‹ Prequel: The Pauper Princess
Status: Currently undergoing renovations.
The Game
Twenty-one
"You have to switch back. Tonight,” he says in a harsh whisper. With a hand on the middle of my back, he continues to guide me further away from camp.
“I don’t know what you’re-“
“Don’t, Siya.” He stops suddenly and, with the speed we had been walking, I stumble a few more steps before stopping as well. We stand there for a few silent moments. I don’t try to correct him. I don’t even turn around to face him.
“We’re not switching back,” I say, addressing the forest before me instead of him.
“Do you even know what kind of a risk you’re taking here?” I hear him take a step toward me. “It’s not just you either. What’s the penalty for impersonating a member of the royal family, Siya?” He takes the final step, eliminating the distance between us, and turns me to face him, keeping a tight grip on my shoulder.
“Death.” I stare at the ground, refusing to make eye contact and hating how weak it makes me feel.
“Exactly. They’ll kill her, and the guards will be put in prison, either for being incompetent of for being suspected of aiding you. And you, you’ll have to marry the prince anyway.”
“You’re acting like we’ve already been caught,” I growl through a clenched jaw. His hand is still on my shoulder, so I sweep it away angrily and push past him, intent on going back to where camp has been set up.
“Haven’t you?” he calls.
“Who would believe you?” I ask. He grabs my shoulder again, this time backing me into a tree.
“All the guards know you used to spar, and that I was your partner. Who else knows you better than I? Who else,” he says, grabbing my right wrist and pulling up the sleeve, “knows that when you were twelve you sprained your elbow fighting me, and that it left a scar right about here.” He traces the scar lightly before I push his hands away and pull the sleeve back into place.
“Did you really think you could pull this off?” I glare up at him but stay silent, trying desperately to think of some way to get him to stop. “Just switch back tonight and the whole thing will be forgotten,” he offers.
“No.” He sighs and shakes his head.
“I don’t want to turn you in, Siya.”
“Why are you doing this then?”
“I swore an oath.”
“Yes,” I agree with a nod, “To defend and protect Kyshia’s people.” I pause a moment and reach a hand up to his badge, tracing the insignia that denotes his rank. “I think we both know it would be to Kyshia’s benefit to have Mehta in my place.”
“That has nothing to do with this.” Ekohl sighs and backs off a step, but I tread forward into his space now.
“It has everything to do with this. We’re not hurting anyone, and no one needs to know that anything’s amiss.” He tries to interject, but I hold up a hand to silence him. Surprisingly this works just as well now as it used to, despite the fact that he’s almost a foot taller than me now. “This isn’t just me. Mehta agreed to this, and she has much more to lose if something goes wrong. If you try to stop us, you’re going to get her killed.”
I know this isn’t fair, that it would ultimately be my fault if anything happened to Mehta, but I’m willing to use any leverage I have to make this work. I can see he’s actually considering what I’ve said.
“If I help you I’ll be killed alongside her.”
“I don’t need help, I just need you to keep quiet. You do that and no one gets killed.” He sighs, and I know I have him on my side. Perhaps he is my friend after all.
“I don’t know what you’re-“
“Don’t, Siya.” He stops suddenly and, with the speed we had been walking, I stumble a few more steps before stopping as well. We stand there for a few silent moments. I don’t try to correct him. I don’t even turn around to face him.
“We’re not switching back,” I say, addressing the forest before me instead of him.
“Do you even know what kind of a risk you’re taking here?” I hear him take a step toward me. “It’s not just you either. What’s the penalty for impersonating a member of the royal family, Siya?” He takes the final step, eliminating the distance between us, and turns me to face him, keeping a tight grip on my shoulder.
“Death.” I stare at the ground, refusing to make eye contact and hating how weak it makes me feel.
“Exactly. They’ll kill her, and the guards will be put in prison, either for being incompetent of for being suspected of aiding you. And you, you’ll have to marry the prince anyway.”
“You’re acting like we’ve already been caught,” I growl through a clenched jaw. His hand is still on my shoulder, so I sweep it away angrily and push past him, intent on going back to where camp has been set up.
“Haven’t you?” he calls.
“Who would believe you?” I ask. He grabs my shoulder again, this time backing me into a tree.
“All the guards know you used to spar, and that I was your partner. Who else knows you better than I? Who else,” he says, grabbing my right wrist and pulling up the sleeve, “knows that when you were twelve you sprained your elbow fighting me, and that it left a scar right about here.” He traces the scar lightly before I push his hands away and pull the sleeve back into place.
“Did you really think you could pull this off?” I glare up at him but stay silent, trying desperately to think of some way to get him to stop. “Just switch back tonight and the whole thing will be forgotten,” he offers.
“No.” He sighs and shakes his head.
“I don’t want to turn you in, Siya.”
“Why are you doing this then?”
“I swore an oath.”
“Yes,” I agree with a nod, “To defend and protect Kyshia’s people.” I pause a moment and reach a hand up to his badge, tracing the insignia that denotes his rank. “I think we both know it would be to Kyshia’s benefit to have Mehta in my place.”
“That has nothing to do with this.” Ekohl sighs and backs off a step, but I tread forward into his space now.
“It has everything to do with this. We’re not hurting anyone, and no one needs to know that anything’s amiss.” He tries to interject, but I hold up a hand to silence him. Surprisingly this works just as well now as it used to, despite the fact that he’s almost a foot taller than me now. “This isn’t just me. Mehta agreed to this, and she has much more to lose if something goes wrong. If you try to stop us, you’re going to get her killed.”
I know this isn’t fair, that it would ultimately be my fault if anything happened to Mehta, but I’m willing to use any leverage I have to make this work. I can see he’s actually considering what I’ve said.
“If I help you I’ll be killed alongside her.”
“I don’t need help, I just need you to keep quiet. You do that and no one gets killed.” He sighs, and I know I have him on my side. Perhaps he is my friend after all.