Was this it? Was this what the Queen wanted?! For her son to kill her?
Ki'tory scoffed bitterly in her mind.
She certainly knew of her son's hatred towards her, and she knew her son better than anyone. She must have known that he would do something dangerous. Her early death would do nothing but merely annoy the Queen, that her fun had come to an abrupt end. She wouldn't kill her own son, nor would she punish him in any devastating manner.
In fact, Ki'tory presumed that she was his punishment for something. What it was, though, she didn't know.
But that didn't matter right now. She had to think of ways to stay alive for her parents, for Yarma, and Eki.
The Xoiqs must bleed too, they just grieve too, and this was the only way.
"My brother's body was found washed ashore, with the message of the Xoiq's Emperor burnt into his chest with melted iron, but I believe that you must know that already."
The Prince said nothing, his gaze fixed on her as he took a sip from his teacup.
The warmth of the teacup burnt Ki'tory's palm lightly, she felt relieved for the cut she had inflicted on herself needed it, but the situation she was caught in made every sense of ease vanish from her.
"I had no choice in this marriage, just as you are caught in it."
"You seem pretty willing to me, dressed like that."
"Your mother picked out my dress."
His grip tightened around his cup. "Drink your tea, it is getting cold."
"The Queen will withdraw her army if you do not accept me, my people will die."
His eyes darkened, a mocking smile tilting up the corner of his lips. "You think I care about Yarma?"
"No, but there is a reason you were forced into this union."
Something ticked in his jaws. "Drink your tea, Princess."
"A reason you cannot kill me openly, but through this sly and cowardly manner."
His grip finally crushed the teacup, making pieces of ceramic rain on the floor. "Drink. Your. Tea."
Ki'tory's eyes widened at his reaction.
She struck a nerve; this could either be very good or very bad. She had to choose her next words carefully.
"What is it you are protecting, Prince Oi-ju?" She threw caution to the wind. It was now or never. "What does she have over you?"
He rose to his feet, and in a second, his sword was levelled against her neck.
Ki'tory gulped, her eyes fixed on him, the cold blade sending her pulse racing.
Think, Ki'tory, think!
"Drink. It."
The cup shuddered in her shaky hands, but she kept her gaze trained on him nonetheless. Then she saw it, a glimmer of fear in those grey eyes.
By Muktury, he was just as terrified as she was!
Not for himself, though, no, it couldn't be. He was the Crown Prince.
Then it clicked.
It was for someone else, he was protecting someone else!
The consequences of killing her would have to be the death of that someone, someone very dear to him.
Who could this person be? Was it the boy in the hall? Who was he? Who was he to the Prince? To the Queen herself?
"Who is it that you are protecting, Your Highness?"
'Drink. It."
He wasn't forcing the tea down her throat either because a strand of mortality was holding him back, or because there was a way for the Queen to confirm if he killed her or not; if his hands had anything to do with her murder.
Ki'tory let out a breath, and she smiled.
Her death was in her own hands, not his. For this person he was protecting, he couldn't get involved.
"I will not." She dropped the cup and it smashed into pieces against the floor. "I guess you will have to slay me down, and push my body into the furnace to get rid of it."
His sword pressed lightly into her skin, allowing blood to trickle down her neck. She gulped, knowing she was playing too close to fire. She willed her body to stay calm and collected. This was a game of wits, and she must win it. After all, she was her mother's daughter.
"Do not tempt me," he gritted.
"Yarma will be conquered, and the one you protect will be lost. No one will win either way."
Moments of silence stretched long between them, the anger in his eyes brewing even more. Then finally, he huffed in annoyance and resignation, before pulling away his sword and pushing it back into its sheath.
"There are a thousand ways to kill you without getting my hands stained with your filthy blood."
Ki'tory rose to her feet, grabbed a cloak, and pulled it around her while she pressed a napkin to her bleeding neck, suppressing the pain. "Why go through all that rigour when we can make an arrangement that will benefit both of us. Unless the rigour of finding another way to kill me is less work for you because you fear the Xoiqs."
"I have won many battles, the Xoiqs are nothing to me."
Why was that? Was it because he was something worse? Were the rumours true? Was he really cursed?
Ki'tory shook her curiosity and focused, her heart racing, her eyes sharp with observation.
"Then prove me wrong and let us work together. I will pretend to be in love with you, and you will pretend to be in love with me, only till the war is over and my people are safe. Then I will serve myself the tea and I will drink it. No need to get your hands stained with my filthy blood." She took a step towards him, out of the range of his sword. "What do you say? Prince Oi-ju?"
He stared at her for a moment, then he turned to the door, then knocked. The lock was undone, and the door pulled open. Then, without casting her another glance, he left. The door was shut and locked once again.
Ki'tory let out a breath of relief. She quickly changed her dress to one of the many Imova and Aytao had provided for her, while wrapping her bottle of poison around her thigh with a piece of cloth. She lay on the bed and looked out through the window at the moon.
"A hundred and six days more." She murmured to herself. "I just have to live a hundred and six more days. Then the Xioq will bleed, Yarma will be saved, and Eki will be avenged."
She held onto the pendant of her brother's necklace and wept for many reasons.. She missed her brother, missed her parents, and wished she could be with them during this time of their grief, she missed the dreams that she dared to have because her brother had let her.
She had been able to dream because he had carried the weight of everything. She didn't have to be a Princess because he was the Crown Prince.
Eki had only gone out to search for a boat that had gotten lost at sea with some people on it. The rescuers returned along with the rescued, except Eki. A storm had separated them. It was the first day of the Cycle, a day that was supposed to be filled with joy and celebration, but Eki had gone missing and he stayed missing until his body was found floating on Akeng sea.
Rage flooded Ki'tory's veins, her grip around the pendant tightened as her gaze darkened with the need for vengeance.
The Xoiqs would pay for what they had done to her brother, she would make sure of it, even if it was the last thing she would do.
For now, she would just have to wait for the Prince's response.