Queensmen

Chapter 97

~Alliances~

The day the journey ended was as uneventful as it was meant to be: no fires, no unexpected summons, no blackmail. Things had died down enough that no one commented when Oris stepped down from the carriage in one of Lady Dianne's dress. It was common knowledge now that they were in some sort of allegiance with each other. The ladies had found more interesting things to entertain themselves with.

In a row, they waited under the sun for the rest of the procession to pass, glittering like golden statues as they stared into the distance at the dust clouds sullying the horizon. The carriages the court officials had ridden had lagged far behind theirs, for the sake of both safety and leisure, and now it was up to them to look pretty for them when they arrived, so that they could see just what their daughters were competing against.

Oris looked in the opposite direction, at the castle she would be living in for the next month and some. She scanned its tall walls and counted the embrasures facing her, casually marking the point that would be just out of range for the bowmen. Just the thought of crossbows made her side tingle though the wound was almost done healing.

She casually pressed her palm against it. Since the beginning she had been putting herself in arms way, mostly to build a reputation of being dangerous and reckless. She couldn't do that anymore, not if she wanted to survive long enough to steal Hermes' children away from him.

It's a good thing this isn't the capital, she thought, or Bren would have had a hard time getting out. The opulence of the main palace looked like a weakness when contrasted with the scarred and scorched walls of the emperor's secondary home.

This is a place that has seen many wars and stood the test of time. If Hermes shifted the capital here, he wouldn't have to worry about encountering the stray assassin ever so often and he would be close enough to the border to get rid of several layers of bureaucracy. So why didn't he?

Oris tightened her grip on her umbrella, an unsettling feeling washing over her. I'm missing something. Her eyes shifted to Keziah, who stood behind her with her head bowed, shaded by the shadows cast by the others around her. What do you know?

The rest of the girls had followed the carriage to make sure that their property remained intact. Already, a few Ladies had been sabotaged but they could only hide their teary eyes behind glitter and kohl. In the heat of the competition, there was little time to feel pity for anyone. That was why Oris had given everyone enough time to consider an alliance with her. Whether they pitied her or wanted to use her, they had a full day of travel to think about it while the rumor that both Lady Dianne and Lady Yue were vying for a spot by Oris' side circulated.

Once the test started and she showed up in a dress that was neither lady's, a fire would be lit under the rumor mill. All she had to waa sit back and watch people deny giving her the dress, or even better admit that it was their dress she had been wearing. The mounting distrust among already established cliques would prove beneficial once the hunt started. How many people could put differences aside and cooperate with someone who betrayed them?

Not many.

Keziah estimated that it would only take two days before Oris could build a circle of her own. Andrea bet that it would only take one.

Now that Hermes has become one of my options, I have to at least make an effort to have some backing. Oris had to hold in a sigh. Raising her rank had never been part of her plans and she had been dealt an atrocious hand from the very beginning.

If she wanted to stay, she'd need to undo all her previous efforts to remain unseen and pushed to the back of Hermes' mind. She'd also have to win over the Empress Dowager and find a way to kick her off the throne. Somehow.