Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Prince Aldric found me in the castle's training yard that afternoon, where I was working through combat forms with a fury that had several of the regular guards giving me a wide berth. The revelation about the cult's true timing had left me with energy that needed an outlet, and steel-on-steel combat was the most productive way I could think of to burn through my frustration.
"You fight like someone who's expecting to die soon," he observed, settling onto a bench to watch my practice.
I completed the sequence I'd been running—a particularly vicious combination designed for fighting multiple opponents in close quarters—before turning to face him. "Most people fight like they expect to live forever. I prefer to be realistic about my chances."
"And what do you estimate your chances to be?"
"For surviving the next week? Maybe thirty percent. For surviving the next month? Ten percent. For actually accomplishing what I'm trying to do?" I paused to consider. "Five percent, if I'm being optimistic."
Aldric was quiet for a moment, studying my face with the intense focus he brought to political negotiations. "Those are terrible odds."
"Yes, they are."
"And yet you're still planning to go through with whatever you're planning to do."
I set down my practice sword and retrieved a towel, using the time to consider how much I could safely tell him. The blood oath prevented me from revealing specific details about our ritual, but it didn't stop me from sharing general information that might be helpful.
"Can I ask you something?" I said instead of answering his implied question.
"Of course."
"Do you want to marry me, or are you simply resigned to it as a political necessity?"
The question seemed to catch him off-guard, and I watched several different expressions cross his face before he settled on something that looked like rueful honesty.
"Six months ago, I would have said it was purely political. An arranged marriage to secure an alliance, nothing more personal than a trade agreement." He stood and moved closer, stopping just outside the range where my combat instincts would interpret his proximity as a threat. "But that was before I met you."
"And now?"
"Now I think marrying you might be the most interesting decision I've ever made, assuming we both survive long enough for the marriage to happen."
It wasn't a declaration of love, but it was honest in a way that I found surprisingly appealing. Too many men had claimed to love me without knowing anything about who I was beneath the titles and reputation.
"Interesting is one word for it," I said dryly.
"What word would you use?"
"Catastrophic. Potentially fatal. Inadvisable." I met his eyes directly. "But also necessary."
"Necessary for political reasons, or necessary for personal ones?"
The question was more perceptive than I'd expected. Over the past weeks, my feelings about the marriage had shifted from simple opposition to something far more complicated. I'd begun to see Aldric as a potential partner rather than just an unwanted obligation, and that change had implications I wasn't entirely comfortable with.
"Both," I admitted. "Which is inconvenient, considering how likely it is that one or both of us will be dead before the wedding night is over."
"Are you planning to die during the wedding ceremony?"
"I'm planning to risk dying during the wedding ceremony. There's a difference."
Aldric considered this distinction for a moment. "And if you survive whatever you're planning to risk dying for, what then?"
"Then we'll find out whether an arranged marriage between two people who like each other has better chances than most."
"I'd like the opportunity to find out," he said quietly.
"So would I. Which is why I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer honestly, even if the answer is going to complicate things between us."
"Ask."
I took a deep breath, knowing that his response would determine whether I could trust him with information that might save his life.
"Your father is planning something for the wedding ceremony or the wedding night. Something that involves killing people and consolidating political power. Do you know what it is?"
Aldric went very still, and I watched him process not just the question but all of its implications. When he spoke, his voice was carefully controlled.
"I know that my father has made plans he hasn't shared with me. I know that those plans involve magical workings that require specific timing. And I know that he's brought more soldiers than the situation requires." He paused. "I also know that you wouldn't be asking me this question unless you were planning to interfere with whatever he's doing."
"And how do you feel about that?"
"I think," he said slowly, "that my father has spent his entire life accumulating power without regard for the cost to other people. If someone is finally in a position to stop him, I'm not going to stand in their way."
"Even if stopping him means risking your own life?"
"Especially if it means risking my own life. I've spent too many years being complicit in his actions through inaction."
The answer was everything I'd hoped for and more than I'd dared to expect. If Aldric was genuinely willing to oppose his father, then our chances of success had just improved dramatically.
"There's something else you should know," I said, deciding that the oath-binding would allow.
"The marriage ceremony itself isn't the primary target. The real magical working is scheduled for the wedding night, and it's designed to use the legal and magical connections created by the marriage."
"Use them for what?"
"To bind the spirits of everyone who dies in service to our kingdoms, creating a reservoir of magical power that can be used to reshape the world according to their desires."
Aldric sat down heavily on the practice bench, his face pale. "How many people are we talking about?"
"Everyone who's died in battle, died in service to the crown, died protecting the kingdoms—going back generations. Thousands of souls, maybe tens of thousands."
"And if they succeed?"
"Then they have enough magical power to remake both kingdoms in whatever image they choose.
Different laws, different rulers, different fundamental reality if they want it."
"Can it be stopped?"
"Yes. But stopping it requires disrupting the magical working at the moment of greatest power, which means ." I hesitated, not sure how much detail the oath would allow me to share.
"Which means someone has to be present during the working with the knowledge and ability to interfere," Aldric finished. "Someone willing to risk their life to prevent it from succeeding."
"Yes."
"And you're planning to be that someone."
"I'm planning to try."
Aldric was quiet for several minutes, staring at the ground while he processed everything I'd told him.
When he finally looked up, his expression was resolved in a way I'd never seen before.
"What do you need from me?"
"I need you to get through the public ceremony without arousing suspicion. I need you to behave as if everything is proceeding normally until the moment when it isn't. And I need you to be prepared for the fact that the wedding night you're expecting might turn into something much more dangerous."
"And after that?"
"After that, we improvise based on who's still alive and what opportunities present themselves."
"That's not much of a plan."
"No, it isn't. But it's the best plan available given the circumstances."
Aldric stood and moved closer, taking my hands in his with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the intensity of our conversation.
"Seraphina, I want you to know that whatever happens during the ceremony or afterward, I consider myself fortunate to have met you. You're not at all what I expected when I agreed to this marriage, and you're everything I didn't know I wanted in a partner."
"Even though I'm probably going to get you killed?"
"Especially because you're willing to risk getting yourself killed to protect people you've never met." He lifted one of my hands to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. "That kind of courage is rare, and it's worth the risk."
"You might feel differently if we die."
"If we die, I won't be in a position to feel differently about anything. But if we live ." He smiled, and for the first time since I'd met him, the expression reached his eyes. "If we live, I think we're going to have a very interesting marriage."
"Assuming we still want to be married to each other after everything that's going to happen between now and then."
"I think," he said, "that everything that's going to happen between now and then will only make me more certain that marrying you is the best decision I've ever made."
It was the closest thing to a love confession I'd ever received, and it was certainly the most honest. As I watched him walk away, I found myself hoping that we'd both survive long enough to find out whether he was right.