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“Oh, so you figured it out as you went along?”
“Yeah. Can you let me go now? I was only doing what someone above you ordered. You know damn well I couldn't refuse.”
Rainier lifted his eyes to the guards. “Who’s your next King?”
“You, m’lord.”
“It’s you, Your Majesty.”
“No one but you.”
“Do you think a Queen should order subjects to harm others who are innocent?” asked Rainier. "Is that how a ruler should act?"
The guards said no and shook their heads.
“Your Father never would have done that,” said the third. "You don't pit commoners against each other."
“I want him put in prison again, and even if Mother sends a thousand notices demanding his release, he’s not to be let out. If she sends other men to demand the key or anything, ask them what I asked you. Also, send a note to tell me. Arrest the cousin too. He can sit in a cell for three years, and maybe he’ll think twice about harboring dangerous men.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lance gaped at the Prince as he was hauled up and toward the door. “You can’t do that! Your Mother freed me.”
“She’s not winning this one, and you should have said something instead of taking money to hurt an innocent. Only trash would do that.”
“Fuck you and your skinny ass! You’re a piece of shit for a Prince!”
***
Rainier marched into the Hall where Mum was seated.
“Where were you? You didn’t finish the ledger, and you left stuff all over the desk and the floor. Is this the future King your Father and I raised?”
Rainier had managed to avoid fighting with her in the past two weeks, and things had been on the cold side lately. It had hit the boiling point this morning, and he should have known it wouldn’t be the last time.
“You’ll never stay out of my fucking private life, will you?” He stomped onto the dais and tried to level his breathing while his gut twisted with hunger and nerves. “You’ll always be on my back about something.”
“Excuse me?”
He leaned over and slapped the parchment on the High Table in front of her. “I had Lance rearrested, and I told the guards he’s not to be let out no matter what you say. Even if you stand there yourself and demand that they release him, they won’t do it. Lance admitted you ordered him to harass whoever my next pet was to scare them off. How dare you order anyone to harm another innocent! I can’t believe you went behind my back and did something so low. You weren’t concerned for my safety after all, and I should have known since you didn’t care to hire another after he was imprisoned.”
“I-”
He smacked his fist on the table. “I don’t bring my pets around you, we keep it discreet, and I don’t parade my bedroom activities out in the open to others. You still can’t stay out of my fucking private life! It’s not like I bring my lovers to the High Table with a pair of cat ears!”
Without meaning, he yelled the last two sentences, and she stood. “How dare you-”
“How fucking dare you? Do you think Father would have ordered anyone to harm a citizen and terrify them in the hopes they’d run off? No! Father also wouldn’t have given a flying nalcin’s ass what I do in my bedroom, and he’d have left me alone in that manner. It’s always you who is harping and nagging. You even did it to Addy, and-”
Her hand flashed out and cracked across his face. “Don’t you fucking dare! You’re the one who kept that secret. It’s your fault that she’s dead.”
His cheek burned as he forced himself to stand his ground. It was his fault in the long run because he’d known what his sister was doing, but Mum should have done something too. She could have started by not shaming Addy until she felt no other option existed.
“You didn’t even notice she was looking sickly," he said. "The vomiting was taking everything from her.”
“I did notice she looked ill,” she hissed. “Every time I asked, when you weren’t around, by the way, she said she was fine. I wanted the physician to look at her, and she refused. How was I to know she had tossed restraint out the window and was vomiting so she could eat whatever? You don’t have any restraint either, and you’re as bad as your Father. He had a disgusting kink, and you do too. I never thought I’d have a son interested in bestiality. It creeps me out that you have a pet cat too.”
He stared at her for a moment. “You think I want to fuck an animal?”
