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Anya instantly softens, waving us both goodbye as we walk down the hall.
“This way, Your Grace,” Cleo says overtly sweetly as she ushers me to turn a corner.
“Your girlfriend isn’t here anymore, Cleo, so you can drop the fake politeness,” I say when Cleo opens a door for me. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that. Believe me, it’s taking everything in me not to slap some sense into you, but I know how important you are to my girl and to my king.”
“I guess I should be glad to see that that’s the order of your loyalty.” I scoff but then stop walking when Cleo stretches her arm in front of me, her palm flat on the wall beside me, preventing me from taking another step.
“It’s not. I love Anya. I love her with all my heart. But Teo is Teo. He gave me this life. It’s because of him I’ve even met Anya.”
“Don’t you mean it’s because of me?” I raise a brow. “If I hadn’t made the decision to journey south, then I’m afraid Anya wouldn’t be here.”
“That might be true, but I believe in fate. I believe that what’s meant to be, even the gods can’t interfere. Destiny is beyond their control.”
“And you believe Anya is your destiny?” I ask, genuinely interested in her reply.
“She is,” she deadpans.
“Fair enough. Then you have my blessing.” I smile, only for it to drop flat on the floor when Cleo begins to laugh at me.
“Fuck, but you are the most pretentious, arrogant, conceited woman I have ever met!” She cackles.
“I beg your pardon?” I retort, outraged.
“Fucking stupid and short-tempered, too. I have no idea why he even loves you.”
Rage starts bubbling in me again, the tips of my ears going red with it.
“For the love I have for Anya, I will not have your head for such an offensive remark,” I seethe through gritted teeth, only for her to fake an exaggerated bow, continuing to mock me.
“Many apologies, Your Highness, but I couldn’t give two fucks for your blessings or your mercy. For me to care, I’d have to respect you, which I don’t. Since you’ve been here, I haven’t seen one redeeming quality in you. Not one. I pegged you right from the start as the coldhearted bitch that you are, but both Anya and Teo assured me that you’re so much more than the appearance you portray to the outside world. Frankly, I don’t see it. To me, you are as the world says you are—the Winter Queen with a block of ice for a heart. But aside from your many flaws, I didn’t think you’d be a fucking idiot on top of it. I thought you were more intelligent than that. But after what I heard tonight from both my king and my love, my opinion of you is even lower than it was before. Because only an idiot hears one side of a story and calls it the truth.”
This woman has offended me more in the last minute than anyone has ever dared to in my entire life. But still, I pause from doing something regrettable because her last remark actually hits a chord within me.
“Only an idiot hears one side of a story and calls it the truth.”
“Your king didn’t seem very interested in telling me his side. In fact, he insinuated that he didn’t need to since I already knew everything there was to know.”
“Pardon my language, Your Highness, but you know jack shit.”
“Cleo, I think we’re well past me pardoning you for anything. You made it evidently clear that my opinion of you is none of your concern. So as a woman who talks so plainly and direct, please enlighten me. Tell me what I’m obviously missing, because as it stands, I can only arrive at one conclusion. Your king is no friend of mine, and therefore an enemy to the crown.”
“An enemy? An enemy!?” she repeats like she’s misheard me. “That man has done everything your fucking crown demanded of him. Every last thing, even when it cost him his soul. And you call him your enemy?”
I stand my ground and cross my arms over my chest.
“He once said something similar to that effect too. Tell me, Cleo, what sacrifices has Teodoro made for the crown that deserves such gratitude from me?”
Cleo’s eyes turn pitch black as she takes two steps back away from me as if afraid of what she’ll end up doing if she continues to stand so close to me.
“You want to hear about sacrifices? Then how about Teo being forced to send the north eighty percent of all the food grown here in the south every month?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, confused.
“I’m talking about the thousands of deaths we have each year from starvation just to feed you and your northern kingdom. I’m talking about the millions of families all across this great land that work from sunup to sundown, only to come home to a bowl of broth soup and one measly slice of bread. And that’s if they’re lucky.”
As Cleo tells me all this, I recall how Anya and Inessa made similar observations back in Braaka about the lack of food that they witnessed while roaming the streets of the city.
