THE SETUPV
etta couldn’t stop smiling. She was having an exquisite day, and it showed on her face. She might be carrying the king’s child. She might be pregnant by him already. The thought made her smile. Not to mention that her plan was already in motion. She’d been watching when Danika walked to the backyard to get her clothes and didn’t return. Vetta didn’t need to be a seer to know that Karandy must have grabbed his quarry.
Poor pregnant woman. And poor Karandy too.
Men will always be men, Vetta thought as she turned and walked outside in search of the king. The useless asshole might have noticed that there was a loophole in her plan, but lust blindsided him. His obsession with Danika’s body had blocked him from seeing every other thing—including his own doom.
“Did you see the king?” Vetta asked the first maid she saw outside the palace building.
“I saw him at the training field. He just finished teaching sword fighting to the trainees. I think he is about to leave,” the maid answered with a bow.
She nodded curtly and continued her journey. Once she entered the training field, she saw him. She stood for a moment, admiring him. Vetta had always loved having that man as hers. A man so powerful and so different from the other men who belonged to her, who listened to her and needed her before. And then Danika had come along and took him from her. Danika ruined everything Vetta had spent over six years working so hard for him, and Danika didn’t even deserve him. She was the daughter of the monster who created the monster the king was today—who created the monster she, Vetta, was today. Danika was the very spawn of the devil himself.
And today, she would pay in unspeakable ways. Even if it meant the king would kill his own child by his own orders—if Karandy didn’t finish the job first.
“My king!” she called from the entrance of the field.
King Lucien turned and acknowledged her with an inclination of his head before he faced away from her and began walking out of the field through the other end. She hurried her steps to get to him. When she reached him, she fell into steps with him. “I saw the trainees, my king. You must have done a pretty good job leading the training today.”
“Most of them are still far from good swordsmanship, but they will get there,” he replied.
“I believe so too. You have always been the best swordsman. A warrior to the core. It was one of the things King Cone feared so much and the reason he locked you away all the time.”
King Lucien continued walking, his arms together behind his back. The palace workers bowed and greeted him at every turn, and he inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment of their greetings.
“What are you doing out here, Vetta? Shouldn’t you be picking a new dress to give your seamstress at the market?” he asked after a brief silence.
Vetta smiled beside him, feeling giddy. He remembered the ball she told him about last night, that she’d been invited to by Lady Mirabeth. Wiping the smile from her face, she took on a sad look. “I lost a sample of the new dress I had in mind for the ball, my king.”
He spared her a glance. “How did that happen?”
“I have no idea, My Lord. I think I must have misplaced it, and it hurts me a lot.”
“I apologize for that. Maybe you should tell the maids to help you search?”
Vetta nodded. “I will keep that in mind for later, my king. For now, I just want to accompany you on a walk.”
They left the field, and the king stopped suddenly. Vetta raised her head to see and saw Baski ahead of them.
The older woman seemed to be searching for something, but when she saw the king, she strode towards them and bowed her head. “Good day, my king.”
“You look worried. Are you alright, Baski?” His voice was neutral, but there was a thread of underlying concern.
Baski’s face mirrored her own worry and concern. She was out of breath, like she’d been running. “I’ve been looking for Remeta all morning. She woke up crying this morning, and then she ran out of the palace. I’ve not seen her since.”
“You should not let it bother you, Baski. Remeta will be back. You know how she loves roaming the wild,” the king said.
Baski calmed, but she was still agitated. “I know, my king. But she ran out of the palace. She looked scared and in pain. I don’t know what to do for her.”
The king continued walking slowly, and Baski fell into step with them. “Maybe you should just give her a little space. It might be all she needs since she ran out of the palace.”
“I thought so too. I thought maybe she’d gone to town to help Danika with water supply,” Baski injected.
“I do not think Zariel’s group has left the palace yet. Zariel is still getting the supplies they will need ready.”
Baski’s steps faltered. “You mean they are still in the palace, Your Highness?”
The king nodded. “That is the message I got this morning.”
Baski’s brows creased in worry. If Zariel’s crew hadn’t left then, where was Danika? When she went to her bedroom in search of Remeta and didn’t see any sign of her, she’d thought that Zariel’s crew had already left. That was strange.
“I think that they might have already left for town, my king,” Baski repeated, staring up at the king.
He shook his head to indicate that she was wrong. Then he turned to his three guards, who followed a few feet behind them. “Has Zariel left?”
“No, Your Majesty. They are still preparing,” one of them answered after they all shook their heads.
The king swiveled his head and continued walking. Baski was worried. Where was Danika?
Vetta did not like how the king carried on a conversation with Baski without her. So, she looked to the sky and said, “Isn’t it a beautiful morning?”
“I guess it is,” was all the king said.
As Baski walked with them, she tried to calm herself with the many possibilities—many reasons why Danika had disappeared. She must have fallen asleep in one corner. That might just be it, because poor Danika tended to fall asleep randomly. Or maybe she had gone to see Sally like she said she would in the morning.
They got to a bend in the path—two routes: one led to the woods while the other led to the backyard of the palace.
“Can we go through this route?” Vetta asked, pointing at the one that led to the backyard. “I want to stop by the storeroom. There are some clothes I gave my maid to take out yesterday and keep in the storeroom until it’s time to take them to the village and distribute them to the poor women. I think I must have mistakenly packed those samples I was talking about.”
“Alright,” the king responded.
Satisfaction sizzled through Vetta. They started down the path leading to the storeroom, and she couldn’t help but smile again. Karandy better have used his short time to take as much pleasure as he wanted from Danika’s supple body because the actual show was about to start—a show that included his death, Danika’s death, and her child’s death too.
Suddenly, Remeta’s words came back to her. Her steps faltered. “You get away this time around, but what about next time? Don’t. When the plan comes to your head, ignore it. Do not do it. You will hurt queen. You will hurt Prince. You will hurt his father. And you will get hurt. You get away this time around, and you get hurt the next. And your nemesis is coming in the form of a person.”
Goosebumps worked their way down Vetta’s spine at the vivid reminder of those creepy words from a very creepy young woman.
Remeta had always been crazy, Vetta. The thought solidified her resolve, and she pushed the words out of her mind.
Remeta was just crazy.