“Not a monster; amonarch.” Disgust curls one of her lips. “I knew the first moment I saw you — you don’t have the stomach to do this job. You’re too soft. Too weak. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else sees it, too.”
My jaw clenches. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” Her chuckle makes me want to shake her. “You’ll fail Germania. Just like you failed all those people in the square that day.”
Smack!
I slap her clear across the face. It happens so fast, I don’t even have time to think about restraining myself. There’s a sudden sting in my palm, the sharp sound of my hand making impact with her smooth cheek, a red handprint blooming on her skin as my arm falls back to my side.
I expect her to reel away, to react in some way… But this is Ava Sterling we’re talking about. Holding my stare the whole time, she simply smiles as though I’ve done something greatly amusing. I pull in a sharp breath, trying to get a handle on my own out-of-control heart rate.
Way to play things cool, Emilia.
The silence drags on for nearly a full minute. When she finally breaks it, Ava’s voice is so level you’d think we were talking about plans for afternoon tea.
“I don’t know why you showed your face here tonight, but I think it’s past time you leave. No one wants you here,Your Majesty.”
It’s amazing — every time she says my title, it sounds a bit more like an insult.
“On the contrary, I think some people are rather happy to see me.” I cross my arms over my chest with a calculated smile. “Your brother, for one.”
“Stay away from Alden. I mean it.”
“Why? Afraid you and I will wind up in-laws?” I ask sweetly, just to piss her off. “I figured you’d be thrilled to have a closer association with the royal family. Hasn’t that always been your aim? To live in the castle?”
“Ha!That’s rich. As if you’re actually going to last as our queen for more than a few months.” She laughs bitterly. “As if anyone thinks you’re even remotely qualified to do this job. You have no idea what is required to be a true ruler.”
“And you do?”
“Yes. Because unlike you — a walking seminal accident who crawled out of her white trash existence into the lap of luxury — I wasbornfor this life. I was bred to be the queen from the time I could talk.”
“Some good it did you.” Pursing my lips, Itskat her. “All that training to rule and, in the end, the only realm you’ll ever be in charge of is the bedroom of whatever saggy-balled viscount your parents see fit to marry you off to in a strategic alliance of wealth and property.”
She sucks in a sharp inhale and I know I’ve struck an accurate blow.
“Is that why you hate me so much?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. “Because I’m living the life you were meant to?”
“You don’t even want it!” she practically screeches, her fury finally unleashed. “You have everything I ever worked for —everything I ever dreamed of— and it’s just going to waste.”
“I don’t have everything,” I say quietly, thinking of my parents. Thinking of a giant castle, echoing and empty. Thinking of the many losses I’ve endured on my path to the throne. “Life doesn’t always work out the way we plan, Ava. I thought you knew that by now.”
Her finger appears in my face — a pale pink talon, manicured to a sharp point. “Don’t patronize me! You have no idea what I have sacrificed. You have no idea what I put up with. What I endured, all those years, watching Henry and—”
She bites off the rest of her words, breathing hard. Her hand curls slowly into a fist, then lowers to her side. With a whirl of beaded gold fabric, she turns on her heels and leaves the solarium without uttering another syllable.
I watch her go, my eyebrows arched to my hairline. I’ve never seen her that worked up. She’s usually so difficult to rattle, it’s borderline robotic.
Perhaps she’s flesh and blood, after all.
For a while, I stand in the shadows, waiting for my breaths to slow and my anger to ebb from a boil to a simmer. I’m certain my absence has already been clocked by my guards; it’s probably past time I rejoin the party, make my excuses to Alden, and head home. Honestly, curling up with a book by the fire sounds like perfection, right about now. Between both the Sterling siblings, I’ve had enough human interaction to last me the rest of the month.
Year.
Decade.
Lifetime.
I’m nearly back to the ballroom when Riggs materializes at my side. He must recognize the look of desperation on my face, because all he says is, “You about ready to turn into a pumpkin, Cinderella?”