SWORDPOINT DIPLOMACY 32

CHAPTER 32


Kian locked down his emotions. It didn't matter what he felt.

She was still talking.

"Use your best judgement as to whether you should travel together or tell Duke Harrod that you must go ahead. Marcel, thank you for your patience, do you have any concerns?"

He tuned out the other man.

By all rights, he should have no opinion whatsoever on this. But it felt like there was a rock in his stomach

'Perhaps I ought to have expected this.'

He'd forgotten, but the Crown Princess had been betrothed to Prince Marcel nearly a year ago. Of course. A marriage between royalty would ensure an end of any conflict.

'...But she would have to leave the country to marry a foreign crown prince,' he realized. Kian hid a frown, but there was something very wrong with this plan. If she was crowned, she couldn't possibly marry the foreign prince, not unless he was going to live here. That could cause a succession crisis for his country. Surely that wasn't Rose's intention.

'Something is wrong. Is she thinking straight?'

He must be missing something. Maybe he'd just jumped to a conclusion about the possible marriage.

He'd gathered that something was very wrong with his charge, but the realization that he'd been saddled with a foreign crown prince made unwanted resentment creep up.

"Please remember that this news has not been shared." Her tone was perfectly even and surprisingly bland, considering the topic. "Therefore, continue to refer to me by my titles as Crown Princess."

"As you say," Kian agreed. He bowed. Marcel echoed him.

When she excused them, Kian was glad to leave Avoie in her company, where he couldn't be exposed to the enemy. He grimly allowed the other man to shadow him out of camp, shoulders very tense at having him out of sight and overhearing their security codes. The tension bore down on him hard and gave him a stiff, painful neck and headache before overlong.

The General himself saw them go. His gaze lingered on them, a hard intelligence glittering behind them that made Kian even more tense. He let them go without any comment, but Kian could feel the weight of his stare between his shoulder blades as they finally left the premises.

They couldn't travel very long. The distance between the two camps could be covered in a day, but they had left far too late for that. They set up a camp on the road. Kian did not rest well.

The next morning they left quite early, marching on sore feet and a pitiful breakfast.

They made good time. He found himself picking up the pace and being matched with apparent ease. Even in heavy armor, his breathing was easy.

Kian bitterly reflected that it made sense. Of course this prince had been well trained and educated. His lack of discipline wasn't the fault of poor teachers, it was simply because no one could criticize him.

By late morning, the sight of the great walks was visible. Their awkward conversation petered away to nothing. Kian glanced up at the great gate as he passed it, and wondered how many of the Prince's acquaintances must have died there. He averted his eyes from the barred doors and the now-dried mud that had been stained red with life blood and churned in conflict.

If he had to guess, the castle was where he'd find Duke Harrod.


Xx
Rose felt the energy leave her when Kian and Marcel trooped out to go get the Duke.

That was exhausting.

Kian was definitely unhappy with her, and she wasn't sure that he was wrong. She felt like she was constantly making bad decisions, scrambling as she panicked, and generally bad at keeping secrets.

'Does any of this still make sense?' she wondered dully. 'I made a promise to Marcel, but it might not be necessary anymore. And I'm backing myself into a corner with this coronation. But what else could I do? I'm the heir, everyone knows I was meant to inherit. If I don't, I might wind up in trouble for regicide.'

It was irrational and unworthy of her, but what she really wanted was an adult to fix her problems. Unfortunately, she was the responsible adult.

Rose sighed and collapsed forward to bury her head on her arms. "Avoie?"

"Y-yes, your highness?"

"What did you do during the battle?" She was only vaguely curious, more guilty that she'd forgotten about him than anything.

'I don't regret that he didn't come with me. Inside a hostile fortress is no place for a half trained boy."

"With my Fa- with Duke Harrod's contingent." He cleared his throat. He still had a somewhat nasal high voice, unlike both his brother and father.

He wasn't that young, but the thought of him in that mess made her feel tired and sad.

She opened one eye to peek at him. "How did you acquit yourself?"

He flushed a little pink at the attention. Rose somehow felt guiltier. She really hadn't been paying him any attention. Technically she should have been mentoring him. He shouldn't be this intimidated by her. He managed, "I was assisting behind the lines."

She looked back at the table between her forearms. "Good." Her eyes felt a bit dry from staring at nothing.

There was a silence that seemed surprised.

Perhaps she should recall her aunt to the Capital. No one would be happy about a delay, but she could argue that she'd needed her aunt there. It wasn't as if they could put a crown on her head without her consent.

Aunt Aime might know what to do.

The daydream flooded away under a wash of cold horror. She would have to tell Aunt Aime what she'd done. Rose would have to confess that she'd lied to the chain of command, taken a royal prisoner without proper process, and oh yes– accidentally killed her Father when he found out.

That was her brother. How could she ever forgive?

'And Esperance.'

She choked down vomit. The taste lingered at the back of her mouth.

The average people would never know what had happened. But she couldn't lie to her siblings.

Etienne? He would understand. He had a very complicated relationship with Father, but he would definitely understand that Father had been dangerous.

But Esperance was just a little girl. How could she possibly understand or forgive? She was younger than even Kian's brother, who seemed obscenely young to be exposed to war and death.

She lifted her head to steal a look at …

Rose scrunched up her nose in thought. She had already forgotten his name. A? It began with an A.

Rose dropped her miserable head back down. She was a failure on every level.