When All is Lost

15.

I wake to find sunlight pouring into the room. My skirts are tangled and sleeping in the chair has left me with a strange ache across my ribs. I sit up and feel Inkspot shift on my neck, instantly I feel better about the day.

I remove my jacket and walk over to the secret door. Despite running my hands all over the panelled wall I cannot find the entrance. I resort to kicking along the wall to see if it sounds different at all. No clues present themselves, and when Florence walks in I must look particularly strange, taking my resentment out on the wall.

"Morning" she smiles amused and I turn towards her.

"I'm going to the library," I state, the idea appearing to me as I say it.

Florence nods, "Do you need me to help you change?"

I laugh, "why on earth would I change?"

Her smile grows tense. "You are the Queen, you can't be seen stomping around like that."

"When the King treats me like his Queen I'll behave like one." The door is still open and I march out to the sound of her sigh, the guards place their halberds across the doorway but I know that move and duck under them.

Lucius and Martin share looks as I sweep past them, still, I don't want them to be in trouble so I turn and nod for them to follow. That way I'm still under guard, just doing whatever I want.

As I walk down the corridors I realise I have no idea how to get anywhere from this wing. These were the private quarters of the Royal Family and when Nate was here I wasn't needed. I slow down when I reach a hallway with a number of doors leading off it and a staircase heading down, pausing to consider which way I should go.

"Down and to the right, Majesty," Lucius says and I smile at him, we've sparred since I was 10 until I was fast enough to bring him to a draw. It's amusing that he's to be my guard, I think he knows I'd be able to escape if I wanted to.

"Thanks," I say, I want to correct him about the majesty thing but perhaps it's something I need to just get used to, until it changes of course. There's no way I'll actually be crowned.

I go down the stairs and turn right at the bottom as Lucius said and suddenly I'm back in the hustle and bustle of the palace. It takes me by surprise a little, so many of the court are waiting in this corridor. It looks like everyone has formed a line, waiting to enter whatever's at the end of this hall.

I hesitate and wish I had let Florence dress me in something pretty and Queenly. I look down at my escape outfit, the skirts are dark blue and full, synched in at the waist and my shirt is clean, I look respectable enough. I dread to think what my hair must look like but people have noticed me and I can't just stand here.

I move forward to push through, wanting to be on the opposite side of this strange queue, when a path suddenly appears before me. The courtiers are moving to give me space. They're staring at me with a mixture of surprise, disgust and a whole lot of judgement. It creeps over my skin and makes me want to curl up. Instead, I raise my chin and walk through. I fix my gaze at the end of the hallway, on the arched window that overlooks the perfectly manicured lawns.

Around me, some courtiers are bowing and curtsying to me, though I notice many hesitations. Husbands place hands on wife's arms and pull them down. They don't know how to behave, and they're being cautious but news has travelled, clearly. Whispering fills the hall with a wave-like ripple, reaching its peak after I've passed.

I offer a small smile to those who meet my gaze, they immediately glance away and I speed up my walk. I hate them, and they know it. This is all just a show, in case I really do have power over them.