused by her own curiosity.
Leif thought it over, chewing on his cheek idly.
"When I met you I had only plans to bed you." He admitted, a faint flush creeping over his cheeks. "I did like you well enough, once the awkwardness had faded."
She felt a strange bloom of pleasure in her chest at the thought. Someone liking her without having a use for her, how novel.
"You don't like me anymore." She said it flatly, rather than a question.
Leif sighed, scrubbing his hand back through his hair in exasperation.
"I don't understand you." He blurted out. "You treat me badly, then you give me hope. You tease me and torture me, seemingly for fun. Then you walk away."
Eira mulled that over. He was right, of course.
"I do not dislike you." Leif said magnanimously and Eira fought not to roll her eyes. "You make me quite nervous."
She laughed and he shot her an exasperated look.
"As a birthday gift to you, I will no longer torment you." She said after a moment of silence, feeling very generous for offering to give up one of her favourite pastimes.
Leif eyed her out of the corner of his eye, as if wondering if this was another game. She shrugged and slipped away from him, into the crowd.
She made it back to her quarters after feigning a headache in the early hours of the morning. She simply couldn't take the nonsense anymore, her thin patience was gone. Despite the late hour, she had a steaming bath waiting for her. She eyed her reflection as she stripped out of the elegant dress. She'd had to have a high-neck sewn into the garment to cover up the bite marks still florid on her neck and cleavage from her night with Loki. She shouldn't have given into him, she mused as she sank into the steaming scented water with a sigh, but one can only fight temptation for so long. She ran a fingertip over the bite-mark on her breast idly. She had been concerned that now he'd gotten what he wanted, their game would be over. But the smirk on his face as she'd entered the celebrations on Leif's arm had made it quite clear that his fun was nowhere close to being over. She shivered in the water, watching gooseflesh creep over her naked body at the thought of his wicked eyes.
It was all wrong. When she took a man to bed she liked to be in control, to take what she wanted and then send them on their way. She'd let it go much too far and now he was burrowed into her mind. She pondered how to take back her control as she washed her hair with scented water. She half expected him to slither into her room as she massaged jasmine scented oil into her naked limbs before retiring to bed. It would please him no end to bed her on her betrothed's birthday, she was sure.
Yet it wasn't Loki who woke her mere hours later, hammering on her door as if the world were burning. For a moment she contemplated ignoring it and letting it burn, but the hammering was quite insistent. And if she didn't answer the door then she couldn't castrate whoever had woken her. She grabbed her sheer nightgown hanging by her bed and threw it on as she stomped over to the door to her chambers.
"How dare-"
She cut off abruptly at the sight of Leif and his father at her door. In the early morning hours. Looking infuriatingly suspicious. In fact Leif looked positively tearful. For a moment a brief flicker of hope pulsed in her chest, perhaps there'd been a death that would postpone the wedding. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
"Eira…" Leif stammered, his hands twisting together so tightly his knuckles were white.
She lifted an eyebrow but didn't move aside, studying first her wimp of a fiancé and then his hard-faced father. The man was actually quite attractive, she mused idly. He had Leif's high cheekbones and strong nose, but his mouth was set in a hard line and his eyes were cold. Before she'd been ensnared by her Prince, she certainly would have made it a challenge to seduce him. It would be so pleasant to have such a stern man begging at her feet. As if he could sense her thoughts, a faint flush crept up his neck. Realising her sheer nightgown did little to contain her modesty, she smiled.
"Lady Eira." His voice was stronger than Leif's, used to being in charge. "May we talk privately?"
She sighed, curse her wretched Prince for spoiling her fun. She obediently moved aside so they could enter her chambers. Her discarded dress was still piled by the bathroom door, and she saw Leif's father cast it a brief searching glance. She lit a few lamps, enough to cast her chambers into a sultry faint glow suitable for male visitors in the extremely early hours of the morning. Leif slumped onto her velvet sofa as if he'd been handed a notice of execution and she glanced at him irritably. What on earth was wrong with him, he'd been preening and strutting mere hours earlier without a care in the world.
"Please sit, Lady Eira."
She eyed his father curiously, deciding it wasn't worth it to argue. She sat primly in her favourite chair, aware that the lamp beside it cast a becoming golden glow over her rumpled hair and shimmered over her sheer gown. His gaze flickered irresistibly over her neck and chest, barely covered by the flimsy material, and she wondered if he could see the bite marks Loki had left.
"It's highly inappropriate for gentleman callers at this hour." She murmured demurely.
"I apologise." Leif's father interrupted his son, whose mouth had opened and then closed immediately. "This couldn't wait."
For a brief moment, Eira wondered if Leif had found out about her night with Loki. If she were about to receive a lecture on modesty and propriety, she would absolutely seduce the hard-faced old grouch purely out of spite.
"My son has something he must tell you."
Leif flinched away from his father, his hands balled into the silky material of his party outfit and his knee jigging up and down nervously.
"Does he, my Lord?"
Eira turned towards her betrothed expectantly, forcing a sweet patient expression to her face.
"Yes." His voice cracked like a whip and Leif looked down at his knees like a sulky little boy.
Eira decided she better play the dutiful fiancée until she knew where this was going, so she reached over and placed her hand on his bouncing knee. He flinched as if she'd struck him and she narrowed her eyes.
"What's happened?" She asked gently, silently digging her nails into his knee through the thin material of his costly trousers.
"Tell her." His father ordered when Leif merely chewed on his lip in silence.
"There's been a… development." Leif muttered into his lap and it took every ounce of her strength not to shake him.
"I see." She turned a prettily bemused look towards his father. "Is there something I can do? I hate to see you upset like this."
Leif pursed his lips and it almost made her want to laugh. He knew perfectly well that she couldn't care less about any of his petty little troubles, but he couldn't accuse his beloved fiancée of that in front of his bully of a father.
"Tell her. Now."
Leif hmmed and hawed and mumbled but she finally managed to coax out of him that he'd gotten another woman in the family way. She leaned back in her chair, pulling her hand away from him as she considered. This could be a very pleasant turn of events, or a disaster. Depending on several factors.
"Could we… have a few moments alone?" She peered up at his father from under her lashes, allowing her lip to tremble.
He gave a gruff nod and strode out onto the balcony, the sheer curtains swirling in his wake. When he was safely out of earshot, she rounded on Leif. He was cringing on her sofa like a spoiled little boy caught stealing buns.
"Tell me you weren't stupid enough to impregnate a servant." She snarled, leaping to her feet to pace before him angrily.
If he'd gotten a servant in trouble, she would not only be stuck still marrying him but also using her hard-earned share of his family money to raise the brat.
"Of course not." He grumbled mutinously, refusing to look at her.
"Well that's something." She snapped. "Who is it?"
He fidgeted, twisting the edge of his tunic around his finger until it started to fray.
"Tell me this instant." She demanded, stepping towards him so she towered over his hunched miserable form.
"Lady Synthia." He whispered to her feet.
Eira flipped through the ladies of the court in her mind, searching for a Lady Synthia. There was a mousy sort of thing, oddly coloured brown hair she always wore unflatteringly high, always giggling too loudly and clinging to strong arms for fear of being tipped over by her ample bosom. Interesting. She was one of the lowest levels of nobility drifting around court, there by the skin of her teeth. Her mother's second husband was much older than her and had worked most of his life to reach court. They'd finally made it and his little sunflower had been deflowered and pollinated by an idiotic letch within months. A tale as old as time.
"That silly little brunette?" She laughed, rolling her eyes.
"She's a very pleasant girl." He said defensively, the implication being that she was not.
"Leif, if you can tell me anything about the little tart that doesn't include the colour of her bedsheets, I will kneel before you right now."
Leif pouted sulkily but didn't respond. She shook her head. Well… things were looking up. Not for Leif certainly, but she could definitely turn this to her advantage. Synthia was a lady, just barely that was true, but high enough for a marriage to be accepted with little protest. Leif's father emerged back into the room, casting a poisonous look at his son. Eira spun away from him, plastering a wounded expression on her face.
"Lady Eira." He said tentatively, quite clearly hoping she wasn't crying.
Eira turned towards him and buried her face in his chest. He immediately turned rigid against her, but placed a wary hand on her shoulder. She could sense Leif glaring at her and she struggled not to laugh. It served him right. If he didn't take this opportunity to get her out of this idiotic betrothal, she would have her way with his father right here and make the fool watch. Schooling her face, she pulled away, dabbing at her eyes daintily.
"What are we going to do?" She asked him, peering up at him entreatingly with prettily watering eyes.
She would need to play this carefully. The trick with men who had a modicum of power, was to make them think everything was their idea. They were always convinced by their own genius.
"It's so terrible, that poor girl must be so frightened… thinking she's all alone."
His face softened as he gazed down at her, bewitched by her sweetly flushed face and the tremor in her voice. Good grief were all of this family so gullible?
"She won't be alone." He glowered at his son over her shoulder again. "The child is of my blood, it won't be abandoned."
She shook her head, gazing up at him as if he were her saviour come to rescue her from the dragon.
"Oh of course, you would never let that happen." She breathed, widening her eyes just a little so he got the full effect. "What can we do? We must do what's best for the child."
She lowered her eyes, sniffled slightly and turned away from them both. She could practically hear the silent argument raging behind her as she pretended to compose herself. Clearly, Leif had told his father that she would rage at them both at the news, possibly cause a scandal at court and expose his heir's behaviour. The court cared little for who bedded whom, as long as it went on behind closed doors so a façade of propriety was upheld. Something like this had the potential to ruin a family. If she were so inclined. Leif's father had not expected to find her so sweetly pained by the mistress's plight, hurt by his son's debauchery and wanting only to help. Men really didn't stand a chance when faced with an intelligent attractive woman, they were such simple creatures.
"I'm afraid, Lady Eira, that my son must retract his suit towards you."
She gasped a little, lifting her hands to her mouth. She took a long shuddering breath and then turned back to face them. She saw the second he swallowed her act, the shift in his features as his admiration swelled for her. Simple creatures.
"I defer to you, My Lord." She said bravely, lifting her chin in a pale imitation of her Prince's favourite gesture. "The child must come first."
Leif made a strangled noise and his father shot him a vicious glare. How dare he be so rude when his sensitive beautiful fiancée was falling on her own sword to save their family embarrassment. It really was too easy.
"Only." They both tensed. "If you could, My Lord… I would ask a little thing of you."
His shoulders tensed and she knew he was expecting her to ask for money or a favour.
"Is there a way this can be done… without any shame being brought to my character."
Leif snorted and this time his father did strike him, cuffing him across the back of the head so his teeth clacked together in shock.
"Silence, boy!"
She chewed her lip to keep from laughing, forcing her tearful admiring expression to remain.
"Of course, Lady Eira." He put a daring hand on her shoulder, unable to keep himself from glancing down at her chest. "Everything will be handled with delicacy. There will be nothing to besmirch your good name."
She lowered her head for a moment, before gazing up at him as if he were a god.
"Thank you, My Lord."
He coloured with pride, allowing his hand to stroke her arm slightly before he stepped away. As the two of them left her chambers she let her mask fall, rubbing her hands over her tired face. Well, what a strange evening. Her engagement would be over within days, Leif was about to be saddled with a moronic wife and a screaming brat and would trouble her no more, most likely banished home to sell the family man image and his father desperately wanted to bed her. That would be useful if she needed to manipulate him in the future.
"Masterfully handled, little nightingale."
She jumped and whirled around in surprise. She was so deep in thought, she'd missed him. He glided out of the shadows of her bedroom, loose silken trousers and an open shirt blending into the dark and his eyes glittering.
"You were watching?"
His teeth flashed and she shivered.
"How long have you been creeping around my chambers?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Long enough to be filled with admiration." He chuckled, stepping closer. "You are a marvel."
She brushed off the compliment, although it was no small feat for the Prince of trickery to admire your manipulations.
"I did not give you permission to skulk around my private quarters."
He was suddenly before her, his mouth curved wickedly in the dim light.
"And yet here I am."
His long nimble fingers coiled around her wrists and he pulled her arms from her chest, drawing her towards him.
"No need to be bashful, sweet." His breath was warm and sweet and it made her knees shiver. "You had that poor man panting for you while he was here to break your heart."
She rolled her eyes, quite aware that her breasts were tightening pleasantly at his proximity.
"Are you envious, Prince?"
His wicked grin again, the one that made her tingle from head to toe. He hauled her against him suddenly, the flimsy material of her nightgown scarcely a barrier between her hot skin and his.
"It seems your marriage is in danger." He nipped lightly at her neck, laving his tongue over the bite mark he'd left there previously.
"Indeed." She refused to engage in this, one misstep and he would ensure the tentatively dissolved betrothal remained. Just to annoy her.
"You should go back to your bed, Prince."
He lifted his head, studying her curiously.
"Leif and his father are no doubt requesting an audience with you as we speak." She nodded towards the balcony where the early morning sun was starting to filter through the gauzy material.
He gave a martyred sigh, admiring how sheer her gown was. Watching her wrap those two fools around her finger with only her fluttering eyelashes and some well-placed words had worked unmercifully on his desires. Not to mention that practically transparent material she was flouncing around in. Still, she had a point. Best to tie up this damned betrothal business as soon as possible.
"You're that eager to be rid of your future husband?"
She merely gave him a silent enigmatic smile.