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Gracie crossed one leg over the other as she stared at me from the opposite sofa.
As usual, she had floated into my room this morning, still in her robe, and climbed into my bed beside me. We spent the first hour or so of our day lying in bed together, discussing anything from my lessons to gossip she had heard from castle staff members. I showed her my newest addition, the eight-pointed star still white against the palm of my hand, and laughed when her mouth fell open. She demanded that I light a candle from where we lay in bed, and pouted profusely when I explained that I did not even know what type of magic I possessed yet, never mind being able to do tricks with it.
When the sun had moved into the sky, sending streams of golden light through my light curtains, we pulled ourselves from under the warm duvet and moved to the sofas, where we would stay until I was collected for a lesson on history or Fire’s politics.
I blushed a deep shade of red and averted my gaze as her eyes bore into me. We had been discussing what had happened the night before between Cyrus and I in the library, and in true Gracie style, she had reacted… loudly.
“Youkissedhim?” She all but shrieked, and I winced, my eyes darting to the windows to make sure they were not open.
“Please, announce it to the entire castle, Gracie.” I sighed, standing from my sofa, and crossing my arms over my chest. “And keep your voice down. He can probably hear you if he is still in his rooms.”
A knock on the adjoining wall made me roll my eyes, pointing at where the noise came from and widening my eyes at Gracie, who only laughed in response. She fell back against the sofa cushions, her laugh carrying around the room beautifully and pulling my frown from my face, my own laugh joining her own as I covered my face with my hands and listened to the sound of Cyrus’s door opening and closing.
His heavy boots passed by my door, the sound of his chuckle disappearing down the hall alongside him.
Gracie’s giggle slowly calmed down, and as she wiped a hand under her eyes to rid them of laughter induced tears, she looked over her shoulder at me, turning in her seat so she could see me properly.
“You know that is not very Queenly of you. Premarital relations.” She smiled, tutting at me jokingly, and I rolled my eyes, groaning as my head fell back against my shoulders.
“I know, trust me, I know. I don’t know what came over me. He was talking about his childhood, and his father passing, and hissisters!Did you know he had sisters?”
“Plural?” Gracie’s eyes widened, and I nodded, my hands slapping against my thighs as I let them drop to my sides.
“Yes! Two. Caliara and Calliope.”
“Creative.”
“Shush.” I laughed, lightly tapping her shoulder as I walked past her, “Anyway, we were talking, and it was late, and it was… nice. I’ve never seen that side of him, Gracie.”
Gracie watched me as I paced back and forth around the sitting area, my feet leaving tracks in the fluffy rug under the sofas. Her eyebrows furrowed in the middle as she pulled her lips into a tight line as she took in everything I was saying.
I knew Gracie well enough by now to know that Iprobably was not going to like the next thing she was going to say to me, just by the look on her face. So, I stopped my pacing and grabbed onto the back of the sofa I had been sitting on minutes ago, my knuckles turning white as I curled them into the plush cushions, waiting for whatever she had to say.
The silence in the room was now only filled with the ticking of the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room, its heavy wooden hands creaking slightly as they moved, another minute passing.
Gracie sighed, blowing out her cheeks as she did so, clasping her hands in front of her.
“You know,” She started, “This was not part of your plan.”
I nodded my head, releasing one hand from the back of the sofa and bringing it to the bridge of my nose, pinching the skin there as I let out a sigh of my own.
“I know, Gracie.”
“Is the plan still… are you still going ahead with it?”
Gracie’s question made me pause.
Was I?
I knew, deep down, that the only way I could get out of this marriage was if I stuck to my plan. If I killed Cyrus and took both Kingdoms for myself. I would be the mostpowerful monarch in the world, and certainly the first Queen to ever plan such a feat. I would be able to travel freely, visit Kingdoms and lands I had yet to explore. I would have everything I wanted; Freedom to choose who I wanted to marry if I ever wanted to marry again.
But as Cyrus’s face popped into my head, I wondered if that was what I wanted at all. If we were able to live together, and despite the arrangements, fall in love on our own terms. I pictured the two of us walking through the castle grounds, two little Cyrus’s running at our feet and making us laugh. We might end up happy together, the two of us working in harmony to keep the kingdom running smoothly, dealing with anything that came our way as a team.
Cyrus could not ascend to the throne without being married first. Fire politics, I had learned, deemed a man unworthy of the throne if he did not have a woman by his side to balance him and keep him in line.
I laughed the first time I had heard that, and wondered briefly if it was something all kingdoms should be taking into consideration.
I let my hand fall from my face and looked at Gracie, who was still watching me closely. She had scooted forward on the sofa, barely sitting on the padded cushions now, as she waited for my answer.
