Chapter 71 The Price of Lying
Kira’s POV
The courtyard was still buzzing like a kicked beehive, council members muttering, Caroline sniffling dramatically on the ground, Lady Margaret pretending to look concerned while mentally sharpening her knives, when my eyes locked on the one person who could make this circus even better.
There she was, slinking out from the palace doors like a whipped puppy. Shoulders hunched, head down, eyes glued to the stones as if she hoped the ground would swallow her whole.
My dear sweet Victoria.
Oh, honey. Jackpot.
If she hadn’t opened her lying mouth and sent me into that cursed Dark Zone, maybe I wouldn’t have been possessed by whatever it was back there like a feral cat, maybe I wouldn’t have climbed Adrian like a tree, and maybe…just maybe…I wouldn’t currently feel like I needed a ten-hour shower and a priest to get Adrian’s scent off me.
She was going to pay. Slowly. Deliciously. With interest.
I lifted one hand and crooked a finger at her, slow and lazy, like I was calling a server for another round.
“Come here, Victoria,” I said, voice sweet enough to rot teeth. “Don’t be shy. Your new boss wants a word.”
The crowd parted like they sensed fresh blood in the water.
Victoria froze mid-step, face going the color of old milk. She looked left, right, anywhere but at me, probably praying for an animal attack or sudden earthquake. But there will be no such luck today.
She shuffled forward, dragging her feet, until she was close enough for me to smell the fear rolling off her.
I stepped into her space, close enough that my breath ghosted her ear. My voice dropped to a whisper—soft, deadly.
“I warned you.”
I let the words sink in before I continued. “But you lied to me. You really thought I was still the same Abby you could bully into silence? The same girl who’d fold just because you said so?”
I smiled, slow and cruel.
“I’m going to turn your life into a living hell. Day after day. You’ll wake up regretting the moment you sent me out there…knowing damn well I could’ve died.”
I leaned back just enough for her to see it in my eyes.
“And when I’m done? You won’t be dragged back to the Dark Zone.”
My whisper sharpened.
“You’ll beg to go back on your own.”
Her eyes went wide, lips trembling. Perfect.
But before she could stammer out an apology or faint…whichever came first…a booming voice cut through the courtyard from behind her.
“Your Majesty! Please reconsider! Pardon my daughter.”
Victoria’s father…a middle-aged man who looked like a mid-tier noble swollen with ego and starved of sense…came charging through the gates as if the world itself owed him obedience.
He didn’t slow. Didn’t hesitate.
He threw himself forward, dropping to his knees before Adrian with theatrical desperation. The impact was brutal…bone meeting frozen ground with a sickening crunch, snow exploding around him as the sound cut sharply through the air.
Pain flashed across his face for a split second, but pride forced it down as he bowed his head, kneeling in the snow like a man who still believed this display would save him.
“Victoria is practically like your own little sister!” he cried, voice cracking for effect. “She grew up in these halls! How can she be reduced to a common maid? This is an insult to my house…to our loyalty!”
The council members perked up again, smelling more drama. Lady Margaret’s eyes gleamed in anticipation of more drama. Caroline even stopped fake-crying to watch.
I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly saw my own brain.
All this drama…just because I wanted to teach my bully a lesson?
Adrian’s expression shifted in an instant…annoyance snapping into something dark, something lethal. The warmth drained from his eyes as he stepped forward, his presence swallowing the space between them.
He loomed over the kneeling man, his voice dropping to a deadly calm…the kind that crept under the skin and froze the blood in your veins.
“Do you even know,” he asked softly, “why the princess requested her?”
The court stilled, waiting to hear it.
Adrian tilted his head slightly, gaze sharpening. “Or does it not occur to you that being summoned by your queen is an honor? A duty?” His tone hardened. “To serve her is not a punishment. You of all people should know that.”
He straightened and turned, his voice carrying across the court. “Princess,” he said coolly. “Tell everyone here who sent you to the Dark Zone.”
Every breath in the hall seemed to stop as I exhaled out loud. I didn’t even hesitate. I lifted my arm and pointed…clean, unwavering.
“Victoria.”
The name landed like a blade.
Murmurs rippled through the court, growing louder, sharper, disbelief and shock colliding as heads turned, eyes darting, whispers swelling into a restless hum.
Adrian turned back slowly, deliberately, his gaze locking onto the kneeling man with barely restrained fury. “Lord Harlan,” he said, his voice glacial, “do you truly expect me to forgive your daughter so easily…after she nearly got my mate killed?”
Silence crashed down, heavy and suffocating. No one dared to make a sound.
His words cut deeper, as he continued. “Or do you believe your daughter’s pride outweighs my queen’s life?”
The man blanched.
Adrian didn’t wait for an answer.
“In fact,” he continued, voice rising just enough to carry, “why am I even standing here arguing with you about a sealed agreement? Why is anyone still standing here watching this nonsense?”
He turned on his heel and marched straight toward me. Before I could even blink, he bent down, wrapped an arm around my waist, and lifted me up…slung over his shoulder like I weighed absolutely nothing.
A collective gasp ripped through the courtyard. A few maids squealed and giggled, openly fawning over their King’s audacity, while I hung there in stunned disbelief, the world bouncing with every powerful step he took.
Blood rushed to my head as the world flipped upside down. His shoulder dug into my stomach, one iron arm locked across my ass.
“Adrian!” I yelped, fists thumping his back. “Put me down right now! You’re sending the worst possible message to everyone!”
He completely ignored me, turning to the crowd.
“This gathering is dismissed,” he announced, his voice calm, cold, and absolute.
Then his gaze shifted…sharp, merciless. “Caroline… if you were even half the mother you pretend to be, you’d be with Thomas right now, checking on your son…instead of rolling around on cold stone, begging for attention I would rather die than give you.”
Caroline’s mouth opened, closed, opened again…no sound.
Adrian glanced at Victoria, who was still frozen like a deer in headlights.
“You…new maid. Follow your mistress.”
Then he started walking…long, purposeful strides…straight toward the palace doors, carrying me like a sack of potatoes he’d just won at market.
I kept pounding my fists against his back. “I swear on your life, if you don’t put me down, I’m going to bite you!”
He didn’t even flinch. Not a single step faltered.
“You know I crave your bite, right?” he said calmly.
I let out a scream of pure frustration, kicking and struggling as his grip tightened…one firm hand anchoring me in place, leaving no room for escape.
Over his shoulder, I caught one last, humiliating glimpse of the aftermath.
Victoria scrambling after us, ghost-pale and shaking.
Lord Harlan still frozen on his knees, his mouth opening and closing without a sound.
Caroline clawing her way to her feet, fury and disappointment twisting her face as she glared after us.
The council…the entire gathered court…staring after us like they’d all collectively swallowed lemons. And Lady Margaret…furious, lips pinched so tight they nearly disappeared.
I couldn’t help it.
Upside down, hair in my face, blood pounding in my ears…I started laughing.
Because this?
This was going to be legendary.