She laughs again. “You aren’t the king yet, brother. You cannot command me to be silent.”
“What is it you want? Hmm?”
She leans closer, her eyes locked with his. “I want you to know you are making a mistake of the highest magnitude.”
“That is a matter of opinion.”
“That is a fact.” She shakes her head. “Going against me? Unwise. Going against your family?Unforgivable.”
Alden steps closer to me, his posture stiffening. “Emilia is my family now, Ava.”
She laughs bitterly, her icy hazel eyes finally sliding my way. “Is that so? She doesn’t seem your usual type.”
“Don’t make a scene.” Alden’s teeth are clenched. “What would mother and father say?”
“Oh, trust me, if they were here they would have some choice words for you. Their golden child, their prodigal son… How very sharp your fall from grace has been.”
I snort, unable to keep silent any longer. “Only a Sterling would consider becoming the King Consort of Germania a social misstep.”
“No one askedyou.” Ava turns to me, her sneer intensifying. “You think you’re clever, because you’ve tricked my brother into this alliance? You aren’t. You’ve merely assured his downfall along with your own. I hope you’re quite happy together, when it all falls apart at the seams.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes, highly aware of the attention fixed on us from all sides. “Your threats are growing thin, Ava. I met your precious Ludwig. He has all the authority of a wet mop. There’s no chance in hell he can pull off this power-coup, even with the financial backing of your family. If you try to take me on, you will fail. And thenyou— not your brother — will have tarnished the Sterling name beyond repair.”
Her smile widens, reminding me of a shark. “You think you’re so high and mighty now, don’t you? The Lancaster Lioness. Emilia the Liberator. Looking down on everyone from your sad little throne, feeling safe because there’s a crown on your head.” She leans in, whispering. “A far cry from the meek mouse you were when our paths first had the misfortune of crossing.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you sound almost impressed, Ava.”
“Impressed? No. Amused? Certainly.” She clucks out atsksound with her tongue. “You think you’ve won this round, but you don’t even understand the game being played here. Nor do you realize you’ve aligned yourself with the most dangerous player of all.”
“Ava,” Alden growls in warning.
She ignores him, still staring into my eyes. “Allow me to let you in on a little secret — you know, since we are to be sisters soon.”
“Ava,” Alden snaps again, harsher this time.
She doesn’t heed him. “My brother may appear the perfect gentleman — the perfect husband-to-be — but I know him better than anyone on this planet. Trust me when I tell you that beneath his sweet smiles and kind words, he is made from the same fabric as me, stitched with the same tendencies you so loathe.” Her pale brows arch. “You think this marriage will protect you?It will not.And I, for one, cannot wait for the day you realize the man you’ve chosen as your salvation has wrought your ultimate destruction.”
A chill shivers down my spine as Ava turns on her designer heels and walks away, her words lingering in the air around us like smog.
Alden moves closer, his arm brushing mine. “Do not let her upset you,” he murmurs. “My sister is like a cat — when feeling cornered, she lashes out with sharp claws. Her venom is a symptom of our victory, nothing more.”
His words are meant to be a comfort, but I cannot shake the uneasiness Ava stirred inside me.
“Right. I know,” I lie. “Of course.”
I paste a smile back on my lips and turn to greet our next well-wishers. But for the duration of the engagement party, Ava’s words are never far from my mind.
You’ve aligned yourself with the most dangerous player of all.
As I peek at my fiancé from the corner of my eye… smiling warmly at a pudgy couple from Lund, laughing kindly at a poorly-timed joke… I cannot help wondering whether it is, in fact, possible for two siblings raised under the same roof, by the same awful parents, to turn out so radically different.
One good and genuine.
The other cold and calculating.
Ava Sterling is a liar,I think, staring at my future husband. A man I know to be sweet and steady. A man who offers stability and surety where, before, there was only chaos and uncertainty.
He would not deceive me.