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Alika helped her into a black dress while she stared absently into space. The sleeves were slashed and covered in strokes of silver thread, winding small curves down the length of her arm, and the bodice was tightly fitted and studded with white gems along the top, like stars shimmering in a night sky. While the underskirt was long and lined with iridescent silver brocade, the overskirt was tiered and parted in the middle, a usual fashion displayed in the North. She played with the material, feeling the soft silk smooth out beneath her fingers, while she sat on a stool to let Alika do her braid and listen to her gossip.

Landon was advancing things quickly: the building of an extension to Northstone had begun, trade agreements restarted with the Free Isles, and the East freely opened their borders to the North for the first time in years. The people had taken to Landon a lot more easily than they had to Kael, charmed by the boy's smiles and lies. He humoured the nobles, flattered ladies, raised the pay of the guards, and somehow the treasury grew every day despite the amount he was spending. People flocked to the castle to try to glimpse the young king, often bringing gifts to thank him for something he had done: paying for repairs after natural disasters; encouraging literacy rates to rise; rebuilding merchant ships destroyed by pirates. He sat in the throne room, blessing commoners and lords alike, yet kept his people wary by signing warrants to confirm the executions and imprisonments of criminals and traitors. Alika said he had a thief flogged half to death in the middle of the throne room and no one raised a finger to stop him.

It is only a matter of time before he has them in his grasp and feasts on their fear, Audrey thought as Alika came around the stool to touch pink powder to her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" Audrey asked. Alika knew she hated having cosmetics on her face—they had given her bad spots in the past.

"You've gone very pale," Alika said. "You need to put on some weight—you look like a commoner."

She looked at Audrey's face, turning her head in her hands before sighing and letting go. "How much sleep have you been getting?"

Audrey chewed her lip. "I don't know. I have nightmares."

Alika's face softened. "I know that I'm just a maid, but you can trust me with your worries."

You might spy for Landon or Ethelind, Audrey thought. Alika must have seen the hesitation on her expression because she nodded and turned to go.

"I sometimes think that Aldric is still alive," Audrey confessed to Alika's back. She paused, stopping in her tracks, but did not turn. "I see my brother, and crowns, and blood, and..."

Hazel eyes burning into hers. Landon's curly black hair, the sharp planes of his cheekbones and his slender fingers, setting out a chessboard in front of her.

You can be my queen.

Alika turned. "I'm sorry."

Audrey shook her head, looking at her chewed nails. "Sometimes I think that maybe... I'm growing. I'm learning, I'm losing my innocence. And then things happen... like Aldric dying, and then I'm back to the beginning again. I'm back to being that scared little girl who cried every day for her brother." She wanted to believe that everything was happening to build her, but it was doing the opposite. She was crumbling, clinging onto hope that wasn't there. And one day she would fall into an abyss that she wouldn't be able to climb back out of.

Landon knew what he was doing. He could control through fear and lie to gain love. And she could do nothing but pray for something in her to steel itself and become more of a fighter, like Ethelind. They gave her lessons. They spoke as if she understood nothing, as if she was just a girl who needed to learn how to fight. But she didn't know how.

"You're being too hard on yourself," Alika said. "People... I don't think humans are made for this kind of life. We have to adapt to it and learn to survive." She tilted her head. "I think you're different. You grow cold, then come back. As if the world is telling you what to do, but you're resisting. We need more of that. It's not a flaw; flaws are imperfections. Whatever you are... that is not a defect. I see strength in you to keep fighting back when everyone is trying to break you."

Something in the way Alika spoke warmed Audrey's heart, and she couldn't help smiling at her maid. Alika smiled back.

"Thank you," Audrey said.

"Let's go," Alika said, nodding.

She followed Alika out. Her new guards, Jorge and Theo, followed behind to make sure they went to the right place.

Landon was waiting in the crowded corridor outside an impressive set of double doors, out of earshot from where the nobles were clustered. He must have been sleeping even less than her because his posture had slackened, his eyes rimmed in dark circles. He turned when he saw Audrey, Jasper by his side with a wide grin on his face.

Alika curtseyed and left, the guards staying back as Audrey walked forwards. Landon eyed her wearily.

"In that hall there is going to be a trial." Landon nodded over at the door. "They are going to find Kael's killer."

Audrey raised her eyebrows, hiding her discomfort at being near him and the sadistic guard. Jasper leered at her, his dark eyes emotionless pits under his coppery hair.

"What if I convince them it's you?" she asked, then instantly regretted asking when she saw Jasper's smirk.

"You won't," Landon said calmly.

Audrey searched for pity in his expression, but found none. "But if they find you guilty?"

"The king always has the final say," Landon said. "And, interestingly enough, most people are easily bribed."

A biased courtroom.

"I don't trust a single word that comes out of you. And neither will the others if they have any sense."

"Then there seems to be a lack of sense in this world." He was untouched by her comment. "But I'll tell you one thing that you can trust: I have a tendency to get my way." He turned and walked through the large double doors, trailed by Jasper, and Audrey's two guards walked forward to escort her.

She was led to the Great Hall. The tables had been cleared away, leaving benches where lords of high status were sitting, and the candelabras had been lit. The guards led her up to a large platform that had been erected while Landon presided over the trial in a large throne-like chair at the end of the room with a few nobles sitting nearby. Some nobles watched Landon, but Audrey was confused to see the lack of enmity on their faces as she looked closer. Instead, they seemed to bear him little grudge, despite his lineage.

Landon didn't look at her as the chaplain of the castle, a pious man named Fedele, stood. He was a short man in his fifties with watery eyes and white hair, yet he still radiated a sense of power.

"Audrey Everwood." Audrey stood and bowed her head. "You are accused as a suspect of the murder against Kael Shadowhart. Do you deny it?"

Audrey was silent for a moment before replying.

"Yes. I deny it," she said. She could feel the weight of Landon's eyes on her as she replied, keeping her voice from wavering. All eyes were on her—Lucian's heir, the only one left of her family.

Be regal, straight back, calm expression. Don't let them see you, Audrey reminded herself, taking comfort in her mother's words.

"It is said you murdered Lachlan in his cell with a sword before poisoning our late king Kael. How do you answer?" Fedele asked, his voice clear and loud.

"I did not kill Kael," Audrey said. She did not talk about Lachlan. "I am sure my guards can agree that I was in my chambers the night before and not given an opportunity to commit such a crime."

She looked over at Ethelind and Jax, standing to the side. They stood next to each other, Ethelind looking amused and Jax stoic.

"But I suspect the captain of the King's Guard," Audrey continued.

The room went quiet as they all took a split second to realise what she had said. There were shuffles as heads turned to Jax. His face had gone pale, although his expression remained guarded.

She didn't dare to look at Landon.

"And what evidence do you have for this?" the priest asked.

"None. But I'm sure that Landon will testify to having confessed his suspicions to me two nights ago," Audrey lied. "He believed that Sir Jaxon held a grudge against Kael, although I cannot quite recall the details."

She looked over at Landon to see a slight quirk to his lips. They were going to put the blame on a guard, so she had intervened with the option that would hit him the hardest.

"Your Majesty?" Fedele turned to Landon.

Landon offered the court a lackadaisical shrug. "I confess to having said something, although nothing suggestive of what Her Highness implied. I was tired and a bit drunk, so I remarked on how Jax seemed so stoic upon Kael's death. Hollow words, but with no accusation of murder."

He lied so easily with a relaxed expression, like the severity of the trial was non-existent.

At least I made him lie about being drunk in public, Audrey thought, although the thought wasn't much of a consolation.

"And it couldn't have been Jax," Ethelind interrupted. Her beam was dazzling.

"And why is this, Lady Eternel?" Fedele asked.

"He was with me the whole night before the banquet in my bedchambers. I was certainly aware of every second of it." At Ethelind's wink, she was received by the sounds of laughter. They knew what she was implying and believed her. Jax raised his eyebrows at Ethelind in irritation, but Ethelind calmly ignored him.

"Jaxon Fields, you have been accused as a suspect of poisoning Kael, but have been given an alibi," Fedele boomed. "Is it true?"

A muscle ticked in the side of his jaw but he nodded. He had no choice.

"Her Highness Princess Audrey has not yet denied murdering Lachlan. Do you deny it?"

"No," Audrey said.

The barons tittered among themselves.

Landon's face was neutral, which scared Audrey most of all. She wanted to see anger there instead, but he looked perfectly at ease, as if it was all going according to plan.

Then again, it probably was.

She couldn't help but remember the smile he had given her after the chess game. A small one, but there had been no coldness or cruelty in it.

Audrey shivered. How many faces did he wear, and which was the real him? That's where he got his power from, she realised—no one could understand him, and everyone desired what was most unattainable.

"SILENCE!" Fedele roared.

They shut up, and all eyes turned to Audrey.

"Speak, then, Your Highness," Fedele prompted.

"When I found him, he was dying," Audrey said. "He wanted me to kill him. So I granted him his last request as an act of mercy. It was quick and painless, I assure you, and the blade touched no one else."

"You stood accused of killing Kael and Lachlan. You admit to killing Lachlan, yes?"

"Yes. But I never put a hand near Kael," Audrey said.

"I think Princess Audrey really should be accusing Giovanni," Ethelind called, gesturing at a guard standing by the doorway.

All heads turned to Giovanni, then to Ethelind.

"Lady Eternel, do you have any evidence for your accusation?" the priest frowned.

She's always one step ahead. Landon had one thing that she didn't... a crafty woman named Ethelind Eternel.

"I have witnesses," Ethelind smiled.

A scrawny girl came out. She was covered in freckles and had chestnut hair swept over one shoulder, her brown eyes wide.

"Please state your account of what happened," the priest said.

"My name is Iris, and I', eighteen. I came 'ere as a cook," the girl said. With her young face and innocent smile, she was likely to convince everyone. "And I see Giovanni do it when he thought them kitchens was deserted. He snuck in whilst I were in the shadows checking everything was in order, and he slipped xaedinc in Kael's late cuppa tea, being on duty that night to take the drink up." Clever. Xaedinc took eighteen hours to work. "I managed to slip out unnoticed, but were too afraid to tell anyone."

"Giovanni, do you deny it?" the chaplain asked him.

Giovanni's face went tight. He didn't speak for a heartbeat.

"No," he said flatly.

Audrey turned away. A life wasted just so Landon could clear up his father's death and move on.

"Any witnesses against?"

None.

"Any witnesses for?"

"I have some." Ethelind smiled and called some servants and guards out.

All of them spoke of Giovanni acting strange, running after seeing Kael dead, and mentioning hatred of the Shadowharts.

The hall went quiet as Fedele conferred with the jury.

"I think that's enough," Fedele said after a conversation that barely lasted for more than a few minutes. "I believe the two killers have been discovered. His Majesty may condemn them however he wishes."

Fedele stood back, his work done. Landon stood gracefully, his gaze sweeping over the hall.

"Giovanni, I hereby condemn you to death," he said smoothly in a stentorian tone that carried out across the hall. "And Princess Audrey..."

Audrey flinched when he met her eye.

This is where he can sentence me to death, she thought. He could choose whatever he wanted.

He dangled her life in his hand, taunting her. And by the small smile on his lips, he knew it.

"You may live," he said. She was surprised by how relieved the words made her—she didn't realise she had cared about her fate. "However, you will face consequences for it. Guards will escort you, and you may not roam freely until we can be sure that there will be no more... incidents."

So the same as before. Audrey nodded before looking at Giovanni, unable to help himself. Giovanni's face was blank, although Audrey could see the fight happening inside him. He could only be in his early thirties.

Ready to lie and die for his king.

In a land of enemies and betrayal, only the strongest can survive.

Audrey looked at Landon and saw him looking back at her. He gave her the slight trace of a nod before walking out of the hall.

She turned to leave as well, only to be barred by Ethelind.

"Audrey, I want you to come with me for a moment," Ethelind said.

Audrey ignored her.

"You will want to hear this."

Audrey slowly turned before sighing and following her cousin out, her guards trailing behind.

"Giovanni did nothing," Audrey said lowly once they were in an empty corridor, turning to a spiral staircase.

"Never say that out loud again," Ethelind snapped as she led Audrey up and into her chambers. The guards waited outside when she shut the door in their faces.

"Take a seat," Ethelind said.

Audrey sat on an armchair, her hands clenching the leather as she watched Ethelind.

"You were smiling as I accused the captain." Audrey looked past her, to a tapestry of two naked cyclopes sharing a drink of wine.

"It was terribly amusing. Landon mentioned framing a guard, so you intervened with the option that would piss him off the most," Ethelind said. "It was a good shot, though."

"It wasn't that funny. Jax could've been killed."

"No. He couldn't have. I made sure of that."

"You are too arrogant for your own good."

"Not arrogant. Just certain."

Don't forget about hubris. "Everyone now thinks you're sleeping with Jax." A pause. "Are you?"

"Don't be stupid." Ethelind grinned. "Anyway, it doesn't mar my reputation much. Truth be told, I don't give a fuck who they think I'm sleeping with."

Audrey fidgeted. "Why am I here?"

"From now on, Landon will try to get into your head. I must fight to get into his. We both have our problems."

"And where is this going?"

"Here's a scenario you might like. You marry Landon. You become queen, yes?"

"Ethelind..."

"Then you use that power. I'm saying you don't need to escape. Become queen and find your own way out. Let him believe you are his, let him grow relaxed around you. Then do what you must." Ethelind looked directly at her cousin. "But do not get tangled in his net in the meantime. Never let yourself think Landon cares for people. He is incapable of loving. I knew him before all this, and he is nothing like that person anymore. Do not let yourself get comfortable around him or else he'll use you. Then, once he has you, he'll break your resolve until you are completely susceptible to his will. Some lies are tempting, yes, and his will be sweeter than the truth. But the truth is the only one that will let you free."

"I don't see why you are telling me this. Unless you are gaining something from it."

"I would gain a lot from you becoming a queen. But they are reasons I would rather not discuss."

"It sounds like you're telling me to let myself be wrapped in more chains. You called me over to tell me to marry and not escape?"

"Not to attempt escape," Ethelind corrected. "You'd never get away and where would you go, anyway?"

"Away from here."

"We would send cavalry after you."

"Junia got away."

"She wasn't being as closely monitored as you are."

Audrey clenched her jaw.

"There is a piece of advice I have been meaning to tell you for a while now." Ethelind smiled. "I have noticed that you blame yourself too much. When Giovanni was accused, you saw a young man about to die. You willingly surrendered the castle to Kael when he threatened the people in it. So, I will say this once, and you should listen. Stop thinking so much about others that you are hurting yourself."

"I killed my uncle," Audrey sniped.

"And you hate yourself for it. You carry an additional weight on your shoulders. Just remember to stay unreadable and watch it all unravel," Ethelind said. "Play along. Wait for opportunity. After all, life is just a game of chess. Play right and checkmate." She flicked her fingers as if pushing all the pieces off an imaginary board. "You win."

No. That's how you win.

"I thought the best way to win a game is by breaking the rules." Audrey jumped up before turning and striding out, her guards trailing her in the corridor.

Researching for this is fun but if I have to read one more website about historical fashion or castle layouts I swear I'm going to cry-

This chapter took some time to be edited because I had no idea how to write a trial and wanted to edit it to be a bit more accurate, although this is fiction for a reason ( *cough* me having no idea what to do so just throwing random things in from my head along with poorly done research *cough* )

I regret not paying more attention in Citizenship now :)

I've just realised that spellcheck keeps flagging up 'curtseyed' because it prefers 'curtsied' but I can't be bothered to go through changing it so I'll just alter that when editing the whole thing

Love you all,

Shelly x