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“There’s nothing he can do to change my mind. There’s nothing he can say to make me give this up,” I whisper to myself.
It doesn’t matter how many times Slyth acts like he wants me here. It doesn’t matter how much time I spend with Prince Zalith and Princess Aurora.
It doesn’t even matter that Princess Aurora is human and pregnant, or that Prince Zalith clearly loves her more than life itself.
Prince Zalith has to die.
And I have to kill him.
Because if I don’t, then everything I have worked for my entire life will have been for naught.
“You’ll be committing the biggest betrayal of your life. I only hope you can live with yourself afterwards.”
Slyth has breakfast sent up, and I eat slowly as I consider my plans for the day.The servants. Start with the servants. They’ll know everything and will have all the information you want.
I do not know how to interact with the naga servants very well, but I think that applying the same methods that I have used with human slaves in the past might work. “A slave is a slave is a slave, right?”
After I bathe, I wait for the servants to come up and dress me.
“Good morning!” Some of them look at me with startled expressions, but I smile as gently as I can.
“I’d like to get to know Princess Aurora better,” I speak conspiratorially as I stand with my arms in the air, while they adjust the dress underneath my arms. “But I don’t want to interrupt her schedule.”
My lies must seem believable because they start to tell me how things work around the castle. “You’ll have lots of time to spend with the Princess,” one of the more confident naga says.
“Prince Zalith has a lot of royal duties. He does spend lots of time with the Princess, but he also spends a lot of time in the royal offices. You’ll just have to find her when she’s alone.”
“Maybe one of you can show me around the castle?” I venture to ask, ensuring that my voice is as pleasant as possible.
The naga servants look at one another slightly uneasily.
“I just want to feel like I’m at home here. Slyth is so busy all the time, I cannot really ask him.” I continue speaking as though we’re close friends and this seems to encourage the naga.
After they have completed dressing me, I walk with one of the naga, whose name I learn is Esteria, and she shows me around the castle. “I can show you to Princess Aurora now,” Esteria says as we walk down a hallway that leads to a beautiful indoor garden. “Although, you might have to wait. She is with the Healer right now. She goes every morning and every evening to monitor the pregnancy.”
“It’s okay,” I say with a genuine smile. I have actually liked getting to know Esteria in the thirty minutes that we have been walking together. “I think I’ll wait.”
When Esteria’s tour of the castle comes to an end, I know almost every entrance and exit. And I also know most of Prince Zalith and Princess Aurora’s schedule.
I stand in one of the courtyards, basking in the rolling, velvety warmth of the sun, and close my hand around the hilt of the dagger that I have hidden in my pocket. By the time I leave the courtyard, I know exactly how and when I am going to kill Prince Zalith.
Are you really going to go through with this? Are you really going to do this now, after everything you’ve been through? After everything with Slyth?
But my resolve strengthens when I think of my relationship with Slyth. I am falling in love with him, but sacrifices have to be made. “I think it is time for another sweep of the castle. Let’s see if we can accidentally-on-purpose bump into Aurora,” I murmur to myself.
I am halfway up the stairs to the fourth floor of the castle when I see a shadow move away from the wall.
It’s Lasta, the naga who was there to greet us when we first arrived in Lodra at the royal castle. Lasta’s sparkling, intelligent eyes are hard as he looks me up and down.
“The servants tell me you’ve been doing a lot of exploring,” he murmurs. He doesn’t bother to greet me, and while I would like to dispense with the niceties, I know that I cannot be overtly rude to him.
“I’m just trying to find my way around.” I smile at him and hope he’ll buy my act. “I want to be less of a burden on Slyth.”
“How nice of you.” Lasta’s lip curls snidely, and my blood goes cold. My hand tightens around the hilt of the dagger in my pocket.
I am carrying three other weapons on my body, but Lasta is still bigger and stronger than I am.No matter. You’ve killed naga before. You can take him.
Lasta, however, decides to be the one to dispense with the niceties. “I know exactly what you’re doing, human. This little act you’re putting on might have fooled Slyth and the servants, but it isn’t fooling me.”
